At the homecoming carnival on Thursday Sept. 17 several restaurants gathered in the cafeteria from 4:30 to 7 p.m. These restaurants offered samples to students, faculty, and family for the modest price of five dollars. This event not only served samples and plates of food from various sellers, but also had a live DJ and non-food items available for perusing.

Taste of Perry has been an asset of PHS since its opening, and it has not lost its value. Students and families alike found this event to be worthwhile. Senior Justin Hooks commented “they do it every year, and it’s a nice way for the school to earn money.” Many parents found the event to be family-friendly. Mother of four Corinna Bennett praised “we really liked the Taste of Perry. We’d go again next year.”

Although the overall feedback was positive, critique was not unheard of. The event offered many vendors, however each restaurant only offered, on average, one to two items. These items were often meat-based, which is great for all the carnivores out there, but vegetarians were primarily limited to drinks and desserts. Senior Savannah Haslam suggested “it would be cool to have maybe a specific vegetarian or vegan section.” Including vegan or vegetarian vendors, or simply more vegetarian-friendly options from the current restaurants would appeal to a wider range of consumers.

One easy fix to this issue would be to add a single salad or veggie-based restaurant to the list of vendors. “More vegetarian options would be nice because it opens up our options a lot more” Haslam confirmed.

Another suggested change to the management is to have the event cater to the students’ needs. “They have a nice variety, but maybe taking student requests…would be a nice twist” Hooks offered.

The event itself was bustling on the inside, and it almost seemed like time stopped, when in fact it did the exact opposite. With the homecoming carnival running in joint with Taste, it seemed as though the event had only just began when the cafeteria doors were closing for the night. “We were sad it closed so early” Bennett criticized.

A single murmured complaint was creating fear in the students who wished to have a taste, a fear that certain vendors already ran out. This drives customers away from the event before it is officially over, which only leads to lost profits. Few vendors were empty-handed when 6:30 approached, yet word of shortage began circulating at least an hour before that time. Taste could sell tickets a week before the carnival, and determine how much food each vendor should supply based on those numbers, or simply send out a survey.

Taste, although in need of tweaking, was definitely worth the entrance fee. The music kept the scene lively, the vendors were popular restaurants, and the amount of food each customer could receive was essentially endless. Taste could flourish if the quantities vendors brought increased, the event ran longer, and the variety in options increased.