A delight for the palate: Taste of Putnam County

Members of the Greencastle community filled the Dixie Chopper Business Center Saturday night, flocking to tables filled with the specialties of local restaurants. Sounds of children laughing in the bounce house outside, while songs of local musicians and murmurs of "mmmm" filled the air.

The second annual Taste of Putnam County welcomed crowds of eaters young and old looking to support old favorites and try new delicacies.

Greencastle resident Patty Taylor sat with her husband watching her daughter and granddaughter play after enjoying a diverse dinner. The family tasted foods from many restaurants sharing each dish.

"It gives us a lot of chances to try things without having to pay all that money and then to not liking it," Taylor said. "So far we haven't found anything we didn't like."

Taylor's daughter Judy mentioned that she enjoyed the experience, especially the shrimp bisque from The Final Approach.

"My favorite is the shrimp bisque, I think it's really good," she said. "I think I had like three helpings of it."

The Taylor family voted for The Final Approach to win the Taste of Putnam County plate, which it did.

Patty Taylor said her family devoured foods they normally don't try from around the city.

"The ones that we didn't try are the ones that we had gone to so many other times like Humble Pie and Pizza King and Putnam Inn," she said. "We had been there so many times that there was really no sense in trying those because we had everything they had."

Pizza King owner Howard Thomas agreed that the event provides visitors with the opportunity to try dishes from restaurants they otherwise would not try.

"I think it's great for the fact that you bring a lot of the different restaurants in from the community and people can go around and sample that they might not otherwise try or they might not stop in, because they have a perception of what that restaurant is about," Thomas said. "But here under one roof and in four hours, you can run around and sample desserts or staple items from the different restaurants."

Two-year-old Zoey Taylor also enjoyed the experience sharing food and fun with her mother and grandparents. She spent most of the evening watching other children in the bounce house.

When asked what she thought of the food, Zoey Taylor said with a big smile, "It's good."

Patty Taylor said she plans to bring her family to the event again next year.

"Last year we wanted to come and didn't, now I wish we would have," she said. "But I'll make sure we come next year."

Restaurant owners also enjoyed the event, saying it was a good opportunity to highlight their food.

Gail Smith, the owner of Almost Home, said the reaction to the restaurant's offerings pleasantly surprised her. After three hours the table sold out of dessert.

"It's been great," she said. "We're all out of our desserts, and we just have a little bit of the crab cakes left, so we're happy."

Thomas represented his restaurant at the event for the first time this year and felt excited about the experience.

"It met or exceeded my expectations," he said. "It was our first year here so we weren't sure what to expect so we brought a variety of things that we have, some of our favorites and some of our newer items, it's going over well."

Thomas said the evening also allowed business owners to have a night out that they rarely get.

"Even for us as restaurant owners, it's good for us to see what other people are doing because we just don't get out much," he said.

Smith also admitted to sampling dishes from other restaurants with no shame.

"I've tried a lot of the food here and it's all good," she said. "Anyone that goes away hungry, it's their own fault."

Senior Luis Paulino and junior Ersane John, employees at Humble Pie, manned the table with owner Arthur Middleton during the event. Both said that working in the city provides an opportunity to see the Greencastle community that DePauw students rarely experience.

"I definitely wish that it was more publicized to the DePauw community because I just feel like getting to interact with the community is something that we all struggle with," Paulino said. "That's something Ersane and I were talking about earlier just wishing that we had more opportunities like this with more access to the Greencastle community."