Avoca Main Street Wins 2020 Iowa Tourism Award!

Rebecca Castle accepted the Iowa Tourism Award on behalf of the Avoca Main Street group.

​Avoca is celebrating an Iowa Tourism Award!  That’s right:  the Avoca Main Street group won an award at the 2020 Iowa Tourism Conference for their Longest Table event in Des Moines, Iowa on March 3rd. 

Few win the prestigious awards, but thanks to a great event and the submission by Golden Hills RC&D, Avoca Main Street got the win!

For those of you who don’t know a lot about the Longest Table, it is held every fall, and according to Main Street Director, Amber Mohr, it “is a five-course, all-local, chef-hosted community meal for 100 diners held right in the middle of our city's main street. The event features a Happy Hour before at our Avoca Legion Hall, and live music during the meal, besides the opportunity to sample the best tastes of the season!”

The meal plan changes from year-to-year based on what is available and tastes fabulous at the time of the event.  Milk & Honey, in Harlan, helps out the Main Street group by providing a local chef.  This year, Avoca will be working with James Calkins to “design and prepare the meal.” Volunteers with the Main Street program in Avoca step up and serve all 5 courses to the 100 diners!  Needless to say, the Avoca Main Street is committed to making it a fabulous production!

When the event originated, the objectives were simple:  have the community gather in fellowship and celebrate the agricultural heritage of the area.  Now, it is an event that many long-time citizens look forward to with pride and anticipation.  Something new to the palette while sitting in the middle of Elm Street for perfect ambiance and great conversation.  What an evening!

I asked Amber about the response they’ve gotten and she said the things that stood out most was the truer sense of appreciation for local farming and for the vendors that sell at the Avoca Main Street Farmer’s Market each summer.  She also mentioned it felt good to hear that other cities have replicated the event.

Interested in attending this year?  Tickets will be available for purchase at brownpapertickets.com starting in September, just look for Avoca Main Street Longest Table in the search function or to follow all that the Avoca Main Street group is doing, go here.

Again, congratulations, Avoca Main Street, Inc. What a well-deserved award!  Thanks for making Pott. Co. proud yet again!

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