In a lucky turn of events, I have been invited to be one of four guest judges at this year's March of Dimes Akron Signature Chef's Auction along with three other Akron culinary powerhouse names: Jane Snow, previous food editor of the Akron Beacon Journal and author of her latest book, Jane Snow Cooks; Lisa Abraham, current food editor of the Akron Beacon Journal; and Catherine St. John, owner and instructor at the Western Reserve School of Cooking in Hudson, Ohio.
As part of the promotion for this awesome event, Nici Hefflefinger has sent me the following press release and TWO FREE TICKETS to give away to a lucky blog reader. First, the press release:
"You can’t go wrong with the powerful combination of good food, good times and a very good cause! The area’s most acclaimed gourmet extravaganza, The March of Dimes Akron Signature Chef’s Auction, is returning this fall celebrating 20 years. Once again, this year's event presented by SYSCO Food Services is being held at the Quaker Square Inn at the University of Akron on Monday, October 25, 2010 from 5:00 to 9:00pm.
This year, over 250 guests will have the opportunity to sample a variety of delicious dishes prepared by some of the area’s finest chefs. Participating restaurants include: Nick Anthe’s, Chowder House Café, The West Side Bakery, The VegiTerranean, The Good Fork, The Harbor Inn, On Marketing Catering, Old Carolina BBQ, The Rusty Nail, Lucky Penny Farm & Creamery, Jenncancook.com, and Chocolate Mischief.
Following the tastings, guests will have the opportunity to bid on a vast and wonderful array of imaginative silent auction packages. The live auction will give the crowd a chance to have fun, get excited, and compete to win one of a kind experience packages. Highlights for this year’s event include a tribute to the 2010 Honorary Chair, Dr. Michael Forbes, MD. Director of. Clinical Research & Outcomes Analysis at Akron Children's Hospital. As well our 2010 FDR Humanitarian Award recipient, Nancy Myers, PhD. of Summa Hospital for her long standing commitment to the March of Dimes and her volunteer work in helping make sure that every baby is born healthy.
Most importantly, the Akron Signature Chefs Auction will continue to raise funds needed for the March of Dimes. For more than 70 years, the March of Dimes has improved the lives of babies. Founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to fight polio, the March of Dimes funded research that led to the vaccines that eradicated polio in the United States. Today, by funding research, advocacy, education and community services, the March of Dimes is working to prevent birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
Please help the March of Dimes by attending the Akron Signature Chefs Auction. Tickets are $95 per person or tables of ten for $950.00. For more information, contact Nici Hefflefinger at the March of Dimes at 216.643.3330 or via email to nhefflefinger@marchofdimes.com or visit our website, www.marchofdimes.com/ohio."
Now for the fun part, the giveaway!!!
This will work just a little bit differently than in times past. Instead of leaving a comment indicating that you'd like to be entered into the drawing, I am asking that you send me an email instead. Please use the subject line of "March of Dimes Contest" so I can keep these messages separate from my other messages. The other reason for this change is because these tickets are for an upcoming event (October 25th isn't that far off), I won't have time to give the winner a full week to claim their prize.
The contest will run from Sunday, October 10th at midnight until Sunday, October 17th at midnight (that's the beginning of the day, not the end). At that point I will take the list of email addresses I have received and using Random.com, pick a winner at random. I will then contact that person via email and they will have 24 hours to respond to my email. If they don't (and remember, email messages are timestamped), I'll continue randomly re-picking winners and contacting them until someone does respond.
Good luck everyone and I look forward to seeing you at what promises to be an absolutely fantastic event!!
