Crowd turns out for Taste of Nestlé

Lindsay Whitehurst
The Herald Bulletin

August 22, 2006 08:24 pm

— It was like Willy Wonka’s fantastic chocolate factory come to life and transplanted to Anderson’s Towne Center Park.
With a giant slingshot, two huge inflatable slides, and yes, Willy Wonka himself, the Taste of Nestlé festival brought out crowd unseen since Anderson’s General Motors heyday.
“I bet there’s 5,000 to 10,000 people here now,” Deputy Fire Chief Dan Dykes said as he walked Meridian Street around 5 p.m. “They were planning for 30,000, and with everyone getting out of work, they may get that.”
By comparison, most downtown events in Anderson attract a few hundred people, he said.
Near the Willy Wonka/Nerds booth, 7-year-old Jake Drechsler stood inside a clear plastic booth, surrounding by swirling golden dollars.
“It was cool!” he said, eyes big, arms full of the Laffy Taffy and Nerds candy he won for catching the bits of paper.
“I haven’t seen anything like this in a long time,” his mom, Michelle Drechsler, 36, said. “I grew up in Anderson. It’s nice to see people out.”
From the plastic money booth to an inflatable side, at least 20 feet high.
“I went down the mountain!” 4-year-old Chasity Welker said.
“It felt bouncy!” her cousin Darren James House, 5, said, his brown eyes wide.
Their cousin, 9-year-old Dakota Moore, said going down the slide was the most fun thing at the festival.
“It’s fun,” Nigel Moore, 8, said, in summary.
The four cousins were supervised by their grandmother, 60-year-old retired pizza maker Laura Webb.
“I love it,” she said, cradling an armful of NesQuick bottles of chocolate milk. “It’s good to see something nice and peaceful going on.”
Nejiba Ayari, a therapist for Medicare, called her friend Vickie Watson, a stay-at-home mom, to go to the festival.
“It’s always nice when you get free food!” Ayari, 42, said with a laugh.
Watson, 53, said the wall climb booth impressed her— but she wasn’t in too much of a hurry to do it herself.
Meanwhile, a group of teenagers had the same idea: get as much free food, from Nestlé Crunch Sticks to Hot Pockets, as humanly possible.
“The best is getting free food and stuff,” Bryan Richardon, 18, said. Joel Minnich agreed.
Meanwhile, his buddy, 18-year-old Haiven Cox, showed off a cell-phone picture of himself and the Nestlé bunny — acting less the friendly.
“I got kicked by the Nestlé bunny!” he said with a laugh.
Like just about everyone else, the teens had a great time.
“It’s pretty sweet,” Chris Huff, 16, said. Yes Chris, it was.