Fat Tuesday Among Friends: A Taste of Ferndale

(Crystal A. Proxmire, 3/8/2011)

For some religious people Fat Tuesday is a last chance to revel in gluttony before 40 days of sacrifice for Lent.  In Ferndale the day is synonymous with the annual Taste of Ferndale fundraiser for the Ferndale Community Foundation.

This year over 200 people packed Via Nove restaurant where they listened to jazz music and sampled food from a dozen Ferndale restaurants and businesses.  Garden Fresh Salsa, which is made here in Ferndale, was the main sponsor of the event.  Mardi Gras was the theme.

The Ferndale Community Foundation uses the money raised from ticket sales, sponsorships and a large silent auction to provide grants to projects that benefit the community.  Groups like Ferndale Youth Assistance, FernCare, Michigan Fallen Heroes, Ferndale Historical Museum, Ferndale Beautification Commission, Peace Action of Michigan and Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency have all put Community Foundation grants to work.

While Taste of Ferndale is an event that most of the City’s most active volunteers, leaders and business professionals wouldn’t dare miss, it is also a time when people come from other cities to check out what Ferndale has to offer.

Bill Pearson and Sarah Emino sat laughing in a corner booth with an assortment of samples spread in a mini-smorgasboard before them, making sure to try everything.  They traveled down from Oxford for the fundraiser because someone they knew had sold them thickets and told them it would be a great time.  And it was.

Pearson held up a couple Rosie O’Grady’s wrappers – which at one point held sliders – to show which restaurant was his favorite.  Emino said she preferred the Garden Fresh dip and tortilla chips, “But the paczki ice cream [from Treat Dreams] was good too.”

“I am pleased that I came,” said Grosse Pointe Park resident Rhonda Word.  “I’m in Ferndale all the time, so I know a lot of the places that are here.  But there are some new ones that I tried too.”

The Metro Jazz Voices provided the entertainment for the evening.  They sold their self-titled CD as well, donating $1 from each purchase to the Community Foundation.

To learn more about The Ferndale Community Foundation, check out their website at www.ferndalecommunityfoundation.org.

For other Ferndale 115 News articles about The Community Foundation, go to http://oaklandcounty115.com/category/community-foundation/.