In the wee hours of an early December morning in 1975, I was on a mission. My college town of Stockton, California, had played host to the American Freedom Train for three days, and the train was being moved to its next gig in Oakland. It was drawn by a restored steam locomotive and part of its route paralleled a lengthy stretch of rural highway. I was one of the railroad enthusiasts who drove alongside the train on this road, pacing it for miles in an informal motorcade. I reveled in the spectacle of the great engine, illuminated with on-board floodlights, pounding along at forty miles per hour in the first visit of a steam locomotive to this line since the last revenue operation of steam a generation before. The highway and the rails eventually parted; the train rolled on towards the Bay Area’s sleeping suburbs, and her euphoric escorts began to disperse, bound for daytime obligations of workplace and classroom.

The memory of that night remains one of my fondest. But along with the memory, there abides a lasting regret. The American Freedom Train was a traveling museum, assembled to tour the nation in celebration of our bicentennial in 1976. Artifacts on display included George Washington’s copy of the Constitution, the original Louisiana Purchase, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s pulpit and vestments. But I never took advantage of the opportunity to see, or even rightly know or appreciate, these treasures and what they represented. I only cared about witnessing the passage of this great locomotive in the night, not the legacy of freedom aboard its train.

Ask yourself this Independence Day, and always: “Are you as free as you once were?” The answer is clearly, no. In everything from what you eat to what you can do with your property to your health to your travel, your freedom is being eroded. But far too many of us are of the mentality I had in 1975: We are too distracted by passing pleasures, be they steam locomotives rolling through the night or what have you, to truly appreciate the precious and fleeting nature of our freedom.

I pulled off the road where it veered away from the tracks to watch as the train rushed on into the night. The roar of the engine and the rattle of cars bearing the icons of freedom quickly faded into silence and the deep whistle became fainter with each increasingly distant road crossing. The white plume of exhaust lingered overhead in the calm sky, then slowly dissipated into the dark, leaving only memories of the now-vanished glory and lost opportunity.

So it is with our liberty. Freedom is won only at great price; but, taken for granted, it is very easily lost, vanishing like that train and its exhaust into tyranny’s night until all that is left is sorrowful memories of what we could have known. If we continue to be distracted by the engines of our pleasures, then, like me long ago, we miss the train of freedom’s treasures.

Thomas Berry, for the Children of Liberty, www.meetup.com/The-children-of-liberty.

Aaronimink Country Club in Philadelphia is the site of this week’s AT&T National Tournament sponsored by Tiger Woods. The problem is that the top 14 players in the world decided they have more important things to do. It’s beginning to look a little like a Nationwide event. Bubba Watson is taking his long drives to Paris. Not the Texas one, the one with the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and big appearance fees. Others decided it is a good time to work on their tans or take out the trash. Truth be known Tiger has fallen in the eyes of his fellow pros. He has refused to support lesser tournaments around the PGA Tour for some years and has only done what is good for Tiger. Maybe other players are making a statement about that. How quick we forget from where our bread cometh.

Total prize money on the tour in 1996, pre-Tiger, was $70 million. In 2011 the PGA Tour hit $70 million in prize money in the 12th week of the season at Doral. Total regular season prize money on the PGA Tour in 2011 is approximately $237,000,000. That is just a mere 338% increase in 15 years with Mr. Woods on the tour. In addition, the four playoff events will add $32 million to players’ pockets and another $10 million goes to the FedEx Cup winner. Add it all up and you are talking about real money here. Tiger has added a lot of dollars to everyone’s pockets in and around the golf world. The kids on tour might want to consider from whence the butter for their bread has come.

The AT&T is played on great golf courses, pays homage to American military personnel, and has a $6.2 million purse, nothing to sneeze at. Its timing two weeks after the U. S. Open and two weeks prior to the British Open should fit well with scheduling. Where is everybody? There is so much money on the tour these days that a player just barely keeping his card in the top 125 for the year will win close to a cool million not counting sponsor money. They can be more selective where and when they decide to play. The players can only play so much but they better reconsider how they set up their schedules in the future.

