By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Chocolate has a way of bringing out the best and sometimes brazen behavior in people.
Take Sean and Sandy Williams, of Bowling Green, who accidentally wandered into the Wood County Chocolate Crawl on Saturday afternoon in downtown BG.
“Oh my God, it’s so exceptional,” Sean Williams said about the chocolate cake with buttercream frosting from Sunset Bistro … right before he licked the last crumbs off the paper plate, while standing on a Main Street sidewalk.
The couple had intended to check out work by local artists in the annual Art Walk downtown, and they happened upon the chocolate crawl.
“Suddenly, our life looked much more interesting,” said Sandy Williams.
Prior to the cake stop at BroadWing Tattoo Shop, the pair had stopped in to Call of the Canyon for the cheesecake bites – with three different flavors to choose from.
She picked chocolate, he chose raspberry.
“Did he share any with me,” Sandy Williams said, feigning offense at the slight. “Did she share with me,” her husband shot back with a smile.
“No, it was gone in 60 seconds,” Sandy said.
Admitting to being rookies at the chocolate crawl, the couple said they have learned some lessons for next year’s event – bring wipes and napkins.
Before the Chocolate Crawl officially began at 2 p.m., 250 people had already registered. As Tina Ohmart Mendoza, of United Way, signed up more people in Wooster Green, she was hoping to hit 300 participants this year.
To each chocoholic on the crawl, Mendoza handed out maps resembling the curvy course of the Candyland board game. The maps listed 21 stops along the route, where businesses passed out sweet treats. True to the game, the maps included candy-inspired locations – such as Peanut Butter Plateau, Truffle Tower, Chocolate Strawberry Fields, and Chocolate Maze. Landing on the vanilla cupcake sent participants back two spaces.
As Marilyn Levinson, of Bowling Green, picked up her map and goodie bag, she came with the tools of a professional chocolate crawler – plastic “Tupperware” like containers to stash the goods. When it was pointed out that the container appeared a little small for the task, Levinson brushed away any doubts of her chocolate hauling skills.
“I’ve done this before,” glancing in her bag. “There’s two of them, actually,” she said of her plastic containers.
After all, “There’s no such thing as too much chocolate,” Levinson said. “I’m not picky.”
Making their way from Wooster Green to the downtown shops, three friends talked strategy after getting their first bite of chocolate – a buckeye – to fuel their crawl efforts. Two of the three, Natalie Jenkins of Bowling Green, and Lauren Mercer of Findlay, had been down the cocoa covered road before.
However, Brandi Penrose of Toledo, was a newbie and came unprepared with plastic packing containers.
“This is my first time,” Penrose said, accepting the challenge. “I’ll eat as I go.”
At the Kali Glow shop, a mother-son chocolate team of Alex Coe and Richard Coe were keeping their tradition going. The pair has only missed one crawl since they began in 2018.
“It’s our little tradition,” Alex Coe said. “Cuz his mother makes him.”
The two generations picked out “mood chocolates” at a table staffed by Children’s Resource Center employees. Depending on the mood of the participants – grumpy, tired, excited, happy or silly – different flavors were recommended, such as dark chocolate strawberry champagne, milk chocolate toffee crunch or dark chocolate espresso.
Further down the street, Erin Scheidegger-Menendez was headed into her fourth stop along the route.
“I’ve eaten four of them so far, so I’m keeping up the pace,” she said.
Scheidegger-Menendez decided to sign up for the crawl to support United Way, an organization that her family members and her students have turned to for help in the past.
When she walked into the BroadWing Tattoo and Body Piercing shop, she expressed gratitude for her light meal of cucumbers and red peppers for lunch. That allowed room for the chocolate cake made from scratch, from Sunset Bistro.
Down at Novel Blends, members of NAMI were handing out chocolate treats. Michelle and Jeff Snow, of Haskins, signed up for the crawl to support their daughter, who works for NAMI. They stuck around for the sweet delicacies.
“You can’t beat the chocolate,” Jeff Snow said. The couple agreed that if they participate next year, they will be packing plastic ware. “Now we know.”
Further down South Main Street, Clay Pot restaurant was serving up a drinkable sweet treat – chocolate cake shots. For those wanting a non-alcoholic option, there were eclairs.
Veronica Mierzejewski, who owns the restaurant with husband, Grant, had forgotten to sign up this year for the chocolate crawl, when she got a call from United Way asking them to join in again this year.
“They said the shots were such a huge hit,” Veronica Mierzejewski said.
Across the street, at Juniper Brewing Co., Birdie and Nikki King, of Wayne, were headed in for the next treat on their route, a choice between double chocolate or turtle chocolate cookies.
“We’re newbies,” Birdie King said. The chocolate crawl tickets were a Mother’s Day gift from her mom, who also kept the kids overnight.
It was the perfect gift. “We are huge fans” of all chocolate – except white chocolate, which shouldn’t even be considered a chocolate, Nikki King said.
The couple said they probably shouldn’t devour all the delicacies, saving at least a few items to make it home. “We have two little ones who know we are doing this,” Birdie King said with a smile.
