The stage is set and the vendors have placed their wares for today's Taste of Home Cooking School at Davis &?Elkins College.
The event is hosted by The Inter-Mountain and D&E.
"This is an exciting community-building event, and we are happy to be partnering with The Inter-Mountain and to share our facilities with Taste of Home," said Carol Schuler, director of communications and marketing at D&E. "We think it's going to be fun. We have our newly refurbished lobby to show off as well as a new lighting and sound system, which will really add impact to the show."
Many people at D&E have worked to make this event possible. First, President G.T. "Buck" Smith, who with Schuler, embraced this opportunity to create a new kind of community experience with The Inter-Mountain.
Others include Melanie Campbell, along with the Graceland and D&E Catering and Food Services staff, Ron Selders and the entire D&E Maintenance and Housekeeping teams, Scott Goddard and the Office of Student Life, Mike Jordan and the D&E Security Team, Pat Schumann and the Office for College Advancement, Professor Tom Hackman, Joyce Nestor, Tim Valentine, the D&E Staff Social Club, D&E Student Ambassadors and the colleges hospitality students, who will be working directly with special guest and Culinary Expert Cheryl Cohen during the show. Those students include Jenna Hanifan, Caree Glasscock, Bridget Bryant, Ian Kelly, Corey Woody, Mathew Burda and Chelsie Primavero.
The event kicks off at 3 p.m. in the McDonnell Center, when a large variety of vendors will showcase their products. Many items will be available for purchase. Concessions will be available during this time. Upon entry, greeters will hand out goodie bags to the event's guests. Each goodie bag will contain a variety of 32 items, ranging from coupons, flyers and everyday useful items.
The VIP Taste of Home event starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Hermanson Campus Center lobby. This is an exclusive event for those who have purchased a VIP ticket.
A select menu of hors d'oeuvres and light beverages will be available to VIP guests during this event to enjoy before the Taste of Home Cooking Show.
The hors d'oeuvre menu includes Mango Shooters, Market Lettuce Wraps, Chicken Bruschetta, mini traditional Italian cheese cakes and fresh homemade fruit-infused punch.
During the event, a meet and greet between VIP guests and Taste of Home special guests will occur. A VIP coupon will be provided to each guest for The Graceland Inn as well.
The Taste of Home Cooking Show begins at 6:30 p.m. in Harper-McNeeley Auditorium with special guest Culinary Specialist Cheryl Cohen. Cohen will prepare eight special dishes. During the show, eight lucky winners will be awarded one of her recipes that she has prepared as a door prize.
Each guest must hold on to their tickets due to assigned seating. Each ticket has a seat number on it allowing each person to know the location of his or her seat within the auditorium. When entering the auditorium with the stage at the front, the seats on the far left are all odd number seating and the seats on the right are all even number. Consecutively numbered seating in the hundreds are located in the middle area. Ushers will be on location to help each guest find their seat.
Throughout the evening's events, several door prizes will be awarded. The grand prize is a $2,000 fur coat from Opalesque Boutique, which will be the last door prize awarded of the night. Other exciting door prizes include three sets of Pirate tickets valued at $208 each, a $1,200 sewing machine, a gas grill, a Hungry Jack branded apron, a West Bend Slow Cooker & West Bend Penini Press, gift baskets, gift bags, gift certificates and many more.
Parking will be directed by D&E Security. Security will collect a $5 parking fee before directing vehicles to parking lots. D&E will provide golf carts to transport individuals to and from the parking lots and the Hermanson Campus Center throughout the entire event. In case of severe weather, campus cars and vans will be provided for shuttle service in place of golf carts.
VIP tickets are sold out for the event. However, a limited number of tickets are available for $13, which will provide admittance to the vendor fair and cooking school. For more information, call The Inter-Mountain at 304-636-2121.
