Hamstead, Williams & Shook donates $10,000 to bolster community activities in downtown Morgantown

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. –
Feb. 11, 2014

In an effort to give more people “a taste of Morgantown,” the law office of Hamstead Williams & Shook has contributed $10,000 to the Main Street Morgantown organization.

Main Street Morgantown Executive Director Terri Cutright said the “very generous donation” will be used for one of the community’s favorite events: Art Is Food.

Art Is Food is the outdoor dining experience before the Arts Walk, a self-guided evening for people to enjoy downtown and its artwork. The walk is now in its 13th year and is conducted in partnership with two art organizations.

“Restaurants do a sampling of their cuisines, which is the dining experience before people go on the Arts Walk,” Cutright said.

Art is Food is now in its third year at the Morgantown Market Place. The event will be held this year on Sept. 26, during West Virginia University’s Fall Family Weekend. Last year, about 400 diners took the opportunity to taste cuisines from about eight downtown and Wharf District restaurants.

Cutright and George Papandreas, president of the Main Street Morgantown board of directors, broached the idea of sponsoring the special event to Hamstead, Williams & Shook attorneys Jacques Williams and Alex Shook.

“(The law firm) has been a supporter of Main Street Morgantown ever since they got here. They’ve contributed from the beginning,” Cutright said, adding that when they discussed the Art Is Food event, “It was very well-received. (The attorneys) said this was a great community event and they definitely wanted to be associated with it.”

Cutright, who has been with the Main Street Morgantown organization for nearly 25 years, said the contribution from Hamstead, Williams & Shook will be put to good use to give the downtown area exposure.

“To be able to do an event like this, there are a lot of logistics: Cater the food, tables, chairs, dining amenities. There are a lot of components for an event with 400-500 people, and we’ll utilize some of the funds for promotion of the event,” she said. “It gives the restaurants extreme exposure to the people that attend. Some people have just not had the opportunity to go to a particular restaurant, so featuring their food at the event is just wonderful exposure.”

The cost of the Art Is Food event is $15 per person, and people can sample appetizers, entrées and desserts from each of the participating restaurants. With about 8-10 various types of eateries participating, Cutright said, “No one goes away hungry that evening. There’s plenty of food.”