Tiger has definitely fallen from grace in the public and has lost his fear factor among the other players. Beware the sleeping Tiger! He will get healthy one of these days and I suspect will return to his winning ways. You know what they say, “It’s not nice to make Mother Nature angry.” The same can be said for El Tigre. DJ, Rickie, Bubba and Rory better enjoy themselves now cause the day of reckoning will come.

You can read more articles by Fred at Back 9 Blog

Related Stories: http://www.toledofreepress.com/tag/feed-lucas-county-children/

Both Walt Churchill’s Market locations and Toledo Free Press are hosting a “Round Up Hunger” drive the next two weeks to help feed local kids in need.
From July 3-17, customers will be asked if they wish to “round up” their purchases to the next dollar. The change necessary to round the purchase up, whether one penny or 99 cents, will be 100 percent donated to Feed Lucas County Children (FLCC). Churchills has two markets, one in Maumee and one in Perrysburg.
“We have had a long history of trying to work with the community because that’s where our customers are,” Churchill said. “They are interested in all of these programs that can help their community become a better place to live and that’s one of our desires, to make it a better community.”

Sponsors, from left, Tony Siebeneck oF FLCC, Chris Kozak of Columbia Gas of Ohio, Walt Churchill, Dr. John Schaeufele, president and CEO of Mercy Children’s Hospital, and 13abc ‘Bridges’ host Doni Miller.

The FLCC was established in 2002 as a community initiative and now involves 55 agencies and organizations in Lucas County. All proceeds of the “Round Up Hunger” drive go directly to the food program for breakfasts, lunches and dinners for children younger than 18 years old.
“When we heard about [the “Round Up Hunger” drive], me and one of the volunteers looked at each other and were speechless,” FLCC Executive Director Tony Siebeneck said. “You couldn’t ask for a better gift than something like this.”
The FLCC is known for its healthy options and diverse menu. Siebeneck said the menu rarely serves a repeat meal each month and that it is recognized statewide as one of the healthiest children’s menus available.
Siebeneck said he has already received $4,800 from donors learning about the upcoming “Round Up Hunger” drive in a current Toledo Free Press series.
“We are tremendously impressed with everything [Siebeneck] does with the resources he has,” said Columbia Gas of Ohio Communications and Community Relations Manager Chris Kozak. “It’s really great to be involved with these community partners.”
Mercy Children’s Hospital and the 13abc program “Bridges” with Doni Miller are other primary sponsors.
For more information on the FLCC or to donate, visit the website at www.FeedLucasChildren.org.

Toledo Free Press will focus a six-week series on the mission of Feed Lucas County Children (FLCC). From July 3 to July 17, Walt Churchill’s markets will participate in a “Round Up Hunger” campaign to raise funds for FLCC.

I recently spent a day as a volunteer with Feed Lucas County Children. My notebook was in my pocket more than in my hand, so the dialogue in this story is based largely on memory and at times is abridged.
Volunteers scoop nachos and fruit onto foam plates as the project’s children file through the tiny kitchen.
It’s easy to get caught up in handing out milk — they almost all choose chocolate over plain — opening bags of chips and trying to restrain the group’s troublemaker, a curly-headed boy of about 8 or 9 who says he cusses a lot because he’s really bad.
“He called her ugly,” a braided-haired girl says of the boy, pointing at a small girl with a bright smile. He admits to the offense.
“Do you really think she’s ugly?”

Volunteer Crystal Evans stirs soup at the feed lucas county children kitchen.

