Last week marked the fourth Truckin’ Tuesday event of the season at Adams Apple Orchard and Farm Market in Williston.

Mini golf joins weekly food and music event at Adams Farm, by Douglas Phinney

Food trucks and customers packed into the lot of the farm market for an evening of hot food, live music and portable mini golf. The event series is now in its second year. It started June 1 and will continue through Aug. 24 for a total of 14 Tuesdays this summer.

“Our original intent was to make this as big of a community event as we could,” said Kim Antonioli, co-owner and greenhouse manager at Adams Farm, and one of the people responsible for organizing the event.

Planning for Truckin’ Tuesdays began prior to the COVID 19 pandemic, and although the pandemic certainly offered some challenges, Truckin’ Tuesdays was able to thrive in 2020.

“People loved it. It was an easy thing for them to do and feel safe through the pandemic,” Antonioli said.

Now, with most COVID restrictions lifted for vaccinated individuals, Truckin’ Tuesdays is coming into its own.

Last Tuesday, a constant stream of customers filed in, ordering food and listening to live music.

“We have live music on the front porch almost every week this year,” said Antonioli.

No Lemon, a Burlington-based band played its second Truckin’ Tuesdays event. Families lined the lawn as the quartet set up its equipment. Four food trucks were on site.

“We’ve added two new trucks this year. Right now, we have a rotation of five trucks,” said Antonioli.

The five trucks include: The Dizzy Dozen, cooking up donuts and deep-fried tacos; Grazers, offering burgers, fries and milkshakes; A Single Pebble, with a variety of classic Chinese cuisine; Yum, where you can order grilled cheese, mac-and-cheese, and snow cones; and Baba’s Tacos serving up street style tacos.

'Gold on the Go’

Alongside the food and music, there is another unique entertainment option available at Truckin’ Tuesdays this year.

Mini Golf on the Go, a business established in 2020, will be present at all of the Truckin’ Tuesday events this summer.

As its name suggests, the business offers customers the opportunity to play a portable version of mini golf. The course is transportable and can be set up almost anywhere. The course consists of nine small custom-built holes, and a variety of challenging obstacles.

Peter Miller, the founder of Mini Golf on the Go and a sophomore at Champlain College, started the business as a quarantine project during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’ve always loved mini golf, and I taught myself how to do some woodworking and carpentry during COVID,” says Miller, standing next to the first hole of his course.

After a friend of his tested positive for COVID-19, Miller had to complete a two-week quarantine.

Since he was not sick himself, he took the opportunity to create his first portable mini golf course.

“I quarantined in my garage and my bedroom, and I built the entire course when I was quarantined in my garage,” said Miller.

The course was busy last Tuesday, as children and families tried their hand on what is the second nine-hole course Miller has built. Miller in encouraged by the response to the business.

“The teachers and the Small Business Center (at Champlain College) were a huge help to me along the way,” says Miller. “I’d love to franchise it, you know, different courses in different states.”

For now, he’ll continue to set up his course at Adams Farm every Tuesday and take the opportunities that come his way.

Miller was not the only new face at last week’s event. Many first-time customers attended, alongside those returning from last year.

Emma Rapp was among those new to Truckin’ Tuesdays. She arrived with co-workers as part of a work event. She said her only problem was deciding which truck to order food from, as she found all of the options appealing. She plans to return Adams Farm for a future Truckin’ Tuesdays event.

Like Rapp, the Brien family was attending the event for the first last Tuesday. They were riding on the nearby bike path when they saw information for the event and decided to come. They’ve tried food from both Grazers and the Dizzy Dozen. They, too, plan on returning again this summer.

This is exactly what Antonioli said she had in mind for Truckin’ Tuesdays.

“We wanted to make it something that was a nice thing to do for families through the summer,” she said.

So far, she’s more than happy with the success the event has seen, and she’s optimistic that it will continue. If last Tuesday’s crowd is any indication of the future of Truckin’ Tuesdays, she’s right.

To view published article on the Williston Observer, click here.