Iron Chef Williamsport 2015

St. Mark's team St. Mark's offering Another successful event! Our best one ever. A HUGE thank you goes out to all those involved; from cooks and contestants, audience and aides, patrons and P.A.’s, to servers and supporters!!!

St. Mark’s edged out St. John’s by 8.5 points. New addition to the competition was Mae Thaljih as referee. She did a great job and had fun talking with Gary Chrisman as the two teams ran around trying to remember what they were supposed to be doing next! Pr. Kerry Aucker and his team of Christine Barner and Marilyn Wehler created a beautiful service utilizing their cod, green beans, and sweet potatoes for the entrée, and the required peanut butter in the appetizer. Pr. Kenneth Elkin, Todd Smith, and Bernadette Haas Jones had fun with the same required ingredients…except for tuna instead of cod. Judges Chef Peter Zerbe, Commissioner Tony Mussare, and Valerie Lucasi were gracious in their role. St. Mark’s own Wanda Fortin won the fourth seat at the judges’ table and was able to enjoy the event up-close and personal…including tasting all that was prepared!

St. John's meal The Penn College Student Diner’s Club prepared the public meal, led by Chef Todd Keeley and student Rachel Mertz. Our guests enjoyed chipotle sweet potato soup, garlic green beans, risotto, and sautéed chicken breast with apple leek chutney. The dessert was chocolate truffle cake. The group was a welcome addition to the event and very much appreciated by Sara Jones, dining room manager. Additional help was supplied at the end of the evening by Joe Walter, of Kohl’s Dept. Store.

First Contact Productions, led by Carlos Saldivia, once again videoed the event for us. Ed Ploy (PC Handyman) oversaw the streaming, timing, and all things computer. Sound was run by Trey Phillips, who also provided the equipment. While Gary held down things in the kitchen, Mike Caschera joined us again as audience host, engaging diners as they viewed the event—often on camera!

St. John's team Coordinating all these separate areas and keeping us on schedule was Nick Buckman…in the newly added and greatly needed position of stage manager. As he and Sara said at some point in the afternoon, “You can tell how much someone is in charge of by how badly they’re out of breath!”

Sara’s crew, aided by Nick and Ben Hartman, included Jacob Schreckengast, Evan Barone, Claire Brassard, Grace Schreckengast, Jerod Barone, Ben Haussmann, Taylor Wentzel, Makensi Doebler, Hannah Haussmann, Sadie Wentzel, Jonah Schreckengast, Gillian Buckman, Daisy Le- Blanc (of St. Michael) and Dylan Ott. St. John’s sent along a group of their youth to lend a greatly appreciated hand: Cheyenne Mitchell, Dylan Lundy, Allie Waldman, Jillian Waldman, Mikayla Edler, Cora Stackhouse, Carter Stackhouse, Riley Welshans, and Grace Welshans. Many thanks to Molly for rounding them up and transporting them. In their own addition to the fundraiser, “Tips for a Promise,” all these youth raised $699.25!!!

Judges Wanda Fortin, Tony Mussare, Valerie Lucasi and Peter Zerbe

Behind the scenes, Deb Buckman took over as publicist for ICW and did an amazing job! Melinda Saldivia was masterful in the editing of the challenge video. ENORMOUS thanks go to Joyce Braucht, of St. John…the best opposing coordinator we’ve worked with to date! With her enthusiasm and willpower, St. John was responsible for filling 68 of the 112 seats and raised approximately $2,500 in patronage!! We can’t even begin to express our thanks to her!

Now for the part for which you’ve all been waiting, “How much did we raise??” With some items outstanding as we go to print, we brought in over $9000 and cleared $8000 after expenses. Congratulations to all those involved. God bless you for your efforts and God give strength to those with Family Promise of Lycoming County!