More than 175 students began St. Patrick's Day weekend by participating in the first Village Sham Walk on Friday evening. Students wandered to 10 participating Village businesses from 4 to 6 p.m. at their leisure, hunting for answers to St. Patrick's Day-themed trivia questions, sampling food and drinks and most importantly, opening their eyes to what the Village has to offer.
As a group project for an immersive advanced event planning course, the Village Sham Walk exceeded the expectations of committee members, more than doubling the attendance goal of 75 participants. At $3 per person, an unexpected profit of about $150 was made.
Junior Alix Sappington, group leader and public relations major, said she hopes to make the Village Sham Walk an annual event.
"The event completely exceeded my expectations," Sappington said. "I was thrilled, attendees were thrilled and business owners were thrilled. Basically, I'm looking forward to the Village Sham Walk 2013."
In recent years, the Village has struggled to maintain a positive reputation among students, due to businesses constantly closing. But warm weather and fresh-faced storefronts instilled a sense of hope in the area's potential to come out of hibernation.
Senior biochemistry major Slade Kepler said he enjoyed visiting upcoming and recently opened businesses in the Village. Kepler frequented the Village as a freshman, but said he has recently spent less time in the area due to several closing businesses.
"I like that someone is trying to breathe some life into the Village," Kepler said. "The attraction had kind of died out before. If they had events like this once a month, I think it would be really successful and support growth."
The Sham Walk began with a sneak peek of two upcoming businesses occupying the vacant building that previously housed MT Cup and Motini's. The downstairs coffee shop and restaurant The Cup and upstairs bar and lounge DGÇóLuxe will offer a similar atmosphere as their predecessors and hope to become staple Village establishments.
Jacob Davis, co-owner of DGÇóLuxe, said he wants his establishment to stand out among other bars in the Village by offering a sophisticated drink menu and atmosphere without the extra cost. Along with business partner Andy Goth, Davis has been renovating the bar for the past four weeks and said they still have about four weeks of work ahead of them before the bar is open to the public.
"We wanted people to take a look at what we're doing," Davis said. "We're obviously not quite there yet."
Davis said he wants to open DGÇóLuxe as soon as possible, with ideas of a Cinco de Mayo opening night party in mind.
One block west of The Cup and DGÇóLuxe, Sham Walk participants indulged in cupcakes provided by cardinal cupcakes and coneys. Sampling miniature versions of the 'Benny' (chocolate cake with chocolate frosting) and the 'Go Kart' (vanilla cake with vanilla frosting) junior Ryan Cole and senior Shelby Leakey explained that even as upperclassmen, they had never stepped foot into many of the participating Village businesses.
"Many students don't even know about the Village until they're older," Cole said. "Freshmen and sophomores that live in the dorms on the opposite end of campus aren't exposed to it as much."
Both food and hospitality majors and members of the advanced event planning course, Cole and Leakey said they attended the Sham Walk to show their support and provide feedback to their fellow classmates.
"I definitely didn't expect these events to have that much of an outcome," Cole said. "It's gone off without a hitch."
Melissa Bucur, owner of cardinal cupcakes and coneys, was also shocked by the Sham Walk's outcome. Within the first hour of the event, all 125 sample cupcakes Bucur prepared for participants had been eaten. As a Ball State graduate, Bucur said the Village was the place to meet new people and maintained a lively atmosphere during her college years. She said the Sham Walk was successful in driving awareness to the Village.
"It's always great to bring people down that haven't been for a while so they can see the changes being made," Bucur said. "Anything that drives traffic down here is helpful."
As for the $150 profit? After asking participating business owners where they think the money should be spent, Sappington along with her group members plan to donate it to organizations working to revitalize the Village.
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