The Downtown Associates of North Attleborough hosted its 28th annual Chocolate Lovers’ Stroll on May 3, bringing sweet treats to hundreds of participants and giving local businesses a little boost along the way.
Originally planned for April 25, the event was rescheduled due to inclement weather and saw much sunnier skies on Saturday. However, timing conflicts with the opening day of the Little North Attleborough League and The Great American Cleanup brought smaller crowds at the start of the stroll than in years past. Around 100 tickets were sold for the event.
“I’m looking at the number of people coming, and it’s not anywhere near as many that’s normally in line,” said Lynda Guimond, vice president of DANA. “The line usually goes down and wraps around.”
Guimond, donned in a silver Hershey Kiss costume, greeted participants as they walked up the steps to buy their tickets at the Bristol Masonic Lodge. Once inside the lodge, ticket holders could go table-to-table to start their collection of treats and visit the chocolate fountain that was set up on the stage.
In years past, the Chocolate Lovers’ Stroll took place in February to coincide with Valentine’s Day, but Guimond said that snow banks, slippery sidewalks and freezing temperatures made it hard to continue the stroll during the chilly winter months.
The warmer weather makes for a more enjoyable walk around town but, according to Guimond, can lead to some melting chocolate. But no matter the time of year, Guimond said the businesses of downtown North Attleborough are always eager to participate.
“They’re all willing to help out the community, it’s amazing,” said Guimond. “Some years we have chocolate chip cookies, the bank had brownies that were awesome, Habibis is doing white chocolate that comes from the Middle East, so everyone does something kind of different. It’s pretty cool.”
About 30 businesses in total were on the map of stops this year; first on the list was the Simply North Boutique, where assorted chocolates were handed out and participants shopped for clothes, jewelry and eclectic gifts. Owner Katie Barnes said the Chocolate Stroll is an event she participates in every year and always looks forward to.
“It’s great. It’s people that don’t really know about this store — they come in and see it and always come back, which is nice,” said Barnes. “It’s nice to see everybody in the community turn out.”
Whisk and Paddle was the final stop of the stroll, and Sam (last name withheld) was working at the counter on Saturday afternoon. She remarked that this event always brings a great day of business, estimating that about 50% of the people who stop in for the Chocolate Lovers’ Stroll end up buying something else from the display case.
Cousins Barbara Taylor and Rita Dziuba came by the bakery as they wrapped up their Saturday afternoon together, enjoying what they referred to as their day of “adult trick-or-treating.”
“Some of these businesses, I didn’t even know they were here,” said Taylor, who has lived in North Attleborough for 40 years. “The first one we went to was that little boutique, and I was like ‘I’m coming back here.’ It’s a great advertisement for their businesses.”