Foodies, This One’s For You

You know, there is truth to the overused teenage exclamation, “YOLO.” Some things are too awesome to ignore, like the smells that wafted around the Porter County Expo Center during the Tri Kappa Taste of Valparaiso on Thursday evening. The Iota Chapter of Tri Kappa is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of charity, culture and education in Porter County.

Upon entering the building, you were greeted by the lively smiles of the Tri Kappa members, you could spot the ladies here and there throughout the Expo Center doing their best to make all the guests feel relaxed and the vendors do their work efficiently. In the lobby tables were set up and bedecked with items for a silent auction that ran throughout the evening. Auction Items were donated by various vendors and sponsors for the event.

“This is the single largest fundraiser for Tri Kappa,” Debbie Miller, a Prudential Executive Group Real Estate broker and the Iota Valparaiso chapter of Tri Kappa. “We do our best to give away as much money that we can raise. A lot of the proceeds from tonight will go toward scholarships we actually just gave away $16,000 worth of scholarships to college-bound students. We feel like tonight is going to be a big success. We have so many people that contributed.”

The walls of the Expo Center were lined with local restaurants at the ready. There was something for every taste and whim such as homemade ice cream from Valpo Velvet, rich fudge from Opportunity Enterprises’ Simply Amazing Market, bacon burgers from the Blue Chip Casino’s It’s Vegas, Baby!, rich quiche from Silver Spoon, and blueberry cheesecake bites from Blackbird Café. You wanted cupcakes? They were there in droves. Quiche? You got it! Mexican food? Yup!

Holy guacamole…

Diets were left at the door. The inner foodie in all of us demanded retribution.

A cash bar and dozens of tables were set up in the middle of the room so patrons could sit and eat if they wished. Live music was performed by extremely talented members of the VHS orchestra.

“We usually raise about $20,000 in this event,” Susan Brychell, a co-chairman for Tri Kappa, said. “It’s quite successful. It’s a lot of work and there are a lot for great kids that deserve these scholarships. Even though it’s a lot of work you realize the impact that you make when you do it. We have a large group of women put it together in a couple of months. The committee members are so good at what they do that the jobs got done quickly.”

Guests milled about the room, flexing all five senses in genial reconnaissance. It’s quite obvious already, but it shall be said anyway that the night was a success. Marvelous work, Tri Kappa-Valparaiso-Iota. We look forward to next year!

Click here to see more photos from the event!

Sponsors for Taste of Valparaiso include: Greycor, Rigg’s Outdoor Power Equipment, Osby Water Systems, Pathology Consultants, Inc., Family Express, Urschel Laboratories Incorporated, Centier Bank, Fairway Laser Systems Porter Regional Hospital, and Indiana Beverage.