Mansfield parties with a purpose

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Food, music, a photo booth and friends – the Mansfield Mission Center knows how to throw a party. The local non-profit agency will host the annual Taste of Mansfield from 6-9 p.m. Thursday at Aristide Mansfield, 570 N. Walnut Creek Drive. Unlimited tastings, beer, wine and soft drinks are included with admission, which is $50. Get tickets here.

“It will be a great night to stay local and taste all your favorite restaurants,” said Lindsey Trook, director of development at the Mansfield Mission Center.

Local restaurants will provide bite-sized tastings. Vendors will be Big D BBQ, Soulman’s Barbeque, El Primo’s Mexican Grill & Cantina, Fish City Grill, Poured, Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop, Dirty Job Brewing, Market Street, Steven’s Garden & Grill, MaryLou’s Coffee & Sandwich Shoppe, La Gondola, Main St. Tacos, Flying Squirrel Coffee Company, Walnut Creek Country Club, The Porch and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop.

A disc jockey will keep the party going, and a photo booth will help capture the fun. The patio will be open at Aristide with heaters, just in case it gets chilly. New this year will be valet parking.

Mansfield Mayor and District 96 State Representative-Elect David Cook and his wife, Tonya, will be co-hosting the event.

The party will be scaled down from last year, Trook said, due to COVID-19 with social distancing, masks and fewer tickets.

Even though the party is smaller, the need is greater, she said. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Mansfield Mission Center.

“Now more than ever families who have not had to reach out now need health care at our medical clinic and food from the food pantry,” Trook said. “We need to fund raise in a safe way. The need is increasing.”

So far this year, the Mansfield Mission Center has had more than 1,900 visits to the food market, 700-plus visits to the free medical clinic, helped prepare more than 225 income tax returns and held over 200 financial and employment coaching sessions.

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