“I think she’s pretty,” he whispers.
The younger children seem blissfully unaware that eating free food in a community center says anything about the difficulty of their lives. Their faces retain the look of peaceful fun lacking in some of the older children and the few mothers who accompany them in.
Andrea takes a sip from a milk box and shares a few Doritos as she monitors her three children. She says she will bring her family down to eat almost every night during the summer.
The program is often more an aid than a necessity for her. She has a job at a hot dog restaurant, which she says barely pays the bills, and she can typically make her food stamps stretch for the month. But she forgot to re-file for stamps this week.
“It does come in handy now because we don’t got no food in the house,” she said.
FLCC kitchen
In Lucas County, 29,962 children younger than 18 — 27.4 percent — live at or below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census. During the school year, the National School Lunch Program ensures at least one meal a day for them. But that program halts over the long summer break, leaving many children scrounging for food.
Feed Lucas County Children’s kitchen opens at 8 a.m. all summer, shipping breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner to 67 sites that include church camps, community centers and parks in depressed areas.
The main course for lunch is taco meat, which the kids won’t know is made from turkey, a healthier option than beef. The pans scorch the workers’ bare hands as they gingerly lower them into heat-retaining bins. State regulations require kitchens like FLCC’s to serve food at 140 degrees Fahrenheit; most of the pans come out of the steamers between 190 and 200 degrees.
The kitchen becomes a flurry of clattering pans when someone orders 100 trays of chicken.
“Two at a time,” says Kayla, a regular volunteer unimpressed by the tentative efforts of the new guy.
The whole operation is well-organized and precisely documented — a significant improvement in the past four years, Luke Siebeneck says. Luke’s father Tony founded FLCC in 2002 when a year of grassroots research proved to him that child hunger was widespread in the Toledo area.
The program has grown from serving about 7,000 meals total the first summer to today when it might serve more than 6,000 on a busy day.
In Tony’s eyes, that number is dwarfed by the remaining need, but he is running out of space to meet the demand. Tony said the kitchen could handle about 8,000 meals a day, but the time is quickly coming when that won’t be enough and FLCC will turn away hungry mouths.
Lunch
Some of those mouths are taking advantage of the program.
“There’s nothing like not cooking lunch, especially when you got a lot of kids,” says Twana, whose son ate a bag of Doritos and left fruit, a banana and taco salad virtually untouched on his plate.
She says he is a picky eater and she will have to prepare him lunch at home after all.
But the struggles of the FLCC servers to keep the children eating at the site tells a different story for many of these families. The free meal comes with a condition — if you’re between the ages of 1 and 18, you can eat here, but you can’t take your plate home with you.
Lamon, who serves lunch at Moody Manors before his third-shift job, calls after a little girl as she carries her plate back toward a woman standing behind a glass door.
“This is for my gran,” the girl explains to him.
The woman sees the adults looking at her.
“I don’t want that,” she says loudly, and tells the girl to eat outside.
While adults taking food meant for the children is a major concern for servers, few parents actually accompany their children out.
“You see a lot of little kids coming out here and their parents are still asleep,” Lamon says.
It’s about 11:30 a.m.
Hungry mouths
The troublemaker finally allows his plate to be thrown away. He’s done playing, done tormenting the children around him. His pretty friend has gone, as have Andrea and her family.
It’s a good thing. The server, Marquita, said almost 10 minutes ago that food had run out — they must have underestimated the number of children who would come; it’s a number in constant flux, varying by thousands across Toledo from day to day.
The crew begins cleaning up, but there is a noise at the door as someone struggles to open it. Two young brothers come in.
“Are you hungry?”
They nod.
Marquita smiles and puts chips and a banana, all that’s left, on plates for them.
It’s not much, but she’ll be back tomorrow.

In a world where the expiration date on pop artists is just a hair longer than Andy Warhol’s proverbial 15 minutes, Weird Al Yankovic’s 30-year longevity is remarkable. It’s also simple to understand: He’s very, very good at what he does. Maybe the best. For fans of “novelty” music, a passion for Weird Al seems to be common ground. Al’s ability to digest and emulate a wide variety of styles and artists, from a wide variety of eras, means that no matter what kind of music you love, Al has you covered.
Consider his new album, “Alpocalypse.” The CD’s parodies include the usual smattering of takeoffs on modern performers, from Taylor Swift to T.I., from Miley Cyrus to, of course, Lady Gaga. But then consider his original songs, which most Al connoisseurs consider his best work. Here, Yankovic’s musical stylings emulate such diverse influences as Jim Morrison, Weezer, Queen, Meat Loaf and more.

