(After) The Annual Chocolate Crawl
Well, I meant to do this before, but that’s okay. Knob Noster had it’s Annual Chocolate Crawl on Saturday, Feb 8th (it’s always the second Saturday in February) and Karen and I teamed up for it! I did a horrible job on notifying anyone the extras we had going on for it, and then we ended up winging the rest of it. First, what even is the Chocolate Crawl?
The Knob Noster Chamber of Commerce has the Chocolate Crawl as a fun and free, community event, where you (the participant) get a stamp card and a list of participating businesses.. you have to physically go into each business on the list and the business will stamp your card. Not only do you get your card stamped, but each business spends their personal $$$ to supply various chocolates / treats / whatever you would like to call them.. for each participant to have (for free - so when you participate, be nice, we don't have to do these). When you collect all the stamps from every business, your turn your card in for a basket drawing. They introduced a kids basket at the December Cookie Stroll, and since it was such a success, they did it this time, too (because.. it’s free cookies and chocolate.. what kid doesn’t want to participate in that). Okay.. so that’s what it is. A fun event where even if you don't win the basket, you still win from going around collecting chocolate amd exploring businesses in your area. It’s a bonus for the businesses, since they have to actually go in your business to get the stamp. Massage therapy is pretty low key, and we’re not open regular hours for walk-ins, so we heard loads of “We didn’t know you were here”, and appointment booking following it 😅.
Karen and I collaborated and created cute, “ready to go” Valentine's Day themed (but not over the top.. soft muted colors, thank you) gift bags to be given free with any gift certificate purchase.
They were a hit. I lost the stamper for the cards and we didn’t collab completely, but we rolled with it when Karen decided the gift certificates were going to be $10 off, and I grabbed my kid's stamp from her upcoming holiday party 😅🤷🏻♀️. We made a sign, and packed up the gift bags with candy, leather heart-shaped bookmarks, flowers that were actually pens (that wrote amazingly well), vintage colored note pads, and mugs with more candy.
It was super fun! Karen and I have known eachother from the start of our massage careers. We went to Wellspring School of Allied Health together, carpooled, and weirdly are capable of working quite well together. (We were previously at One Body Massage together, shared a room, collabed on decor for it and schedules - it is quite rare to find someone that you’re friends with and able to cowork with like that - and now I sublease her space on her non work days).
Okay, back to the Chocolate Crawl! All in all it was a super successful day for everyone! And I’m glad our local Chamber of Commerce hosts events like these for the community. I will do my best to add any extra happenings BEFORE they take place next time.
Things we learned.. Karen is much better at making the bags look pretty than I am 🤣🤣. Complete all collab details before the actual event. Make sure signs are printed instead of hand written with a sharpie. Find the actual stamper. We are still able to roll with whatever the dice lands on. It all works out regardless and we have fun no matter what.
(And have air sanitizer spray or something ready to go for those people who smoke.. had an older gentleman come in and the cigarette “aroma” filled the entire place - thankful for the air purifier, open doors, and scented sprays)
Happy February!! *and don't forget we have snow storm watches and warnings creeping in so prep now / stay safe!
- Jamie