Claremore’s favorite foodie event – Sip, Savor & Shop: Taste of Claremore – returns downtown on April 29 for a night full of tasting, shopping and strolling.

The three-hour, self-guided food experience begins at 6 p.m. and spans the three blocks of downtown along Will Rogers Boulevard.

Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 on the day-of while children five years and younger who are eating off an adult’s plate are free. Tickets will go on sale in the participating downtown stores in early April.

In addition to the food and shopping, the evening will feature a variety of sidewalk entertainment by talented local musicians.

New this year, the event will also include a silent auction – offering attendees another opportunity to go home with goodies. The auction will be held in the Main Street/Chamber office, 419 W. Will Rogers Blvd.
“We’re excited to add the silent auction to our already great event,” said Dell Davis, Claremore Chamber of Commerce President and CEO. “It’s just a little touch that makes Taste of Claremore even more special without taking away from the point of the event – tasting and shopping!”

In 2016, more than 20 local restaurants and wineries set up inside various downtown stores and businesses, showcasing samples to the hundreds of people sipping, savoring and shopping.

“We have great support from local restaurants around the community as well as from our downtown businesses that host,” said Jessica Jackson, Main Street director. “It’s one of our favorite events each year.”

Additionally, guests will get to vote on their favorite flag featuring train safety created by fourth-graders in Claremore. The flag art is made possible by Union Pacific Railroad.

“The flag art gives local elementary school students an opportunity to learn about Claremore history and train safety,” Davis said.

Sip, Savor & Shop: Taste of Claremore is hosted by Claremore Main Street and the Claremore Area Chamber of Commerce, both of which are non-profit organizations in town. Proceeds of the event go to support the organization’s individual missions.

For more information, including a list of restaurants, musicians and participating stores as the event draws closer, tap here or call Claremore Main Street at 918-341-5881.

As Irish and American flags line the streets of downtown Claremore, many are gearing up for some special events this Saint Patrick’s Day.

Now in its ninth year, the Bangers and Mash Lunch is a great place to dine on March 17 every year. For $6, guests can enjoy a traditional Irish meal of bangers and mash, plus a cookie and a drink. Live music from Timothy O’Brian’s Celtic Cheer and Travis Peck will delight from the Eason Collision Stage.

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Claremore Daily Progress parking lot, 315 W. Will Rogers Blvd., and ends with an Irish stroll along the sidewalks.

That night, Claremore Main Street and Main Street Tavern partner for the St. Paddy’s Day Party from 6-10 p.m. in the Tavern parking lot, 116 N. Missouri Ave.

Dinner and adult beverages will be available for purchase while Timothy O’Brian’s Celtic Cheer will make an encore performance. Also performing on the Eason Collision Stage will be Frank Smreker and the Goode Academy of Irish Dancing.

Guests can choose between corned beef and cabbage or bangers and mash for dinner and can order Miller Light, Guinness, red or white wine and Jameson outside at the party. Water and soda will also be on sale.

Specialty color-changing cups will be available for purchase for $5. The cup is good for a dollar off each beer outside on the night.

At both events, volunteers will be selling T-shirts – two of which have downtown shopping dollars inside – for $15, Irish trinkets and raffle tickets. The raffle includes hundreds of dollars’ worth of goodies in three baskets – Painters Pot-O-Gold, Irish Survival Kit and a MST Claremore Vendor Basket. Tickets are $1 each.

​Cups and raffle tickets may be purchased in advance at Claremore Main Street’s office, 419 W. Will Rogers Blvd., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday or during either event on Friday.

The party is not limited to adults 21 and older, but IDs will be checked for those wishing to drink or purchase raffle tickets.

Finally, anyone can enter to win up $450 in Green Bucks – shopping dollars that can be spent like cash at 18 participating stores in downtown Claremore.

The Pot-O-Gold Giveaway is easy to enter. Visit any of the participating stores through noon March 16 and fill out a drawing ticket. No purchase necessary. Some stores offer additional tickets with purchased items, however.

At the Bangers and Mash Lunch, one ticket will be drawn for the $450 grand prize. The winner need not be present. Two smaller $50 giveaways will also be done during the lunch, but guests will need to be present to win one of those.

The participating stores are: Belvidere Gift Shop, Bike About Bicycles, Boarding House Books, Boomerang Diner, Centsible Spending, Cozy Cottage, Cranberry Merchant, District on Main, Grapevine, Haberdashery, LoliPop: A Sweet Boutique, Mad Dog’s Emporium, Outwest Home Décor, Rhapsody Boutique & Spa, Sailor Antiques, Thrift Harbor, Vintique Charm & Boutique and Willow Tree Mall.

Claremore Main Street is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that works to enrich downtown Claremore by promoting a healthy downtown economy, advocating for revitalization and historic preservation and hosting quality of life activities. Proceeds from the events benefit the organizations efforts.

The Presenting Sponsor for the Bangers & Mash Lunch and St. Paddy’s Day Party is Pixley Lumber. The Party is cohosted by Main Street Tavern.

Tap here for a full list of sponsors and additional information about the events.

Downtown Claremore’s favorite shopping event – the bimonthly Cash Mob – struck again in February as shoppers spent nearly $1,000 at a new downtown business.

The group mobbed The Haberdashery, 407 W. Will Rogers Blvd., an upscale men’s clothing and accessories store. The mob was sponsored by the City of Claremore.

“I’m so glad that there are groups like Cash Mob that are here to support local small businesses,” said Audrey Buck, who owns the Haberdashery with her husband, Justin Michael.

For Cash Mob, local supporters gather and then, as a group, “mob” a downtown store chosen at random, spending $20 or more into the local economy and heading home with a bagful of merchandise.

To do even more for the community, 10 percent of the proceeds of the night go to a local nonprofit or cause, voted on by the mobbers themselves. February’s mobbers selected the Rogers County Free Medical Clinic.

​“We’re thrilled to death that you all thought of us for this event. It’s a great cause,” said Ed Crum, the clinic’s founding president and one of the current board members.

The medical clinic provides medical services to Rogers County residents, particularly those uninsured or low income individuals. It is located at 2664 N. Hwy 88 on Thursday night’s from 6-9 p.m.

Participants in the Cash Mob agree to attend every other month and spend at minimum $20 at the store chosen at random the night of the event. The goal is to encourage shopping local and the downtown businesses’ success and to support local nonprofits.

Before the mob began, attendees came to a VIP gathering at the historic Will Rogers Hotel.

Cash Mob is every other month on the first Tuesday of the month. Pre-registration is necessary because the starting location changes each month. Register online here, and we will email the location out a week prior.

The next Cash Mob is scheduled for April. 4. The selected store will be drawn at 5:30 p.m., but the VIP gathering will begin at 4:30 p.m.