Each of these songs can be enjoyed on its own merits, for the inventiveness of Al’s lyrics and music. But once you catch on to what he’s doing, and how each song throws in small digs at and tributes to the artists he is needling, a whole new level of appreciation opens up. Yankovic’s work appeals greatly to young audiences, but the adults listening can get even more out of it, as long as they are paying attention.
Like “Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me,” his epic album-closer inspired by the works of Jim Steinman. On a surface level, the song is a tremendous piece of observational humor digging at all sorts of obnoxious email forwards (“your quotes from George Carlin aren’t really George Carlin”), one which anyone can relate to. Then you notice how pitch-perfect his emulation of Steinman’s musical stylings are, up to and including overpowering piano backups and endlessly repeated refrains. (After the title has been sung ten times in a row, Al adds, “At the risk of being slightly repetitious … ”)
But the needling is never mean-spirited or cruel, which explains Al’s popularity among his fellow musicians. Most consider it a great honor to be the target of a Yankovic parody. (Some, like Kurt Cobain, said they knew they had made it when they were featured.) “Craigslist,” this album’s lovingly styled parody of The Doors, even features keyboard work from original member Ray Manzarek.
Oddly, the least successful song on the album is the one which has drawn the most attention —the Lady Gaga parody “Perform This Way.” Despite the quasi-controversy about the track leading up to its release, the song itself doesn’t have a lot of insight into the Gaga phenomenon beyond the fact that she dresses funny. I kept expecting a verse to address how much the track sounds like Madonna’s “Express Yourself” or something. Nothing on the level of Al’s hilarious and biting “(This Song’s Just) Six Words Long” or even “Smells Like Nirvana.”
But the rest of the parodies more than pick up the slack. The Swift satire “TMZ” takes hilarious aim at the culture of celebrity trash-digging, while not letting the stars themselves entirely off the hook. (“It’s getting to the point where a famous person can’t/Get a DUI or go on a racist rant.”) Cyrus parody “Party in the CIA” marries its artist’s youthful naivete with a delightfully incongruous subject. And Al’s version of T.I.’s “Whatever You Want” takes aim at pretending to live large when “our economy is in the toilet.”
If there’s a problem with the album, it’s only that we’ve heard some of these tracks before, as five of the songs were released two years ago on the web-only EP “Internet Leaks.” Al fans who picked that up will get only seven new songs, but when the quality of said tracks is so high, that’s not a major problem — especially if one springs for the album’s deluxe version, which features full animated music videos for ten of the songs. And I don’t mind having the older songs again, now that they’ve been put in their proper place as a whole release. (As a theater major, “Skipper Dan” is a big and disquietingly on-target favorite.)
Yankovic is an artist — yes, an artist — who deserves more respect than he gets from a lot of pop culture sources. Many feel they can write him off as a novelty, but novelties don’t get three decades of staying power. His fans remain loyal, with new ones added each musical generation. And it’s undeniable that many of his parodies — stylistic and otherwise — age much better than the songs they emulate. “Alpocalypse” is another fun chapter in one of the most unfairly unsung musical careers in modern history.

Email Jeff at PopGoesJeff@gmail.com.

Self-doubt began to creep in during the third hour, but it all washed away when Matt Mahalak heard his name called. The 18-year-old Monroe, Mich., native was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes June 25 in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL Draft.
“It’s one step closer to living out my dream,” he said. “It’s really an indescribable feeling. It’s an honor and a privilege. There are so many different emotions you feel. You’re excited and nervous, but you know you still have a lot of hard work to do, so you don’t want to be too excited.”

