Food Trucks II
On June 14th, the ROCKiN' PiZZA truck rolled into the Kotobuki parking lot at 3:30. We were hoping for a busy day but it had rained heavily on Saturday and was still coming down, on and off, Sunday afternoon. Though there was a sandwich board set up on the sidewalk, the truck was parked out of the rain, under the roof. So it wasn’t so clearly seen by passers-by. At the end of the day, though, I think most everyone was satisfied.
Rainy ROCKiN’ PiZZA sign on Bijutsukan Street
Through invitations and friends of friends, we did have a good number of customers for Ryoko of ROCKiN' PiZZA. It was a pretty international crowd, with Yamanashi artists and teachers. We also had a rather it’s-a-small-world moment as our neighbor turned out to be a co-worker of one of the other customers. It practically became a party, without any music or booze.
Before the cooking started…
In addition to serving, we were also collecting. I borrowed a Food Bank donation bin and we stationed it near the truck. On Monday I was able to hand over about 5 shopping bags of donated food to Food Bank Yamanashi for their June/July food drive. Special thanks to the staff of Persol, Answer Knocks, and to my mother-in-law!
At Food Bank Yamanashi
The Kaibutsukun no Sagashimono (かいぶつくんの探し物) by Gaku Okata has been on a bit of a Kofu tour. On Sunday, it stopped by Kotobuki, and before and after pizza, customers contributed to the canvas. About 20 people complemented the project with their own ideas. You can get more information about the project from AIRY (Artist in Resident Yamanashi.)
Kaibutsukun no Sagashimono, かいぶつくんの探し物
Sunday also served as a kickoff for the Kotobuki Clover show, put on by the current guests of Kotobuki. Please arrange to come to the show. Use Line to make a reservation, or contact the hosts at kotobukiclover@gmail.com The Food Bank food drive will continue until July 10th. If you’d like, you can make a donation when you go to the show. Most non-perishables are fine as long as they expire after August 2020.
Now while I thought it was cool we had an international crowd on Sunday, I have to admit I was uptight about so many people so close together in times such as these. I’ll feel some relief once two weeks have passed. Also, while I’m grateful for the customers who came, I wish we had some more drop-ins. Perhaps it was the weather, or perhaps we looked too much like a private party. But Ryoko said she enjoyed meeting the folks who came, and I think my neighbors would have enjoyed that as well, if only I could have roped more of them in.