112 men cooking a recipe for success

This weekend 112 chefs will offer up plates of their favorite — or unique — recipes to support two nonprofits.

The event planned for Saturday evening at the Huntingburg Event Center is Old National Bank’s signature fundraiser.

In 2014, the first year it was held in the Dubois County region, the event raised $115,000 for the Indiana National Guard Relief Fund. This year, organizers hope to exceed that amount to benefit the Dubois County Leukemia Association and Scott Rolen’s E5 Foundation.

The Dubois County Leukemia Association aids families and residents as they battle leukemia and lymphoma. They have helped more than 500 families since forming and also operate a bone marrow registration. Scott and Todd Rolen formed the E5 Foundation to allow terminally ill children to simply have a good time. They operate a 200-acre camp near Bloomington that includes a petting zoo, cabins, disc golf course and a huge tree house.

Exceeding 2014’s amount likely won’t be hard to do with over 800 people attending and volunteering at the event. Tickets sold so well organizers added two additional tables of eight to meet demand.

Some of the popularity of the event may be due to Rolen and his brother, Todd, donating their own culinary skills to the mix. He has also provided some great items for the auction (list at the end of article).

“Our goal was to beat 2014’s amount by a dollar,” said Nick Stevens of Old National Bank. “I don’t want to jinx it, but I think we’ll exceed that.”

If you are unfamiliar with the format, basically the celebrity chefs (all the chefs are celebrities) cook whatever they want serving up small portions to the attendees. It is a huge buffet line that encompasses the expansive convention center room that ticket holders can circle at will to sample the largely meat-based delicacies.

Stevens pointed out that although 2014 seemed to have a lot of brisket and barbecued meats, this seems to have a little more variety. Several chefs are providing variations of tacos. State Senator Mark Messmer will have his signature bourbon chocolate truffles. There will also be a bourbon infused pecan pie and Old National Regional President Tom Krodel will have a new ice cream recipe.

As diners find their favorite recipes, they are encouraged to tip the chefs. That money also goes to the charities and the chef with the most tips is presented with the Golden Spatula.

For Jasper Mayor Terry Seitz’s wife Deena, the Dubois County Leukemia Association holds a special place in her heart. Her late husband, Alex, passed away from Leukemia in 2011 after a short battle. A few years before that she lost a brother to disease as well. But when her husband was diagnosed in Dubois County, she encountered the local leukemia group.

“When my husband was diagnosed, I ended up with a package in the mail from the Dubois County Leukemia Association,” she said.

It was the first she had heard of the organization.

“I opened up the package and it had literature and material about the disease as well as a support check,” Deena explained. “There are many expenses that are not covered by insurance.”

Then she received a phone call from one of the members of the group who volunteered to walk the walk with her as her husband battled the disease. The help was welcome as she and her husband didn’t have any family in the area. “We were kinda isolated,” she said.

After Alex passed away, Deena became involved with helping the local group as a member of the board of directors. She is also active in signing up people for the bone marrow match registration; an extremely important part of the organization’s mission.

“I would have committed to the event no matter what charitable organization would have received the funds,” Mayor Seitz said. “But certainly with Deena’s work with the board of the Dubois County Leukemia Association that was a real natural for me.”

For this year’s event, Seitz and his brother-in-law Steve Stemle formed the team STINKY Boys. STINKY is an acronym derived from their first names and the states in which they live. He plans on offering his personal rendition of white chicken chili. “It took second place at the annual church chili cook off earlier this year,” he said. “I think I could have won first place but I think the guy who got second last year got moved up.”

His partner Steve will offer porkburgers. Virtually unheard of around here but hugely popular in Owensboro.

For Huntingburg attorney Phil Schneider the event is another way he can be involved with giving back to the community he is part of. This is his second year as a chef.

“It’s a great opportunity for men in the community to step up to support these causes,” he said. “It’s a really good way to make the public aware of these two great organizations.”

Schneider has assisted the Dubois County Leukemia Association since it was formed. “It does a great deal of good for people suffering from this horrible disease and benefits people right here in our community,” he said.

Schneider will be serving up his famous brisket. “It is actually my son’s recipe but the secret is to cook it low (temperature) and slow,” he explained. “There are some herbs and spices and also, a special wet sauce applied when it’s done. But I am sworn to secrecy on the recipe.”

WITZ AM/FM is one of the Iron Chef Sponsors of the event. General manager Gene Kuntz jumped at the opportunity to help out with the first event. “I think it is amazing how much money they can raise and how much participation they can get to pull this together,” he said. “This raises a lot of awareness for the Leukemia Association and Scott Rolen’s E5 organization just like it raised a lot of awareness for the National Guard organization.”

Kuntz said he was surprised by the amount raised the first year and is looking forward to seeing how successful this year will be. “This community is very, very generous though,” he added.

An avid hunter and outdoorsman, Kuntz will be serving up wild turkey stew. “It’s a personal recipe and I know it will go over well,” Kuntz said.

In addition to the great food, the event will offer up a lot of great items to auction. Here is a list of some of the items.

[gview file=”http://www.duboiscountyfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/AuctionListforProgram.docx.pdf”]

Across its footprint, Old National Bank has raised more than $3 million for local charities with 100 Men Who Cook.