The inagural event was full of happy people, nice weather, and great food!!!
By Andrew Harris, photo from Genesee Valley Media
To be honest, nobody knew what to expect from the first “Taste of Wellsville.” While similar events have been successful in larger communities, this was unchartered territory. Thanks to the organizational skills and effort from the Wellsville Development Corporation, this event exceeded every expection.
The natural fear of, “will anyone show up for this?” quickly turned into, “we can’t wait to do this again next year!!” Food vendors were at times swamped with patrons looking for smaller plates with big flavor. Those who were not selling food had a great opportunity to sell and meet the people who will likely be future customers. Using Main Street Wellsville as an outdoor venue for a food festival seemed like a perfect fit.
Bonnie June Bennett of, “Badger and Butterfly Studios,” did the face painting and raved at the Wellsville Development Corporation:
” Thank you for all you do for the community of Wellsville! It was an excellent event for the first year, we were happy to paint it up beautiFULL! Definitely will be saving the date for next year! 
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Without Giant Food Mart and the Kusmierski family this event never would have happened. Shortly after they purchased Giant Food Mart, the foodie family made it clear that they wanted to be involved in community building and adding to the quality of life in Wellsville. Mission Accomplished !! Store manager Jaeson Shaner, walked down Main Street at the peak of the festival and we got his reaction:
“Wow! This really turned out well!! We’ve had lots of compliments and thank yous, it seems all the food vendors are very busy! Thanks so much to the Wellsville Development Corporation for making this happen, it is exactly the kind of impact that Giant wants to have on the community!!”
