Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
PARTICIPANTS SAMPLE area restaurant food and drink specialties at the Gogebic Community College Foundation's Taste of the Gogebic Range in 2017. This year's event will be on April 23, according to foundation director Kelly Marczak.
By IAN MINIELLY
Ironwood - Local restaurants will join forces with the Gogebic Community College Foundation to put on a night of food and drinks to raise scholarship money on April 23.
The tasty night provides a social outlet for the community, a chance for local restaurants to show off their specialities in a controlled setting, and a chance to win bragging rights for the next year for the winning dishes and restaurants.
Kelly Marczak, foundation director, said they only sell 200 tickets to make sure the number of participants is capped and usually do not sell out until the week before the event. Tickets give access to the social, which opens at 5 and goes until 6 p.m., before the tasting kicks off from 6 to 8 p.m. in the David G. Lindquist Student and Conference Center.
Marczak would not divulge the restaurants taking part in the ninth annual Taste of the Range, saying that is sensitive information as the restaurants are in competition with each other. Marczak did admit they usually have from 12 to 15 vendors. This year the foundation is adding some new category awards, since different specialties may not really line up well.
For instance, if one restaurant's specialty is an entree and another's is a salad, they really cannot compete against each other in the same category because they are different kinds of food. Taking that into consideration, Marczak said they have adjusted categories, which will provide better coverage for the different vendors' specialties.
Marczak said it is one of the foundation's favorite events. It usually brings in around $5,000, which goes into the scholarship fund and aids students in attending the school. GCC offers 120 total scholarships for students, usually between $100 and $1,000.
The Taste of the Gogebic Range is not a black tie event. The foundation wants it to remain a casual affair. There are no tickets available at the window, as all purchases must be made in advance by calling 906-307-1201 or 906-307-1202.
