March 19, 2007

News Release

TISD Culinary Arts Program Featured in Fund Raiser

            Circus fun – combined with good food – comes to Tyler!  It’s almost time for the 23^rd Annual TASTE OF TYLER, presented by the East Texas Restaurant Association (ETRA) and The Pilot Club of Tyler, Inc.  On Tuesday, March 20th, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. approximately 30 restaurants will offer an assortment of their culinary delights in a circus-themed evening at Harvey Hall in Tyler.  Celebrate the circus theme and bring in monies to benefit The Pilot Club of Tyler’s area service projects and the ETRA’s culinary scholarship program. 

This year, for the first time ever, students in the Robert E. Lee Culinary Arts Program will prepare fabulous desserts for a silent auction to be held during the event!  They will prepare and display the desserts and talk to attendees about them.  Their instructor Leona May, who is a noted chef, will also be in attendance. These desserts will have minimum bids in the auction and the very lucky winning bidders will go home with one or more tasty reminders of this fun event! 

What is the TASTE OF TYLER?  It’s an evening, this year with a circus theme, for fun, food, beverages and entertainment, which will allow those attending to be introduced to and to sample a wide variety of foods from many of the growing number of excellent restaurants in the Tyler area.

The Pilot Club of Tyler, Inc. is a member of Pilot International, one of five international classified service organizations for business and professional leaders dedicated to improving the quality of life in their communities and throughout the world. 

MORE

The Pilot Club of Tyler not only contributes money raised through various events throughout the year to many local projects, including but not limited to those below, but also volunteers hundreds of service hours at the following:

Tyler Day Nursery, the Alzheimer’s Association, American Red Cross, PATH, St. Louis School, the East Texas Food Bank, Breckenridge Village of Tyler, ADAPT, ARC, Smith County Child Welfare, Children’s Advocacy and to other community programs such as the YMCA, Habitat for Humanity and the Girl Scouts.  In addition, several scholarships are given annually for Tyler Junior College and the University of Texas at Tyler. 

Current President:  Judy Richter

The East Texas Restaurant Association established its scholarship program twenty-five years ago, designed to send students from the East Texas area to college to study restaurant and hotel management, as well as culinary arts, to improve our service industry.  The mission of the East Texas Restaurant Association is to represent, promote and educate its members for the improvement of the restaurant and food service industry, in the East Texas area. 

Current President:  Todd Keller

###