The event was AMAZING!
There was a fantastic turnout for the Open House this past Friday! At least 500 people got to share the great food, entertainment, and cafe atmosphere. We couldn’t have asked for a better night! It was truly an accurate representation of our vision for a student-led cafe. For those who came, thank you and continue spreading the word about Campus Beet!
Over 500 guests from the WMU and Kalamazoo community came to share our vision and a delicious local dinner!
We would also like to thank those who volunteered or collaborated on this event – thank
you for adding your vision and completely transforming the Bernhard Center Ballroom into the giant, all-encompassing, bigger than ever vision for the cafe.
All parts of the event came together smoothly. Thanks to help from WMU interior design students, the “book nook” was a comfy place to hang out and catch a glimpse of how beautiful The Campus Beet cafe decor could look in the future.
The performances and art pieces made by WMU students showcased incredible talent on campus, an integral part of the Campus Beet vision. We hope to hang the community artwork created through the help of the I.D.E.A. association somewhere on campus or in the future cafe!
Several artists getting to work on the I.D.E.A. association community art project
Finally, the food was a huge hit! We worked long and hard to come up with a delicious and unique menu to show what kinds of amazing food The Campus Beet could serve. We collected surveys at the end of the event with reviews of each dish and the overall event. We will be diving into these surveys this week to find out what things were a hit and what we need to work on.
Jordyn making kale & berry smoothies
If you noticed the videographer group filming during the event, that was the Great Lakes Cinema Group, composing of two WMU alumni. They were there to document the event through interviews and footage. The GLCG will take this footage and turn it into a video that displays our Campus Beet vision!
Great Lakes Cinema Group interviewing Caleb about his work on The Campus Beet and The Purple Potato Cafe (the beet circa Spring 2010). Photo by Jake Huizenga.
Once again, thank you to everyone who attended the event! As we move forward and the semester ends the Beet will be working on a garden plot, summer goals, a week-long co-fed retreat and oh-so-much more. Stay tuned because our blog will be buzzing with activity!
Special thanks to Jake Huizenga for his photography!
