Paramount serves up food auction

Published 11:13 am Monday, March 2, 2009

Austin’s Paramount Theatre is a special place in the hearts and minds of everyone. Keeping it special requires attention.Consequently, Friday’s Gourmet Food Auction is a special event.

The second such event of its kind will begin 6 p.m. Friday with an open bar at Austin Country Club. Guests will be invited to view silent auction items.

At 6:30 p.m., the fun and fine dining begins.

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Ten of the top chefs from area restaurants will serve samples of their gourmet creations.

The Timber Lodge at Owatonna heads the list of top chefs. Piggy Blues will also be there as well as the new George’s Pizza, Quizno’s Sandwich Shop, HyVee Food Store of Austin and the Austin Country Club’s own top chef, plus the popular Lakeside Cafe at Albert Lea’s chef among others.

The cost: $20 per person or $30 for couples.

“There will be enough food from the chefs for seconds,” predicted Scott Anderson, the Paramount Theatre’s manager and the person responsible for organizing Friday’s fundraiser.

According to Anderson , the idea for a “gourmet auction” belongs to Perry Vining, who has organized nine such events for Albert Lea charities.

Vining, whose name is synonymous with the annual Big Island Rendezvous each October is helping organize Friday Gourmet Food Auction for the Paramount Theatre. He will share in the proceeds with the local institution of fine arts.

“But the money will really stay in Austin,” Anderson said, “Perry plans to use any proceeds to help pay for the bus transportation for Austin school students to visit the Big Island Rendezvous in October.”

“The rest goes to the Paramount Theatre,” he added.

The historic Paramount Theatre, originally constructed in 1929, is a unique atmospheric Theatre with a Spanish motif.

It is one of four atmospheric theaters left in Minnesota and the only one outside Minneapolis still used as a theater.

It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is located at 125 4th Avenue NE, downtown Austin. Plays, dance, concerts, recitals and city and business functions are regularly held in the theater.

It is also a frequent destination for tours, class reunions, convention and visitors groups and more. It is also a popular rental space for meetings, ceremonies, concerts, comedy, recitals and special events of all kinds.

When the hour-long sampling of gourmet foods is over at 7:30 p.m., the live auction will begin.

Dave Thompson will take the microphone for the auction fun, and he’s a good one, according to Anderson. There will be a program listing the live auction items, but to make it more interesting, Thompson will draw items at random, so the bidders won’t know what to expect throughout the evening. As many as 60 items have been donated for the auction, according to Anderson. The Paramount Theatre box office is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call 434-0934 for more information or go online to www.paramounttheatre.org