Community set to Celebrate Davis on May 15

The fifth-annual Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event Celebrate Davis will take place May 15, as a means of informing the community of different businesses, nonprofits and services Davis has to offer.

Between 4:30 and 9 p.m. at Community Park located at 14th and F streets, there will be approximately 150 business booths where the expected 8,000 community members will have the opportunity to speak to business owners about their services.

“It gives Davis business a chance to get out in the community and talk to Davis residents and consumers,” said Celebrate Davis coordinator Nancy Cole. “Booths will have information on what they do, and it’s just for visibility so people can get to know what services and shops are available in Davis.”

“I think [Celebrate Davis] translates into a relationship with customers,” said owner of Davis Ace Hardware and past organizer of Celebrate Davis Jennifer Anderson. “Customers get to know stores exist, and with well-known stores, customers can see them in a different perspective…. It’s a way of businesses of saying that we’re part of the community.”

In addition to the informational aspect of Celebrate Davis, the event also features a variety of Davis musical guests, including Cal Aggie Marching Band-Uh! There will also be prizes and activities for both children and adults with gift bags for the first 1,200 attendees. In addition, there will be purchasable refreshments, including “adult beverages,” from Davis establishments such as Caffé Italia and The Hotdogger. The evening of information and entertainment will come to a close with a fireworks show at 9 p.m.

Coordinating the different activities required a great deal of planning.

“The planning really begins the day the last one ends,” Cole said. “We have meetings on what went well and what we can do to make the next year better.”

In order to figure out logistics for the event, Bob Bowen, the Public Relations manager for the city of Davis, got involved in event planning for Celebrate Davis.

“[I was brought in] to help envision how this whole event would work in the venue that wasn’t designed for easy loading and unloading,” he said.

“It takes a lot of planning committees that size up the responsibilities [finding food vendors, sponsors, raising funds, business registration],” Bowen said. “All the planning goes on so that on the day of the event, you don’t have any surprises or at least keep them to a minimum.… You can’t control the weather, but the things you can control you try to.”

Not only is Celebrate Davis a forum to become informed about Davis’ businesses and services, but it also affords a place for UC Davis students to experience the community.

“UCD students in general get to see there is a wonderful community and a lot more outside the boundaries of the university, and the students should see how cool the town and community of Davis really is,” Bowen said.

Staying in accordance with the “all that is Davis” theme, the Chamber of Commerce urges people to ride their bikes to the event and will have free, secure bike valet parking.

ALEX BULLER can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com.