Side Street Cafe Cans Crayons and Uses Modeling Clay for Kids

Last night (Saturday, August 14th) my wife and I were in Bar Harbor for the 21st Annual Carol Dyer Luminaria Evening on the Village Green and we ate dinner at the Side Street Cafe.

When we walked in, we noticed all these little clay figurines in a variety of colors at the hostess station

We thought how cool are those, and how did they get there, and why were they there? So we had to ask our waitress, Marina Majkic, who has worked at Side Street since 2020. First, Marina and the rest of the staff provided fantastic service. She answered questions about the menu, made suggestions and was very pleasant and engaging!

It turns out, they no longer provide children with crayons to keep them occupied while waiting at their tables. Instead they offer them a package or 2 of modeling clay when they are seated.

Children then are encouraged to make something, and take it with them or leave it for display!

Having been a former Food and Beverage Director and Hotel General Manager I was just amazed at this! I had to go talk with the Eckerts who were eating at Side Street from Hershey, Pennsylvania who graciously allowed me to photograph their children. They eat at Side Street every year they come to Bar Harbor, and the kids were loving the clay!

So we asked Marina what happens with the clay when everyone leaves. Well, it turns out they are trying to see how many packages of clay they're going through, and are making a giant ball with the left over clay!

What a great idea!

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