Constitution Day, also known as Citizenship Day, celebrates the adoption of the Constitution in 1787. // Photo courtesy of Anthony Garand.
Hofstra hosts local businesses on Food Truck Fridays
September 26, 2023
On select Fridays this month, Pride Park hosted three different local businesses in the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement’s Food Truck Friday event series. These events featured several different cuisines from the community’s food trucks, free for students to try.
“Culturally, food brings family, friends [and] people together,” said Paul Ferrante, the assistant director of student leadership and engagement for fraternity and sorority life. “We are at the start of the academic semester; this is a great opportunity for students to get engaged, listen to music, connect with other people [and] enjoy some comradery over some good food.”
The first event of the series took place on Friday, Sept. 8, with Pies-on Wheels, featuring wood-fired, brick oven pizza. The next event, on Friday, Sept. 15, featured Trini Bites, an upscale Caribbean takeout truck. And finally, on Friday, Sept. 22, Bistro on the Go provided a taste of Vietnam.
“They [the food truck businesses] were very excited. They want to partner with different institutions, different businesses, different community areas, so any exposure or engagement is worthwhile,” Ferrante said. “They are super-friendly and easy to work with. It’s always fun creating a menu with them.”
The free food brought a crowd of Hofstra students each week, with lines forming even before the events began at noon. The line was consistently long until the event ended two hours later.
“The food was very good, even if the wait time did take a bit; I don’t blame them,” said Alyssa Zimmermann, a junior music business major. Zimmermann was one of the many students attracted to the event. “People love free stuff.”
Bistro on the Go provides a taste of Vietnam for Hofstra students on Friday, Sept. 22. // Photo courtesy of Sophia Guddemi.
Kristen Enea, a graduate student and creative arts therapy major, along with her friend Jacqueline Kaider, a graduate student and public relations major, waited 15 minutes before the Friday, Sept. 15, event started to be the first people in line.
“It gets you out to try different foods from the community,” Enea said. Enea and Kaider had been to the first week’s event and decided to return to try a new food that they had never had before.
“It was not what I was expecting, but I was not disappointed. It was very good,” said Jayda Marshall, a senior psychology major.
“Waiting in line brings people together. You have nothing else to do but to talk to people,” Marshall said. This sentiment was expressed by other Hofstra students who attended the event and believed that bringing different cuisines to students for free brings the community together.
Food Truck Fridays will take a break next Friday for Fall Fest but will return on Friday, Oct. 6, and Friday, Oct. 13.