A trip around the world with food
Church hosts International Food Fest
This article was published January 29, 2012 at 2:52 a.m.
LITTLE ROCK — Walking through the doors of the St. James Catholic Church Parish Hall in Searcy will be like taking a trip around the world.
Those doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, when the church will hold the fourth annual International Food Fest and Silent Auction.
For the price of a ticket, $8 in advance or $10 at the door, those entering will be handed a map that will take them around the world to sample cuisine and culture from 30 countries. Each room will represent a different country, and the flag of that country will be displayed.
“That’s part of our being Catholic,” Joe Giezeman said about the diversity of cultures within the congregation of St. James. “We have a lot ofimmigrants from other countries.” This festival is a way for people not only to try foods from around the world, but it’s also a way people can learn about different cultures.
Four years ago, Giezeman said the church had a priest from Nigeria who came up with the idea of the International Food Fest based on his experience with a church in Heber Springs that held a similar festival. The event was planned to raise money to help pay for a new church that had already been built.
Given only a few weeks to organize the event the first year, Giezeman said, the parish committee only expected to make $1,000 profit, but everyone was surprised when the event cleared $10,000. This year, Giezeman said, the goal is to raise $15,000.
“We challenged all the families to go back totheir roots and come up with a dish,” said Giezeman, who is from the Netherlands and will wear his wooden shoes at the festival. He also said he’ll have Dutch candy.
A few of the cultures that will be represented are Ireland, Mexico, Germany, Puerto Rico, Holland, Italy, Nigeria, Spain and New Orleans.
“The food festival is where we have all the cultures of peoplewho go to our church,” Eddie Ishmael said. “This is the only Catholic church in Searcy.”
Ishmael said there will be 50 dishes of food, and each dish will feed approximately 20 people.
In addition to the food, the fundraising event will have a live auction, a silent auction, and a raffle for four cash prizes up to $1,000.
To order tickets, or for more information, email Ishmael at eddie.ishmael@gmail.com, or call the church office at (501) 268-5252.
Three Rivers, Pages 129 on 01/29/2012
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