- September 6, 2024
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The last Ranch Nite Wednesday of the season drew a large crowd despite the hot weather.
Photo by Lesley DwyerTaylor Opie sings the Bill Withers classic, "Lovely Day," in the pavillion during Ranch Nite Wednesday.
Photo by Lesley DwyerLakewood Ranch resident Jack Kenna, 3, points at the pizza truck.
Photo by Lesley DwyerRyan Kelly pulls a pepperoni pizza out of the wood fired oven in the Cornerstone and Company truck.
Photo by Lesley DwyerEllenton resident Elizabeth Mitchell and Brandon resident Dillon Cowart regularly make the drive to Waterside Place for Ranch Nite Wednesday.
Photo by Lesley DwyerFood trucks line up in Waterside Place on May 29 for the last Ranch Nite Wednesday of the season.
Photo by Lesley DwyerBradenton residents Jeff Klotz, Diana Klotz, Trudy Shrum and John Shrum attend Ranch Nite Wednesday for the first time.
Photo by Lesley DwyerBradenton residents Bree and Britnie Ellis listen to music while waiting on friends to join them at Ranch Nite Wednesday.
Photo by Lesley DwyerSarasota resident Grayson Brown, 4, enjoys mini donuts from the Better by the Dozen truck.
Photo by Lesley DwyerPopis only looks like a puppy. He's a 13-year-old Shiba Inu Pomeranian.
Photo by Lesley DwyerSarasota residents Jordan, Isabella and Jaime Colon wait in line for a wood fired pizza.
Photo by Lesley DwyerParrish resident Mary Quaid leaves the Got Lobstah? truck with a blackened shrimp roll and her labradoodle Ted.
Photo by Lesley DwyerAt 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, the air on Lakefront Drive in Waterside was heating up like the inside of the Cornerstone and Company’s wood fired oven.
Even so, it only took the food truck another hour to sell out of pizzas.
Despite the heat, residents from Sarasota and Manatee counties flocked to Waterside Place to indulge in the last Ranch Nite Wednesday of the season. Ranch Nites feature rotating food trucks, a market, live music and a cornhole league so big it takes up an entire block.
The event is well attended each week, even when temperatures rise. Nicole Hackel, the Events and Resident Experience manager for Lakewood Ranch, said the idea of making Ranch Nite Wednesday a year-round event like the Farmers’ Market has been discussed.
But even regulars like Elizabeth Mitchell and Dillon Cowart, who drive from Ellenton and Brandon to meet and eat at the food truck gathering, said they wouldn’t attend as often during the summer months.
“Maybe once in a while, but it’s hot,” Mitchell said.
It isn't likely Ranch Nite Wednesdays ever will become a year-round event, and not just because of the heat.
“It rains in the evening in the summer,” Hackel said. “The Farmers’ Market is easier (to continue year-round) because it’s in the morning.”
So those who love the event will have to wait until October for the next one.
