Italian themed food and wine tasting to aid TVML

ThisWeek UA 03/31/2011

http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/upperarlington/stories/2011/03/30/italian-themed-food–and-wine-tasting-to-aid-tvml.html?sid=104

Serving the community is something the Tri-Village Mentor League has done since 1995, and at their fourth food and wine tasting fundraiser, TVML board members will be serving up four courses of Italian food and wine.

Board member and professionally trained executive chef, Scott Boles, will donate his time and culinary creativity to make the Thursday, April 14 food and wine tasting event special.

“After cutbacks to our funding, the board talked about different ways of replacing that money,” Boles said. “The idea of wine tastings came up, and by adding dinner, it was a perfect fit for me.”

Boles previously worked as an executive chef at the Breckenridge ski resort in Colorado and at Disney World in Florida.

The Columbus Italian Club, 1739 West Third Ave., will host the event from 6-8 p.m. April 14. Tickets must be purchased by Friday, April 8 and are $40 per person through the Tri-Village Mentor League at tvmlwinefoodfun.eventbrite.com.

Given the location, TVML Executive Director Haley Head said that the theme for the event was obvious.

Boles designed his menu around the various regions in Italy and worked with Donnie Austin, a certified wine sommelier and owner of House Wines in Worthington, to donate the wine pairings.

“One of [House Wines] core values is giving back to the community; the Mentor League fits right in with what we’re about,” Austin said. “We’re thrilled to work with a great organization like this. This event isn’t a stuffy wine tasting, Scott and I will tell stories about the people and the regional roots of this type of food and wine.”

Head said that this event, like the previous TVML food and wine tastings, is a chance to “learn a little bit while having a whole lot of fun.”

Boles has been donating his talents to community fundraisers for the past several years, as well as teaching cooking courses through Upper Arlington’s Lifelong Learning & Leisure program.

“As a board member and volunteer, I’ve really gotten to see how [TVML] impacts families, from the little kids, to the teenagers and even the adult mentors,” Boles said. “I feel like I have to help keep this program funded any way I can.”

The TVML provides after-school mentoring programs, summer youth camps and college scholarships to youth mentors; all of the programs and scholarships are partially funded through event ticket sales, like the food and wine tasting and the organization’s annual Bid and Benefit event in November.

Besides receiving financial support from these events, Head sees them as an opportunity to recruit new mentors. She said that TVML also is currently looking for community members to help organize the November event.

“When we are able to grow our funding we are able to give more away through the scholarship and programs,” Head said. “This event grows that funding, but it also grows our outreach and hopefully we can engage more mentors as well. It’s really a chance to bring people into the excitement of what we do.”