Washburn hosted Scorch on the Porch Aug. 31. Through rain and shine, several local business and different student organizations gathered outside of the Memorial Union.

This particular Scorch the Porch celebrated Market Day and in attendance were local restaurants, businesses and organizations looking to show students what Topeka has to offer. One such restaurant was NOTO Burrito, which is situated in the NOTO arts district on Kansas Avenue.

“NOTO Burrito specializes in burritos where sauces are made fresh. Thursdays are two dollar taco burger Thursdays and you can get 99 cent tacos on Tuesday,” said Kenda Painer, manager of NOTO Burrito.

The restaurant had a table where students could sample the restaurant’s homemade strawberry jalapeno salsa. The same table was set up to draw awareness for Pinkadilly, a European-style boutique in the NOTO district.

“Jenny Torrence, the owner of Pinkadilly and NOTO Burrito takes inspiration from her travels, which is how she comes up [with] ideas for handmade items,” Painer said.

Nearby, the Topeka Metro had a table set up to explain their bike program.

“Our biggest presence is definitely on campus. We are just trying to make commuting to class easier for the lives of students,” said Zach Force, Topeka Metro employee.

Meanwhile, other companies were handing out free samples of their products, ranging from Billy Vanilly’s mini cupcakes, Rockstar’s exclusive flavor, blackout, Pizza Hut’s pepperoni pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts’ munchkins.

“College students need coffee and who doesn’t like donuts,” said Alexandria Ray, the General Manager of Dunkin’ Donuts. “We have both.”

The Topeka Shawnee County Public Library was also present to remind everyone that the digital branch of the library is free for people with a library card. The digital branch has movies, video games and even music that cost nothing to people with a library card.

In addition to the plethora of samples offered by local businesses, the Campus Activities Board provided free ice cream at their table.

Scorch on the Porch may have been in the rain, but it didn’t put out Washburn’s fire.