Sweetheart Wine Walk draws in the crowds

Sumner’s third annual February wine walk is a night of good wine, delicious chocolate and a pleasant atmosphere with no rain

Roxanne Cooke

The lines to check-in at the third annual Sweetheart Wine Walk stretched down the block and around the corner.

It was the largest number of people arriving at one time for a Sumner wine walk, said Sumner Downtown Association Executive Director Shelly Schlumpf.

From 4 to 8 p.m. last Saturday, hundreds of people strolled the streets of downtown Sumner, hopping from one store to the next for wine tasting, chocolate sampling and maybe even some shopping. More than 25 local businesses participated in the wine walk, serving more than 45 different types of wine, Schlumpf said.

Inside Sumner Family Eyecare, Sumner resident Mandy Aten, her boyfriend and some friends were enjoying wine and trying on glasses. This is the second year Aten has attended the February wine walk. This time around, it seemed that more stores were participating and more people showed up, she said.

“We really like it,” Aten said. “I think it’s gathering a lot of momentum.”

Aten said she prefers the Sweetheart Wine Walk to the Mystery Wine Walk in September. While the mystery is fun, it’s more the wine that interests her.

“I’m here to drink the wine,” she joked.

Sumner Family Eyecare owner Laura Toepfer said the flow of foot traffic was pretty steady through her store. She participated in the September wine walk before her store was completely finished, but this time around she was able to show off her business and even offer a sunglasses sale.

Elsewhere in downtown Sumner, a handful of businesses had their first experience participating in a Sumner wine event. Upstairs in The Attic, a buffet from Act 3 Catering drew in crowds, and several local businesses represented themselves at separate tables.

“We’re extremely pleased,” said owner Barbara Bennett.

Another business joining the fun for the first time was Alley on Main. Linda Jones, one of the owners, said everyone seemed happy.

“They get happier as the night wears on,” she said.

Anastacia’s, an antique and furniture store, was open but not offering wine. Owner Tina Layman said she tried the Mystery Wine Walk in September but sales weren’t impressive. This time, even though they didn’t participate in the event, their sales were doing well.

Though it was packed inside most stores, some people stood or sat outside to take a break, get off their feet or just enjoy the fact that it wasn’t raining.

Event-goer Allan Dobson, from Lake Tapps, was enjoying his first wine walk.

“It’s actually pretty nice,” he said, sitting on a bench outside paperMuse.

Dobson attended with family and said the event was a good opportunity to visit Sumner stores and try different wines — but he wasn’t sure how many wines he had sampled.

“It’s getting to where I can’t count anymore,” he joked.