Thursday, December 20, 2012

Twelve Bites and Fundraising for the SPCA


 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.