March 3, 2004
Tasters' Guild culinary delight
Herald photo by Carol South
Teri Hedrich of Traverse City discusses ingredients and preparation tips with Williams Fishburn, a first-year student in the Great Lakes Culinary Institute program Friday evening at the Tenth Annual Tasters' Guild Scholarship Auction.
430 attend annual scholarship auction feast at Great Lakes Culinary Institute
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
From rich Italian to spicy Louisiana, from hearty Polish to sultry Caribbean fare, the Tenth Annual Tasters' Guild Scholarship Auction was a feast for the taste buds.
The sold-out event drew 430 attendees to the new Great Lakes Culinary Institute Friday evening for some food, fun and feasting. Guests circulated and nibbled, talked and ate while bidding on a variety of items at a silent auction.
The evening featured gourmet food prepared and served by the institute's students as well as wine from 11 area wineries.
Students pulled out all the stops at the dozen theme tables, creating a slice of culture to accompany their table's culinary theme. Working in teams, the first year students presented 12 cuisines, including Spanish tapas, Mediterranean, Asian, Mexican and Cajun/Creole. The ever-popular dessert table featured a rich assortment of sweet treats, luring diners to round out their evening with just a few more calories.
"This is all wonderful, absolutely wonderful," enthused Joe Wierzbicki of Crystal Mountain, who attended the event with his wife, Glenda.
The event raised a record of $20,000 during the silent auction; the money from the live auction is still being counted. All auction proceeds fund the Tasters' Guild scholarship program for the institute's students.
Eight Tasters' Guild scholarships were awarded Friday evening, three at $1,000 each and five at $500 each. In addition, two students received National Cherry Festival scholarships and two others received scholarships from Tapawingo, a premier restaurant in Ellsworth. The Bob and Grace Rudd scholarship was also awarded that evening.
The Tasters' Guild scholarships are granted based on grades, aptitude and attitude, noted Fred Laughlin, director of the Great Lakes Culinary Institute. Financial need is also a consideration, but the main thrust of these awards is to support students who will make a successful chef or hospitality person in the future.
"It's kind of a boost for the students, a lot are on financial aid," Laughlin said. "The scholarships go a long way, make a big difference in how many classes a student attends and how long they are in the program."
The fund-raiser was the brainchild of Darric Newman and Bill Borre, who initiated it ten years ago to promote culinary excellence in the region. Prior to this year, nearly $100,000 has been raised by the Tasters' Guild Auctions to benefit area culinary students.
"They have just been so supportive and I really can't thank them enough for all their hard work," said Laughlin of Newman and Borre. "We started meeting in November and organizing it, they spend an awful lot of time on this project."
For the past nine years, the event has been held at the Park Place Hotel, with succeeding years drawing larger crowds until the benefit reached capacity. With the opening of the new Great Lakes Culinary Institute, which features a huge banquet hall, a restaurant and four kitchens, the auction has found it's home.
"It went very well, we are very, very happy with it," Laughlin said. "It was certainly the first large event we've had down here, definitely the first of many, and it was very exciting for us because the attendance was way beyond what we expected."
As serving dishes emptied and lines at the food tables vanished, students began sampling the fare at other tables. Tasters' Guild scholarship winner Mary Davis of Traverse City helped create the Spanish tapas table and enjoyed the teamwork of the event.
"We always work as teams, there's a lot of teamwork in foodservice," said Davis, a non-traditional student transitioning to a new career. "You really depend on each other."