There’s nothing like getting together with your neighbors to share a meal — which is why Cole Street will stay closed after Sundays on Cole to play host to a community dinner.
The dinner, organized by the Enumclaw Business Owners Collective, is planned for Aug. 28 at 6 p.m.
This isn’t the first time the city has closed down its main street for such an event — the first was in 2017, said Cole Street Brewery owner Sean McDonald — but no dinner has been organized since 2019.
“To me, this year is going to be extra special, because [of] everything that we’ve dealt with the last couple of years,” he continued. “This is a community dinner — what is more symbolic than breaking food together and sharing food?… [It’s] the community thanking the community for being a community.”
The dinner will close Cole Street from Griffin Avenue to Myrtle Avenue and Griffin Avenue to Initial Avenue. Each side will have a unique spread, created by local businesses.
On the east side, Chef Ky of O’Chef Kitchen will be serving citrus grilled chicken, baked ziti, summerfield salad, and fresh baked dinner rolls.
The newly-established Casting Iron restaurant (and axe-throwing venue) on the west side will be preparing brisket hand pies with sides of Beecher’s mac and cheese, baked beans, coleslaw, and a giant chocolate chip cookie.
The dinner can host up to 300 people; tickets have gone fast, but McDonald said there are still several dozen left.
To by a ticket, head to the “Enumclaw Here is What’s Happening” Facebook page or tinyurl.com/y8hrrncv. Tickets cost $35.
Please note that east-side seats with Chef Ky have already sold out.
SUPPORTING COMMUNITY EVENTS
Money raised at the community dinner will go toward buying new chairs and fire pits for the weekend Cole Street closures.
“Chairs and tables are [our] first goal,” he added. “We can use [the fire pits] right now as tables, but we’re not going to light a fire in them again, because I don’t think they can function. They’ve been just disconnected, reconnected, carried so many different times.”
McDonald estimated it will need $4,000 to replace the fire pits.
If the Enumclaw Business Owners Collective is able to successfully replace the pits and chairs, donations will then go toward supporting community events like Sundays on Cole, Trunk-Or-Treat, and Snow on Cole.
This is not the first community dinner held on Cole Street — the first was 2017, and a second in 2018. However, no dinner was organized for the next three years. Courtesy photo
