Since taking over as the mayor of Portsmouth, David Malone has experienced a lot of firsts. Next on the agenda? His first time as a celebrity chef at the Counseling Center’s annual Celebrity Dinner and Auction.

“This is my first time and I really, honestly, don’t know what to expect,” Malone said. “But I know it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The auction, which will take place March 15 from 6 to 9p.m., is the Counseling Center’s largest fundraiser of the year. It will fund the organization’s Summer Outreach Camp for at-risk youth.

“Drug prevention education is way underfunded,” Counseling Center Director of Resource Development Susan McComas said. “That’s why we have to have events to raise money to supplement. “

Malone said he was considering making either green beans or banana pudding. Whatever he brings, he admitted that it could be the result of a group effort.

“I’m not a cook,” Malone said. “I don’t cook at all, but my wife can help me out on this one.”

Malone is not the only participant who will be getting some assistance for the competition. Bob Walton Jr. said he will borrow his father’s recipe for Shrimp Creole, and believes he may get some help actually making it, as well.

“A lot of people around here over the years have had his Shrimp Creole. I think that I’ve talked him into helping me create that,” Walton said. “It normally is extremely hot, but we’ll tone it down so that people can have more than one mouthful of it.”

Neither Malone or Walton were confident enough to predict a victory in the competition. In fact, they both commented that Kim Bauer will probably be the strongest competitor in the group.

In addition to Bauer’s culinary prowess, some “celebrity chefs” also speculated about what Municipal Court Judge Steve Mowery might bring to the competition.

That’s something Mowery was wondering, too.

“We really haven’t decided yet. My wife and I don’t cook a great deal,” Mowery said. “Oatmeal is generally what I make, and I try to pair that with a nice white wine.”

Regardless of what he actually brings, however, Mowery recognized that the real purpose of the event has less to do with “celebrity chefs” than it does the children who benefit from the Counseling Center’s Summer Outreach Program.

“It’s just a good cause,” Mowery said. “We deal a lot with the Counseling Center through the courts, of course. They do great things for the community and it’s an opportunity for people to get together and have a good time. We’re looking forward to it.”

A list of other “celebrity chefs” invited to the competition included: Jim Yount, Rich Fraley, Barb Gibson, Ron Turner, Mary Arnzen, Sue Fitzer, Liz Blevins, Pat Ciraso, Asa Jewett, Ed Walker, Beth Haney, Chip Maillet, John Turjoman, Deb Scurlock, John Clark and Gerald Cadogan.

Tickets to the event, which will also include both silent and lucky auctions and a “safe cracker” game where guests can potentially win $25,000, are $25 per person or $200 for a table of 10.

For more information, call McComas at (740) 354-3829 ext. 240 or Amy Huffman at (740) 354-3820 ext. 234.