May 4, 2016 at 2:12 p.m.
Food pantry's 'Salad Bowl' event draws a crowd
Food pantry's 'Salad Bowl' event draws a crowd
By Kayla Thomason-
The first annual Garden Fresh Salad Bowl, held Saturday at Holiday Acres, drew more than 100 people.
Organizers said the idea for the event was born during a Leadership Oneida County brainstorming session.
"Part of that program is community service work so we were assigned to design a five-year fundraising plan for the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry and this was one of the ideas that came out of those brainstorming sessions," said Jo Anne Lund, Garden Fresh Salad Bowl committee chair.
Two other people from the brainstorming session also helped host the event.
The Northwoods Turners donated 110 wooden bowls for the event and organizers quickly determined the best way to use them was to serve salad.
"(The turnout) probably exceeds expectations at this point because we sold out all of the tickets that came with a wooden bowl about a week, week and a half ago," Lund said.
More than 110 people attended the event, enjoying salads provided by 11 local restaurants.
"This is an awesome event," said Holly Spiegelhoff, as she was enjoying a tasty bowl of greens.
She said her favorite salad was the wild rice salad from CT's Deli, but she enjoyed the others as well.
"It's a really wonderful community event for a good cause and it brings people together for a good cause," Spiegelhoff said, adding that the wooden bowls were beautiful and unique.
She has high hopes for the future of the Garden Fresh Salad Bowl.
"I think it's successful and I think they'll have success with it in the future," she said.
Mary Ann O'Rourke shared in Spiegelhoff's enthusiasm for the event.
"It's been excellent, everything was real good," she said, adding that she especially liked the Caesar salad, and one with crab pieces.
"It was wonderful, I love all of the bowls, I can't believe they made so many beautiful bowls," said Eileen Young.
She tried a little bit of everything and thought all of the salads were good. Her favorite was the shrimp salad.
Not only did participants enjoy a delicious meal, the event raised more awareness of the food pantry.
"It is really two things, first the Northwood Turners came to us and said they would like to make things for an event and we planned it around it, so it's wonderful when someone is interested in us and we will be making some money on it which is really nice, plus I think it's nice for the community to see what we're doing, to hear more about us, to learn about us and it's given us some wider exposure in the community," said Ginger Chrobak, treasurer of the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry.
Lund is optimistic about the event's future, so long as those involved want it to continue.
"This one I'm pretty sure will repeat because it turned out so well," she said.
Chrobak wanted to thank everyone who made something for the event or gave donations, and to those who attended.
"This community has always supported the food pantry wonderfully with both volunteers and financially and we really appreciate it," Chrobak said.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.