Alive on 25

Thanked the board for supporting this Thursday's Alive on 25 street festival downtown and encouraged everyone to come out.

The Ben & Jerry's owner and town resident urged keeping Alive on 25, saying events bring families downtown, activate Main Street, and that this is Riverhead's moment — suggesting a restaurant week to support sit-down restaurants.

The lifelong resident and event organizer said last year's event was a success, urged earlier planning, and asked to be brought to the table on event logistics, noting vendors book far in advance.

The Chamber of Commerce interim director reported that after walking Main Street, most businesses supported the events, with the top request being a Thursday rather than Friday schedule; one business opposed and some objected to food trucks.

A Main Street Agency event staffer who helped run last year's events defended food trucks as essential for families and described the careful curation of Riverhead-based vendors, musicians, and the pub crawl.

Chamber representative who relayed that business groups suggested a different event, like a wine-and-dine, instead of Alive on 25 this year.