by Shane Smith, Outreach Coordinator
We got the party started before the first course at the
“Twelve Bites of Christmas” event on December 13. The Concord Fire Department promptly
responded to an alarm set off when some chicken in the Co-op oven got a little
smoky. Luckily, the Concord Chorale sang
Christmas carols to all of our guests who had to wait out in the cold until the
fire department cleared the building. We
were only delayed about ten minutes thanks to the quick work of the
firefighters. The Chorale continued to serenade the guests near the wine
tasting tables throughout the evening.
There were many wines to sample including imported wines and several
local wineries such as Jewell Towne Vineyards, Labelle, Hermit Woods and Sap
House Meadery.
The Celery Stick’s Twelve Bites courses followed the “Twelve
Days of Christmas” classic tune. Every
course had a theme based on the verses of the song. For example, the olive stuffed bird peppers
and Gouda cheese was the Calling Birds and spicy apple chutney with seared duck
was the Swans a Swimming. Of course the
five gold rings were beer battered onion rings which was one of the biggest
hits of the night.
Perhaps the most exciting news of the evening was that we
collectively raised $600 for the Concord-Merrimack SPCA through non-member
admission fees and member donations. The
Concord-Merrimack SPCA is currently halfway to a $2 million fundraising goal
needed to build a new facility in Concord to house homeless animals.