Matt Mahalak

Mahalak went 8-8-4 this season with a .908 save percentage and 3.07 goals against average for the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League. He was one of only eight goalies invited to participate in the NHL draft combine and was the 11th goalie drafted.
With several goalies ranked ahead of him falling farther than expected, Mahalak began to worry he might not get drafted.
“The only rough part was the long wait from the second round all the way until the sixth round on Saturday,” Mahalak said. “There were not a lot of goalies being drafted. The guys ranked ahead of me weren’t going. It made me very nervous. It made it that much sweeter when my name did get called, because I was so worried it wasn’t going to happen.”
As Mahalak began to think he might not get drafted, he almost missed hearing his name called.
“Right before the pick, I was getting ready to turn around and talk,” Mahalak said. “I don’t even remember what I was going to say. As soon as I turned around, my brother was grabbing my arm and making me stand up because my name had just gotten called. It was kind of a weird moment. As soon as I stood up and realized he wasn’t joking, I hugged all of my family. It took me almost five minutes to get through the hugs.”
Attending the draft in St. Paul, Minn., was a nerve-racking experience, but Mahalak said he managed to enjoy himself.
“I had a phenomenal time, because I have family from Minneapolis,” he said. “Thursday night I stayed at my grandma’s house. I had around 25 family members there at the moment I got drafted. It was really cool to be able to share all this with my family.”
His family knew to pay attention when the Hurricanes were at the podium because Carolina owner Peter Karmanos owns the Plymouth Whalers. The team has a history of drafting Plymouth players, including backup goaltender Justin Peters. The youth hockey team Mahalak played for is also owned by Karmanos.
After celebrating with his family, Mahalak headed to the podium and was handed a Carolina jersey and hat for a photo opportunity. He then met Carolina’s general manager, scouts, head coach Paul Maurice and former player Ron Francis.
“He’s a guy I used to watch on TV, and now I’m shaking his hand and he’s telling me congratulations,” Mahalak said. “It was really a cool experience.”
Mahalak talked with Maurice again in the Hurricanes suite and discussed the summer schedule, including a weeklong camp and a prospect tournament. They also talked about Carolina goalie coach Tom Barrasso.
“He’s had a lot of success with Cam Ward,” Mahalak said. “Coach Maurice gave me a few pointers about how Tom likes to coach. It was very interesting hearing the head coach’s perspective of the goalie coach. He had such a successful career. I’m excited to meet him, work with him and learn as much as I can from him.”
Ward is one of several young goaltenders Mahalak has kept an eye on, including Steve Mason, Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price.
“I’ve followed all the guys who have been junior players like myself and made it big,” he said. “They did it, and I can do it, too. They’ve given me inspiration.”
Mahalak hopes to work with Barrasso on evolving beyond his butterfly style into more of a hybrid goaltender.
“Butterfly is a big part of the game, but it’s not the only part,” he said. “You still need to be very active. My positioning is very sound. If I can find the balance between solid positioning and being active, that can lead to a lot of good things.”
Mahalak is returning to the Whalers for another season while he attempts to earn an NHL contract.
“Just being drafted isn’t a guarantee,” he said. “My focus right now is to play as well as possible for the Whalers and win a lot of games for them. Come next summer, we’ll be able to reevaluate where I stand with the Hurricanes.”
He will again compete for playing time with Scott Wedgewood, who was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the third round of the draft last year.
“I’m going to be able to be much more competitive this season as far as battling for the starting job,” Mahalak said. “I hope to play in many more games than I got in this season. We’ll have to see how that plays out.”

