History of Taste of the Town
From French Picnic to Taste of the Town...
Did you know that Junior League members have been creating the Taste of the Town every year for the past thirty-four years?! It has grown into one of the largest food and entertainment festivals in Southwest Florida!
The first French Picnic, a precursor to today’s Taste of the Town, was chaired by Past President, Judy Starnes. Miami chef, Sara Sharpe, designed the menu for the event, and members did all the cooking. Members attended cooking lessons for their selected recipe, and were responsible for cooking VAST QUANTITIES of their recipe. Member Susan Harrison recalls “I particularly remember making vats of the chicken and spinach filling for the crepes that were served. I actually had to buy a huge freezer to store it all!” The cooking lessons were fun, and League members could also attend any of the other cooking lessons they were interested in. Susan continued “I remember having many of the lessons in my home when I was in charge of the Picnic. I was the third and last French Picnic Chair. I followed Judy Starnes and Susie Kyle. We netted about $3,500 the last year of the Picnic.” Susan’s daughter, Sherry Sites, a Junior League member serving on the Taste of the Town fundraiser committee, recalls going out to pick fresh tomatoes with her mom for the recipes.
Susie Kyle, JLFM president in 1972-73, recalls “The French Picnic was held in Downtown Fort Myers at the Exhibition Hall. Each year the menu was different. We set up food booths which our members manned, and sold “tastes” of the various menu items--believe me, this was no ordinary menu! Food tastes included Tomato Quiche, Zucchini & Mushroom Salad, Salami Gougers, Pecan Toffee, Orange Crème, Strawberry Tarts, Homemade Tomato Soup, and more. We even baked our own bread!” In addition to selling the tastes, the committee sold recipe books of the foods they served.
Susan Siler and Trish Winrow came forth with a proposal to do a “Taste of the Town”, an idea brought back from another city by Susan’s husband! Thus, Taste of the Town was born in 1982. And each year since then, we have continued the tradition of bringing in fine restaurants to cook up tasty bites of their specialties. Over the years we have added entertainment, children’s activities, and various competitions and activities. As with most of our fundraisers, our children and husbands, friends and relatives work with us to raise dollars for projects that fill needs identified in our community.
Thank you Fort Myers and surrounding areas for supporting our event! See you on Sunday, November 6th at the 34th Annual Taste of the Town.
Did you know that Junior League members have been creating the Taste of the Town every year for the past thirty-four years?! It has grown into one of the largest food and entertainment festivals in Southwest Florida!
The first French Picnic, a precursor to today’s Taste of the Town, was chaired by Past President, Judy Starnes. Miami chef, Sara Sharpe, designed the menu for the event, and members did all the cooking. Members attended cooking lessons for their selected recipe, and were responsible for cooking VAST QUANTITIES of their recipe. Member Susan Harrison recalls “I particularly remember making vats of the chicken and spinach filling for the crepes that were served. I actually had to buy a huge freezer to store it all!” The cooking lessons were fun, and League members could also attend any of the other cooking lessons they were interested in. Susan continued “I remember having many of the lessons in my home when I was in charge of the Picnic. I was the third and last French Picnic Chair. I followed Judy Starnes and Susie Kyle. We netted about $3,500 the last year of the Picnic.” Susan’s daughter, Sherry Sites, a Junior League member serving on the Taste of the Town fundraiser committee, recalls going out to pick fresh tomatoes with her mom for the recipes.
Susie Kyle, JLFM president in 1972-73, recalls “The French Picnic was held in Downtown Fort Myers at the Exhibition Hall. Each year the menu was different. We set up food booths which our members manned, and sold “tastes” of the various menu items--believe me, this was no ordinary menu! Food tastes included Tomato Quiche, Zucchini & Mushroom Salad, Salami Gougers, Pecan Toffee, Orange Crème, Strawberry Tarts, Homemade Tomato Soup, and more. We even baked our own bread!” In addition to selling the tastes, the committee sold recipe books of the foods they served.
Susan Siler and Trish Winrow came forth with a proposal to do a “Taste of the Town”, an idea brought back from another city by Susan’s husband! Thus, Taste of the Town was born in 1982. And each year since then, we have continued the tradition of bringing in fine restaurants to cook up tasty bites of their specialties. Over the years we have added entertainment, children’s activities, and various competitions and activities. As with most of our fundraisers, our children and husbands, friends and relatives work with us to raise dollars for projects that fill needs identified in our community.
Thank you Fort Myers and surrounding areas for supporting our event! See you on Sunday, November 6th at the 34th Annual Taste of the Town.
