{"id":13237,"date":"2015-10-22T11:55:39","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T15:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/?p=13237"},"modified":"2015-10-22T11:55:39","modified_gmt":"2015-10-22T15:55:39","slug":"13237","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/2015\/10\/22\/13237\/","title":{"rendered":"Inaugural Best of Taste in the Park winners announced; $13,000 raised to benefit the Junior League of Fort Myers and the Red Sox Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fathoms<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"Fathoms<\/a><\/p>\n

Fathoms Tropical Ahi Tuna<\/p>\n

FORT MYERS,\u00a0Fla. (Oct. 22, 2015) \u2013 More than 100 locals came out to the inaugural\u00a0Best of Taste in the Park fundraiser\u00a0to sample and vote for the best dishes to be showcased at the\u00a033rd\u00a0Annual Taste of the Town on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n

Best of Taste in the Park is a new\u00a0fundraiser\u00a0put on by the\u00a0Junior League of\u00a0Fort\u00a0Myers, Inc. and the Red Sox Foundation prior to\u00a0Taste\u00a0of the Town.<\/p>\n

During the Best of Taste in the Park,\u00a0attendees were given the opportunity to participate in judging offerings from 13 participating restaurants to decide the newly created \u201cPeople\u2019s Choice Award\u201d that will be showcased at the Taste of the Town.<\/p>\n

The \u201cPeople\u2019s Choice Award\u201d winner was Connors Steak & Seafood for its Fire Grilled Pork Belly. Artisan Gelato by Norman Love Confections took the \u201cBest of Taste\u201d overall winner award for its Caramel Apple \u2018A La Mode. Fathoms Restaurant & Bar took first place in the appetizer category for its Tropical Ahi Tuna. Runners up included 1st\u00a0Street Deli\u2019s Mid Town Reuben Wrap, Famous Dave\u2019s St. Louis Style Ribs and EE-TO-LEET-KE Grill\u2019s Tempura Cheesecake with Cardamom Chocolate Sauce.<\/p>\n

In addition to the tastings and judging, attendees enjoyed complimentary beer courtesy of Budweiser, wine courtesy of Copa and rum tastings by Wicked Dolphin, a silent auction with one-of-a-kind items, self-guided tours, raffle prizes, complimentary admission to Taste of the Town on Nov. 1 and take-away swag bags.<\/p>\n

The event raised $13,000 to benefit the Junior League of Fort Myers and the Red Sox Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone had a great time and left with full bellies thanks to the delicious food from our participating restaurants,\u201d said Katie Haas, Red Sox\u00a0senior director of Florida business operations. \u201cBest of all, funds raised from the event will stay local to benefit the Red Sox Scholarship Fund in partnership with The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, Inc., as well as the Junior League\u2019s volunteer services and donations to programs supporting women and children in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sponsors for\u00a0Best of Taste in the Park\u00a0included Scanlon Auto Group and Key West Express.<\/p>\n

The\u00a033rd\u00a0Annual Taste\u00a0of the Town,\u00a0Southwest Florida\u2019s original \u201ctaste\u201d event and one of the largest outdoor food and entertainment festivals,\u00a0will be\u00a0held at JetBlue Park on Sunday, Nov. 1.\u00a0The 2014 event attracted nearly 15,000 attendees. This year\u2019s event will showcase more than 40 restaurants, live music, kid\u2019s activities and more.<\/p>\n

Taste of the Town VIP tickets are now on sale for $60 each or two for $100 and can be purchased by visiting\u00a0www.jlfm.org.<\/p>\n

The Red Sox Foundation, one of the most successful in all of Major League Baseball, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official team charity of the Boston Red Sox. The Foundation\u2019s primary focus locally is in serving the health, education, recreation and social service needs of children and families across Southwest Florida.<\/p>\n

During the past 50 years, the Junior League of Fort Myers, Inc. has contributed more than one million volunteer hours to community projects and programs. A\u00a0member\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Association of\u00a0Junior\u00a0Leagues\u00a0International,\u00a0Inc., the\u00a0Junior\u00a0League\u00a0of\u00a0Fort\u00a0Myers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit\u00a0organization made up of\u00a0women\u00a0committed to promoting\u00a0voluntarism, developing the potential of\u00a0women\u00a0and improving\u00a0the\u00a0community\u00a0through the\u00a0effective\u00a0action\u00a0and leadership of\u00a0trained volunteers.\u00a0Its\u00a0purpose\u00a0is exclusively\u00a0educational and\u00a0charitable.\u00a0The JLFM is also a granting organization, providing mini-grants to organizations through out Southwest Florida\u2019s five-county area to programs that create better life outcomes for our area\u2019s youth. JLFM memberships are open to all women aged 21 and older of all races, religions and national origin who demonstrate an interest in and commitment to voluntarism.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0more\u00a0information\u00a0about\u00a0the Junior League,\u00a0call\u00a0239-277-1197 or\u00a0visit\u00a0www.jlfm.org.<\/p>\n

For more information about the annual Taste of the Town, call 239-277-1197 or email\u00a0tasteofthetown@jlfm.org. For ongoing updates on Taste of the Town, visit\u00a0www.jlfmtaste.com.<\/p>\n

\"Shirley<\/a><\/p>\n

Shirley Snyder McLaren, Karen Hutto, Cyndy Cook & Erin Snead<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/a><\/p>\n

Ryan & Norman Love<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/a><\/p>\n

Ryan & Natalie Van Horn<\/p>\n

\"Randy<\/a><\/p>\n

Randy & Arvey Krise<\/p>\n

\"Norman<\/a><\/p>\n

Norman Love Confections Caramel Apple \u2018A La Mode<\/p>\n

\"Melody<\/a><\/p>\n

Melody Porter & Karen Hutto<\/p>\n

\"Katie<\/a><\/p>\n

Katie & Danny Haas<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a><\/p>\n

John Scanlon & Katie Haas<\/p>\n

\"Famous<\/a><\/p>\n

Famous Dave\u2019s St. Louis Style Ribs<\/p>\n

\"Dorothea<\/a><\/p>\n

Dorothea Sonne, Brian Roland & Clay Miller<\/p>\n

\"Connors<\/a><\/p>\n

Connors Fire Grilled Pork Belly<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/a><\/p>\n

Chris Fennel & JoAnn Elardo<\/p>\n

\"1st<\/a><\/p>\n

1st Street Deli\u2019s Mid Town Reuben Wrap<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0 Fathoms Tropical Ahi Tuna FORT MYERS,\u00a0Fla. (Oct. 22, 2015) \u2013 More than 100 locals came out to the inaugural\u00a0Best of Taste in the Park fundraiser\u00a0to sample and vote for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1],"tags":[5574,5234,3531,4451,5575,5237,5235,5236,73,3236,5482,4455,3244,5483,5576,5484,5485,5486,5238,5239,5577,5487,80,284,663,5240,5241,5242,664,5243,5244,2403,2404,5245,3925,82,5246,5247,3536,5578,572,5248,85,5249,5579,1382,4465,16,1046,1255,908,45,672,1416,1689,19,2375,548,5250,3099,2409,673,5251,4597,5580,3413,3106,2596,3108,5252,5155],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13237\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}