July 1

• Mud Hens postgame, Fifth Third Field

July 2

• Luna Pier, Clyde Evans Pier
• Mud Hens postgame, Fifth Third Field

July 3

• Adrian, Lenawee County Fairgrounds
• Bowling Green, BGSU stadium
• Cedar Point, 10 p.m.
• Clyde, Community Park
• Defiance, Pontiac Park
• Findlay, Hancock County Fairgrounds
• Fostoria, Meadowlark Park
• Hillsdale, Hillsdale County Fairgrounds
• Maumee-Perrysburg bridge, 10 p.m., (bridge closed to pedestrians 8-11 p.m.). Activities start 5 p.m. in Maumee and 4 p.m. in Perrysburg.
• Monroe, River Raisin Independence Festival, Sterling State Park, events start at noon.
• Mud Hens postgame, Fifth Third Field
• Oak Harbor, downtown, events start at 5 p.m.
• Oregon, Boomfest, Oak Shade Grove, 3624 Seaman Road, activities start at 2 p.m.
• Sylvania, Star Spangled Celebration, Centennial Terrace, 5773 Centennial Road. Activities start at 7 p.m. $5 adults, $3 12 and younger, $5 parking. Fireworks also visible from Pacesetter Park ($5 parking)
• Swanton, carnival and fireworks, Swanton High School, activities start at 5 p.m.
• Toledo, Red, White, KABOOM, 10:15 p.m. Promenade Park and International Park. Activities start at noon. After 4 p.m., $3 for 12 and older.
• Woodville, Trail Marker Park

July 4

• Lakeside, at the dock, events start at 10 a.m.
• Napoleon, Glenwood Park, 10 p.m.
• Port Clinton, Waterworks Park
• Put-in-Bay, downtown harbor

July 9

• Temperance, Bedford Community Stadium

The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority was the recipient of nearly $4.5 million in grants from the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund for demolition and remediation activities at the former Jeep site near the I-475 and I-75 interchange in Toledo.

The Port Authority will receive $2.99 million to demolish existing building foundations and remediate impacted soils on the site at 1000 Jeep Parkway. It plans to develop an industrial park for alternative energy and other emerging technologies, according to earlier reports from the Port Authority.

The State Paper and Metal Company plans to expand its operations and build a 45,000 square-foot building on the property creating 22 jobs, according to the press release announcing the grants from the Ohio Department of Development.

The Port Authority was also a recipient of a $1.49 million Sustainable Reinvestment Pilot Track award for urban waterfront property on the same site. The funds will be used for demolition and remediation of impacted soil there.

The Port Authority plans to develop that location into an urban waterfront park along the Ottawa River. The park would include multiple trails and a riverfront walk, according to the press release.

The University of Toledo has committed $3 million to install solar arrays in the proposed riverfront park.

The grants were among more than $27 million in Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund grants announced June 29 for 17 brownfield clean-up projects in the state. The grants are contingent upon approval by the State Controlling Board, according to the Ohio Department of Development.

“The investments are an important first step towards revitalizing brownfields, which can often be an eye-sore for communities and a deterrent to reinvestment by surrounding businesses,” William Murdock, director of the Department of Development’s Urban Development Division, stated in the press release.

“The Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund not only works to transform neighborhoods, but also provides hundreds of job opportunities for Ohioans,” Murdock stated.

The Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund is a competitive statewide program that provides grants of up to $3 million to acquire property, demolish structures, conduct environmental cleanup, and improve infrastructure.

Since its inception, 118 Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund projects have received more than $250 million, leveraging $2 billion in private sector investment, while creating and retaining more than 14,000 jobs, according to the Ohio Department of Development.

The Clean Ohio Fund protects and restores natural and urban places by preserving green space and farmland, improving outdoor recreation, and by cleaning up brownfields to encourage redevelopment and revitalize communities. For more information about the fund, visit www.clean.ohio.gov

“MX vs. ATV Alive,” the fifth installment in this game series, offers multiplayer offline and online modes as well as the single-player mode where players can unlock several items and more powerful vehicles. Players can tear through several realistic environments in this professional motocross sport simulation game featuring motorcycles and all terrain vehicles.

