Local guests who annually attend the Shuffle to the Chefs fundraising event for St. Andrew’s Mission have enjoyed five years of going in and out of McComb homes for specially prepared tasty foods and drinks.
Those who attend the sixth annual event, set for 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, will find quite a different set-up. All the guest chefs, local flavor cooks and sous chefs will be under one room at the old McComb Mill building, 529 S. broadway in the Kramertown district.
Chefs this year include Doyle Orlando of Jacmel Inn, Anthony Delpedio of The Cocoa Bean and Phil O’Donnell and Robert Kearne of Phil’s Market, all in Hammond, La.; Ken Dixon of Mitchell’s Restaurant, Brookhaven; and Mia Calamia of Divina Gelateria in New Orleans. Joining the out-of-towners are local chefs Paul Brock of Chef’s Delight Catering, Parker Voss and Mary Grace Moss of The Caboose Restaurant, Saul Mendoza of Tortilla Soup and David and Edie Varnado of Topisaw General Store, all of McComb; and Gary Jones from Fernwood Country Club.
Sous chefs will be Dr. Andy Watson, Judge Keith Starrett, Michael Guttuso, Dr. Dawn Sumrall and McComb Mayor Whitney Rawlings.
Local flavor chefs — those foodies who just love to cook — are Dr. Chip Leggett, Stewart Robison, the team of Stephen Pigott and Landon Ratliff, Justin Cameron, Sam Sanders, Dr. Eric Lewis, and Mike Beebe, and the team of Chip Gibbes and Lawrence Giles.
These chefs will be competing for presenting the “one best bite,” which will be voted on by Shuffle guests.
This year’s menu items haven’t yet been announced, but with more than a dozen chefs participating, guests are sure to find much to tickle their tastebuds.
For the sixth annual event, organizers tried something else new — selling tickets at a discount. Through Dec. 31, six of the $100 tickets were available for $500.
Vickie Webb, who’s handling the marketing end of the event, said people didn’t respond as much as she had hoped.
“But it’s better than last year,” she said of the pre-sale special’s debut. “People just wait to the last minute. A lot of times they want to see how the weather is going to be.”
That problem’s solved now that the entire event will be indoors at the old mill building. It’s being transformed into a festive site, with the help of local artists including Dub Brock and Susy Sanders, along with St. Andrew’s Mission director Ed Codding and his crew.
“You just have to see this building; it’s fantastic,” Webb said. “I’m totally amazed at all this space that was in McComb and I didn’t even know it was here.”
Valet parking will be available at the front door of the mill.
The night of food, drink and fun is the biggest fundraiser of the year for St. Andrew’s Mission, which is headquartered in McComb. Co-chairmen of the Shuffle are Betsy Murrell and Stephen Pigott.
Another segment of the fundraiser is the popular silent auction, with prizes and services donated by many area businesses.
St. Andrew’s Mission offers a host of ministry services. Among them are S.A.M.’s Diner, open Mondays and Fridays; a free medical clinic for those without insurance; S.A.M.’s Senior Center, F.I.G. Tree (Filling in the Gaps) program to help with emergency utility assistance; a food pantry; three thrift stores, at 720 N. Broadway in McComb, 118 E. Monticello St. in Brookhaven and 175 Highway 61 S., Suite 10 in Natchez; a Mission House for homeless men; a volunteer center and community health education.
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Tickets are available at Selman’s Jewelers, PJ’s Coffee, Sanders Eye Clinic, and B-Kwik Chevron/TCBY, all on Delaware Avenue in McComb, the mission office on Front Street in McComb and at District 51 at Facets by Selman’s on Highway 51.
