Reflections on the 2021 Chocolate Walk

Chocolate Cult Walkers 2021

Saturday, November 13, 2021, I and the lovely folks you see in this photo went to the 14th Chocolate Walk in Nashville, Indiana. For me, this was my 12th time participating in this charity event. I didn't know about the Brown County Humane Society event when it began and I didn't participate last year because of Covid-19. As you can see from the photo, we four had our face masks on for almost the entire walk even while we were outside; our Chocolate Coconut Acolyte simply lowered hers for the photo. I'll get back to masks later in this post. As you can also tell, it was a chilly time this year. We've walked when it got up to the mid 60s by the time we finished, but this almost the coldest weather we've survived. Thank goodness it did not rain or snow.

All the Goodies I Brought Home

The Chocolate Walk was the longest one yet with 39 stops. A stop is when you go to a shop or location in Nashville, Indiana, and you get a piece of food, a sample beverage, or a non-edible that is related to chocolate in some way. In the past there have generally been 30 to 33 stops. Even though there were so many places this time, we still did the walk in less than two and a half hours. The final two stops we had to drive to. We did go to all 39 stops though I didn't take a treat at each place. Sorry Sweetea's Tea Shop but I am not a tea fan; loved your hot chocolate option in the past.

BCHS Courthouse Square 2021

The charity that benefits from the walk is the Brown County Humane Society which we've covered almost every fall here with interviews and even videos on this blog. In this photo you can see their central location at the courthouse square. They also had a location at the Salvation Army where you collected your tickets. If you want to learn more about BCHS, please follow the link and check them out. They do good work and I'm always happy to promote this event. I did so last year, even though I didn't feel safe enough attending before there was a vaccine for the Covid-19 virus.

This is where I need to be critical of the event. While it was great that you could pick up the tickets early (which we did on Friday) or even pay extra to have them mailed to you thus breaking down that beginning bottleneck which was both annoying but possibly dangerous during a respiratory pandemic, it was undercut by several things I saw along the Chocolate Walk. First, at the Salvation Army there were signs telling people to wear masks yet other than us, and one other person picking up her ticket early, no one else was wearing a face mask. Not a person from the church and not a person from BCHS. I know the full vaccination rates for that county and for the state: I can safely assume that every other person I met at this walk was not fully vaccinated or even partially vaccinated.

When we were walking, I'd be surprised if even 10% of the of the people had on facial masks. Indoors, that number went up. That was because some stores, some museums/galleries, and some public buildings had signs requiring masks. Some had signs requesting masks. I saw at least one saying that masks were not welcomed. I don't to undercut BCHS because I value their work and this event, but when I saw that, it really angered me. 

Comments that devalue the pain I'm about to share or which spread lies about this pandemic or viruses will not be published. You are warned.

My father died last year on November 20th, so I was at this charity event just a week shy of the year anniversary of my father's death. He died from Covid-19. He died in a nursing home that had been on lock down since the beginning of 2020 first to protect residents from the flu and then from the new virus. None of us could visit him. But someone who worked there cared so little for those residents, that they didn't take cautions and they brought that virus and it killed him and others as well.

Now I had to see folks who were without masks, a sign saying masks weren't welcomes, see folks rolling their eyes at signs requesting or requiring masks, and wondering how many of those people were like the person who brought that virus into the nursing that killed my father.

I got so angry I couldn't move, I couldn't walk, I almost wanted to call it quits and start screaming at people. I didn't. The folks with me were understanding and gave me time and support. Today I had to say that I see zero reason why folks had to risk their own health and other to participate in this event when it was so simply to make it lower risk.

This isn't only about signs and wearing masks. This is about the choices the locations that participated made. I understand that the shops and restaurants want us all to come in and spend money. We've done that in past years after finishing the walk. In the past we've picked a restaurant to eat in as a couple, with a few others, and once with a huge group. We've often go back to a few of the stores and use the benefits to buy holidays gifts or get treats for ourselves. This year I had an event later in the afternoon and seeing so few masks, seeing that one sign, and see so few folks at the Salvation Army with masks on, there was no way we were staying. 

The continuous problem with the Chocolate Walk are the bottlenecks within the locations that participate. I get that you want folks inside. However, when someone who wants to shop is struggling to do so because of the line of people with Chocolate Walk buttons is out the door or filling up the aisles, you can't be making as much money as you want. Some locations like Bird's Nest Cafe, Casa Del Sol, or Nashville Spice Company (photo) used their outdoor space to hand out the goodies to the walkers. This allowed everyone to be safe (masked or not) and it freed up the shop and restaurant space for paying customers. I understand that not all participants may have that space but a lot of them did. I'm looking right at you, Artists Colony Inn, Hob Nob Corner, and Nashville General Store and Bakery (just to call out a few of you). Not only could you have fun and draw attention to your business (how much fun does the man at Nashville Spice Company look like he's having?) but you free up that space so that folks can shop or eat. I think that could be a win-win for everyone.

Please, going forward, shop owners, restaurateurs, and folks who manage those businesses, consider making the walkers feel safer so we want to come back and spend.

There are many wonderful reasons to come back to this Chocolate Walk so I want to highlight those now. The folks at the Brown County Humane Society love what they do and they do it very well. This is a challenging event to run every year, yet they have done it for 14 years in a row. The folks of Nashville, Indiana, care about BCHS, too, if they didn't they wouldn't participate in this event. As I mentioned above, it may seem like a great idea to channel folks into your stores and restaurants but it can be a logistical nightmare, too. Many of the "stops" on this walk have been there year after year. Some of them have transitioned into being sponsors rather than stops but a couple are both.

Sponsor and Stop: The Nashville House, The Ferguson House Bistro, and the Nashville Spice Company.

I want to personal mention the Nashville Spice Company again to say that if there was an overall winner for the "stops" on this year's walk it would be this shop. Not only were they a location on the walk and a sponsor of it, putting their money and time into this charity event twice, but they did it in a way that made it fun and safe for everyone. Look at that photo. Who would not want to get a donut from a reindeer who was jolly enough to pose when I asked if I could take a photo? The donut, by the way, was delicious and chocolatey. This was a wonderful example of how to participate in this walk as a shop.

Others "stops" did a great job, too. Some like Bird's Nest Cafe and Sweetea's Tea Shop listed the ingredients of what they were giving out so that folks with food allergies could be aware. Places like Bone Appetit Bakery and New Harmony Soap Co. offered goodies that you didn't eat but that you could share with a pet or use on your body. Some of the "stops" give out the same treats every year so you know what to expect such as our Chocolate Coconut Acolyte's favorite stop at Kiss the Cook for their chocolate caramels. Others like to put their twist on mass produced treats as Sugar Creek Barbeque Company did by smoking kisses in three ways (yup, we got two varieties and they did taste different).  Some places make their own treats like the cupcakes at Brown County IGA, the wide variety of goodies at Touch of Silver, Gold, and Old, or Dawn's Nashville House of Jerky where you can only get the chocolate jerky during this event! Many of the "stops" offer discounts if you go back or shop while you are there, too.

While the majority of walkers are adults, there are some kids. However, it is a rough walk and the weather will change while you are walking so I think it is an event best done with your adult friends and family members.

In 2022 it will be the 15th Chocolate Walk. I hope I will see a lot of folks there enjoying themselves and helping Brown County Humane Society continue to do their good work.