Track variety spices up races along with different grades and hills. The cycles make driving easier as players must quickly adjust to the terrain.
Thankfully, the simple, responsive control scheme works perfectly.
Players work up from “Weekend Warriors” status and can shove rival drivers as they ride. Novices will have more difficulty performing special moves, so they should definitely practice in the free mode.
This PlayStation 3 game has a ower price ($39.99 instead of a $59.99) with enough replay value to be worth the higher price. Affordable downloadable content packs add even more replay value. Lots of merchandising spots, scantily clad “card girls” and some mild language in a few songs.
No character development among the racers here. Developers just feature 25-year-old AMA Supercross Champion James “Bubba” Stewart on the cover and within the in-game tutorial hints (***, also available on Xbox 360, the ONLive game service recently added the first MX vs. ATV game), rated E for mild language, mild suggestive themes and mild violence).

Many people, even your average foodie, might be surprised that the Culinary Vegetable Institute (CVI) exists at all, much less that it exists in Milan, Ohio, population 1,300 give-or-take, four miles and a world away from the Ohio Turnpike.  Ordinarily one could drive right by without even noticing it, except for one Saturday in July, when the Veggie U Food and Wine Celebration turns the CVI into a culinary hot spot glittering with star chefs.
The CVI is the research and development arm of The Chef’s Garden, a family farm just a few miles south that has provided naturally grown vegetables, herbs and microgreens to chefs all over the world for nearly 30 years.  In 2003 it established Veggie U, a science curriculum that provides a hands-on, seed-to-harvest experience to fourth-grade and special needs classrooms, which encourages healthy food choices by making the connection between what we eat and how it’s grown.  The annual Food and Wine Celebration raises money to support Veggie U, and calls on some of The Chef’s Garden’s most faithful — and famous — customers to do it.

Inside the Institute, dozens of sous chefs prepare the celebration’s offerings. STAR PHOTO BY AMY CAMPBELL

July 16, 2011 marks the ninth Food and Wine Celebration, and the list of guest gourmets is a foodie fantasy come to life.  It includes TV regulars Aaron Sanchez (“Chopped,” “The Next Iron Chef,” “Top Chef Masters”) and Amanda Freitag (“Chopped,” “Iron Chef America,” “The Next Iron Chef”); industry insider and recent “Top Chef Masters” judge Ruth Reichl; Chipotle founder Steve Ells; and ice cream innovator Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of Columbus-based Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.
In addition to the celebrities, who will participate in or preside over demonstrations and cook-offs, 44 chefs from around the country will ensure that guests enjoy fresh, creative and beautiful dishes at the event’s grand tasting.  Thirty stations will serve small plate specialties, from soups to desserts and everything in between, using produce donated by The Chef’s Garden.  Wines from a variety of vintners will also be available to taste, and those interested in expanding their wine knowledge couldn’t do better than attending the wine-tasting class taught by Serafin Alvarado, master sommelier.
The Food and Wine Celebration is the only fundraiser for the Veggie U program, which has delivered more than 1,800 classroom kits in 26 states.  The goal is to provide the curriculum to all 93,000 fouth-grade classrooms in the U.S.  It’s a goal the guest chefs whole-heartedly support, as evidenced by the fact that they donate their appearances at the Food and Wine Celebration.  Jeni Britton Bauer, known for her unique ice cream flavors that are as likely to feature vegetables and herbs as fruit or confections, believes Veggie U is reaching children the right way.
“There’s always a lot of talk and preaching geared toward kids when it comes to healthful eating,” Britton Bauer said. “But with the Veggie U program, kids actually get to grow and eat alternatives to chips and nacho cheese.  Veggie U walks the walk.”
All profits from ticket sales go to Veggie U, and additional opportunities to support the program will be available throughout the evening, including a silent auction, followed by a live auction offering exotic trips and culinary experiences to the highest bidders.  The Veggie U Food and Wine Celebration runs from 5 to 9 p.m.  Tickets are $145 per person, or $125 each for blocks of 10. The event’s VIP pre-party, an opportunity for just 50 ticket holders to mingle with the celebrity chefs, takes place from 4 to 5:30 p.m.  Tickets for the pre-party are $500 per person or $400 each for blocks of 10, and include the grand tasting.
For more information on the celebration, visit www.VeggieUFoodandWine.com.