TCC gearing up for Celebrity Dinner/Auction

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PORTSMOUTH — With a great sense of pride, The Counseling Center, (TCC) Inc. is announcing the 8th Annual Celebrity Chef Dinner and Silent Auction, to be held Tuesday, March 1, at 6 p.m. at the Friend’s Community Center.

This year’s theme is ‘Cowboy Cusine at the TCC Corral.’

All proceeds will benefit The Counseling Center, Inc. Summer Outreach Club. The Summer Outreach Club is a 9-week summer day camp program that is free to children age 5-12 in Scioto County and beyond.

The camp offers free breakfast and lunch, and a host of motivational, educational and recreational activities for children that participate. Multiple partnerships, among community agencies and volunteers, are formed as a result of the Summer Outreach Club.

The Summer Outreach is one of the longest-running of its kind in Ohio, said Gina Collingsworth, Director of TCC Community Relations and Development and Compass Community Health and Compass Point Housing.

“All of the funds that this event raises is how we put on our free nine-week program, the Summer Outreach Club,” Collingsworth said. “This is the 27th year for the Summer Outreach Club, and Clarence Parker, the program director has done it for 26 of those years. It is actually one of the oldest running prevention programs in the State of Ohio.”

It takes approximately $30,000 for TCC to host the Summer Outreach Club, according to Collingsworth.

“Last year was our biggest year, they had over 300 kids to sign up, and I would say probably about a 25 to 30 percent increase, or maybe even more in attendance. So, the more children are that are there, the more programming we need, the more support funding, more food to feed more mouths,” Collingsworth said. “This event is a responsibility of the Counseling Center’s Community Relations and Development offices, but we couldn’t do it without volunteers from all throughout the agency. It is definitely a joint effort on community partners and employees to put it on.”

The Celebrity Chef Dinner has become known as one of the most popular, well-attended events that is hosted in the local community. This year’s theme, ‘Cowboy Cuisine at the TCC Corral,’ is one that many in the local area can identify with.

Melissa Whitt, Community Relations and Development Specialist for TCC and Compass Community Health and Compass Point Housing, said the cooks are selected, and ready to go.

“We have all of our cooks lined up and ready to go. We are very excited. We are working on some really exciting entertainment, some individuals that can provide some entertainment throughout the course of the entire dinner,” Whitt said. “Of course our auction always attracts a lot of attention, and we are getting some really nice, unique items together for it, with lots of trips, because everybody loves to travel. There will also be tickets for sporting events. We are also going to have some official Texas Swing music, and we are just going to have a fantastic time.”

The 2016 Celebrity Chefs: Judge Alan and Carolyn Lemons, Scioto County Juvenile/Probate Court Judge; Pastor Sam and Joyce Peters, of Pastor’s Pantry Cooking School and Patter Fam Sauces; Joe and Amy Glockner, with Glockner Family of Dealerships; Dr. Debra Lewis, KDMC of Ohio Family Physician; Robert Dafford, Artist of Portsmouth Floodwall Murals, teaming up with Dr. John Lorentz retired Shawnee State University Professor and Documentary Film Maker; Will and Angie Burke of OSCO Industries; Lindsay Cole Vaughn, former Bengals Cheerleader; Leigh Anne Smith, Community Relations for American Saving Bank and Host of Positively Portsmouth; Julia Wisniewski cooking with Brent Hill, Marketing Director for Smith’s Pharmacy and Home Medical, Area Ladies; Mary Nelson, Program Coordinator at 14th Street Community Center, partnering with Maxine Malone of Portsmouth Inner City Development; and Wendi Waugh, Director of Cancer Services and Community Health and Wellness for SOMC, teaming up with Kara Redoutey, Director of Community Relations and Development at SOMC.

The hearty menu is already set to include buckin-bronco beef brisket, chuck wagon pulled pork BBQ wild west wings, boot-scootin’ baked bean confit, macaroni and cheese cowpoke cups, fire branded veggies, apple bacon coleslaw, cowboy caviar with tortilla chips; with an assortment of delicious cupcakes by 83 Sweets on the dessert wagon. There will also be plenty of cactus juice, Pepsi products, iced tea and coffee.

During the course of the event guests will enjoy an evening of entertainment authentic to the old-west, including frontier re-enactors interacting with the audience, exciting lasso and rope tricks, and toe-tapping western swing music.

The highly-anticipated silent auction is serves as a crowd favorite with many exciting trips, packages, gift baskets and unique items for all likes and interests.

“Last year we had a Mardi Gras theme, so people came with Mardi Gras masks, and this year with our theme being, ‘Cowboy Cuisine, TCC Corral, we would love to invite the party-goers, and dinner attendees to dress for the part, so that would mean boots, and jeans, and cowboy hats,” Collingsworth said. “

An added feature, new for the year, is the option to sponsor a child and help fund their Summer Outreach experience.

Opportunities for sponsorship of the Celebrity Chef Dinner and Silent Auction for individuals or businesses and groups are still available.

For more information on becoming a table or food sponsor contact Gina Collinsworth at 740-354-3829, ext. 2706 or Melissa Whitt at 740-354-3829, ext. 2707 or by email at [email protected]

By Portia Williams

[email protected]

Reach Portia Williams at 740-353-3101, ext. 1929, or on Twitter @PortiaWillPDT.

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