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COMMUNITY
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very simple.”
Brookhaven’s Communications Di
rector Megan Matteucci said the city
initially started the food truck programs
this fall as a way to celebrate Brookhav-
en’s parks.
“When we first started them, we
knew they were popular in other com
munities. But weren’t sure what kind of
turnout we would have in Brookhav-
en,” Matteucci said. “We’ve been over
whelmed by the turnout. Each night,
the trucks served between 2,000 and
3,000 meals. We’re pretty happy with
that.”
Matteucci said in addition to the
food, Brookhaven offered music and
kids’ activities as a way to bring residents
out to the park. Brookhaven held its last
Food Truck Roundup of the season Oct.
30. Matteucci said the city is planning
to continue the programs next year, be
ginning in the spring.
Bill Grossman, secretary of the Dun-
woody Homeowners Association, said
his organization is known for sponsor
ing popular seasonal community events
like the city’s Fourth of July Parade
and Light Up Dunwoody. Food truck
nights offered something different each
week from May through October.
“We started it off the last day of school
with, I think, six trucks. We immediate
ly had a huge crowd the first night. The
only complaint we got was ‘the lines are
too long, add more trucks, ” Grossman
said.
Grossman said the events also attract
ed lots of young families and people he’d
never seen at other Dunwoody gather
ings. The combination of the park, mu
sic and food seemed to work well, he
said.
“When the weather’s nice and the
musical act’s good, it’s almost magical,”
Grossman said.
But city-sponsored food truck nights
aren’t universally beloved. At Brookhav
en town hall meetings, some residents
complained that the programs made
traffic worse on Ashford-Dunwoody
Road. And some local businesses don’t
like that the city is promoting the mo
bile restaurants that drive in from else
where.
Bill Brown, owner of There Brookhav
en, said he thinks the city should sup
port local businesses, too.
“I’m not anti food truck,” Brown
said. “I don’t look at it as competition
at all. I’m old school, and I believe busi
ness gets business. However, if the city
chooses something to support and pro
mote, there’s a lot of independent busi-
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The city of Dunwoody
held weekly ‘Food
Truck Thursdays’ at
Brook Run Park, to the
delight of residents. The
event offered families
a chance to nibble,
listen to live music, play
at the playground and
mingle with neighbors.
ness owners in the city that aren’t getting
that kind of tweets and support.”
Cagle said she tries to find ways to
incorporate local businesses into the
events. For example, in Duluth, she
said, one of the Mexican restaurants has
a table at the event to sell margaritas.
“We’re working to really promote lo
cal businesses as well as our events,” Ca
gle said. “I don’t want to come in and
take someone else’s business. We’re find
ing additional ways to promote the busi
nesses as well as allowing them to be part
of our event.”
Cagle said she believes the best part
of the food truck events is that they fos
ter a sense of community and encourage
residents to get to know one another by
spending the evening in the park.
“That’s what people are doing —
they’re not grabbing food and leaving.
They’re making it a whole night event,”
Cagle said.
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