On Sunday January 27 McLean was the host to the second annual Chocolate Festival that took place in the cafeteria.  This event was held by the Rotary Club of McLean and was a huge success with 23 different chocolate vendors and had over a thousand chocolate lovers attend both of the chocolate festivals.  However, the new year also brought new improvements.

Last year the chocolate festival was held at the community center and the Rotary Club only expected a few hundred guests, but instead was greeted by thousands of ecstatic chocolate lovers.  The community center space was not enough to host the hordes of chocolate enthusiasts so this year they decided to switch venues to McLean’s cafeteria in order to provide space for more vendors and more customers.  The president of the Rotary Club, Jan Auerbach, was happy with the change of atmosphere.

“We started [holding the chocolate festival] a year ago and were looking for a fundraising event that could involve the community and we came up with this idea.  We held it at the community center last year and we were expecting maybe 500 or 1000 people and we had 2500 people… so then we wanted to hold it in a place that wasn’t as crowed as the community hall or the community center so we approached the school… it is a much nicer venue, we can spread out a lot, we have more vendors, last year we had 12 people and this year we have 23 vendors,” Auerbach said.

The new change was definitely an improvement and made the whole festival a much more enjoyable experience for all.  There was a large variety of people who attended the festival ranging from the energetic six year old enticed by all of the chocolate vendors, or the nice middle aged couple looking to get out of the house and enjoy themselves.  Also, for those who attended both of the festivals, such as Patty Winters and Ken Krupa, greatly appreciate the change in venue.

“I think what I like most about it is that last year it was held at the community center, and is all crowed and it was a very tight venue, but now, it is a much larger space and it is much more enjoyable,” Krupa said.

However, this chocolate festival was hold for more than one reason.  While it is a nice event that encompasses a shared commonality of a love of chocolate in the community, it is also helps to raise money for organizations.

“It [the main point] is to raise funds for local organizations.  We use the funds, we are a totally volunteer service organization, so all of our money goes into local nonprofit organizations… homeless shelters, homes for disabled adults, and books for low income elementary school students… so it’s a fundraiser clearly, but we wanted one that would involve the community,” Auerbach said.

The festival was a huge success and they are definitely planning on having a third, Auerbach continued on to state.  Along with raising money for the community, since all of the vendors were local, it gave an opportunity for other local business men or store owners to get a good look at other good local restaurants or chocolatiers.

“A lot of local vendors is a good thing, that’s what I was looking for…I own a little store locally here in Falls Church, and I was looking for some local vendors to possibly bring into the store,” local business owner Tom Coats said.

So, whether it was a nice afternoon out of the house, a chance to have a tasty treat, or just looking for business opportunity, the chocolate festival had all interests covered.  As Patty Winters simply stated, “How can you not enjoy being with chocolate?”