Press release from the Black Mountain Chamber of Commerce:
Take Out 21 initiative officially launches on January 27, 2021. One of the industries hit hardest during COVID has been the restaurant industry. In an effort to sustain food and brew businesses, Take Out 21 encourages area residents to pledge spending a minimum of $21 for Take-Out meals every week during the winter of 2021.
“The idea was the brain-child and collaborative development between Town of Black Mountain Alderman Pam King, Doug Hay, and Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Jon Brooks,” states Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce, Executive Director, Sharon Tabor.
The initiative launches with the website www.blackmountainchamber.com where visitors can view the list of food and brew options within Swannanoa Valley boundaries from Black Mountain to the east boundary of Asheville. The website is mobile-friendly. Tapping the phone number on a mobile device will take the customer directly to the business. Links to menus from Chamber Partners are also available.
The Town of Black Mountain is also establishing designated Curbside Pickup parking spaces on Cherry Street for customer convenience before February 1. “The Town of Black Mountain supports our small businesses, and this is one small project to help our businesses survive,” states Josh Harrold, Town of Black Mountain Town Manager. “And don’t forget to tip! Take out requires equal or greater effort to prepare. Wait staff depends on tips for their livelihood”, reiterates Ms. Tabor.
If the cook and staff refuse to wear a mask, what is the difference? I won’t be eating any food from any Black Mountain establishment as long as the town continues to politicize PPE. (police and firefighters wearing it yet?) Nobody at Lake Tomahawk wears it, nobody I encounter on daily walks all along Montreat Rd. is wearing a mask. Maskless customers at Ingles boldly entering through “exit only” doors, though to be fair, it’s barely readable. Black Mountain is not yet on board with compliance so…no money of mine spent there.