Sequim Celebrity Diced
When: 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1
Includes: Silent auction; food, beer and wine available
Where: Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St.
Cost: $15 for one ticket, $25 for two, table $150 (includes drinks)
Tickets available: Sept. 1-29 at UPS Store Sequim, That Takes the Cake, Clallam Co-Op, and Maggie May’s Espresso & Outfitter
Proceeds benefit: Winner of competition’s charity; either Olympic Theatre Arts, Captain Joseph House Foundation, Citizens for Sequim Schools, or Healthy Families of Clallam County
A few locals are looking to go to the chopping block for a good cause.
Maggie Parks, owner of Maggie May’s Espresso & Outfitter, is spearheading Sequim Celebrity Diced Live, a parody of the TV show “Chopped” where locals compete in a cooking competition on Oct. 1, in the Sequim Boys & Girls Club.
Competitors are given random baskets of food to create an entree, main course and a dessert for judges to determine who wins proceeds from ticket sales, beer and wine sales, and a silent auction for one of four charities.
Tickets go on sale Sept. 1 at the UPS Store Sequim, That Takes the Cake, Clallam Co-Op, and Maggie Mays.
Parks recruited four teams: Joe and Tawana Borden playing for Captain Joseph House Foundation, Gary Ash and Earl Wilson for Olympic Theatre Arts, Jim Stoffer and Jodi Minker for Citizens for Sequim Schools, and Sean Madison and Randy Kellas for Healthy Families for Clallam County.
“We wanted people not in the food industry but are well-known in the Sequim community,” Parks said.
The event’s judges are foodies though with Richard White, head chef at the Cedars at Dungeness, Randy DuPont, owner of Hardy’s Market, Parks, and Pat Neal, celebrity judge and writer.
Phil Castell serves as the event’s master of ceremonies too.
Parks said Castell will announce the cuts each round similarly to the show with commercial breaks in-between competitions. Those breaks will announce winners of the silent auction that precedes the event.
In advance, participants have been given a hint on one of the ingredients: octopus.
“We’re not telling them which basket, but because these people aren’t in the food industry we’re giving them a little help,” Parks said.
Since this is the first time the event is being offered, Parks said if it’s successful then they’ll likely do it again next year.
“I’ve been thinking about ways to give back to the community and financially I can’t do what I necessarily want to, but I wanted to create an event so that I give something that could be substantial,” Parks said.
With help from Kelly Jo Hill, co-organizer of the Olympic Peninsula Air Affaire, Parks and Hill have been organizing the event since January.
It falls on the same day as the Clallam County Farm Tour, but Parks said people can plan Diced into their schedule and still go to the dance later in the evening.
The event will offer small eats, and beer and wine for ticket holders.
For more information, search for the Facebook page for Sequim Celebrity Diced Live online.
