Great food, great cause

Before an autumn storm blustered its way through Owatonna Sept. 20, knocking out power for residents, the community gathered together at the Eagles Club for Taste of Steele County.
Taste of Steele County is an annual event organized by the Owatonna branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and raises funds for the education of women and girls. The event pools together a slew of choice venders from across the county to help raise money for scholarships given to local students.
At this year’s event there were more than a dozen venders, including El Tequila, Torey’s Restaurant, Old Town Bagels & Coffee, Mizuki Fusion, Fareway Foods, the Bakery, and Steve’s Meat Market.
Enrique Avalos, owner of El Tequila restaurant in Owatonna, has participated in the event since its inception nearly a decade ago. While it was a good chance to showcase his delicious offers, Avalos also felt it was a fitting opportunity to give back to the community.
“It’s a good opportunity to show what we offer, but we do it mostly to return some support to the community, which we like to do,” Avalos said.
This year he brought chicken and cheese enchiladas and chicken burritos, both of which were being gobbled up fast by those attending. “Its good to give back to the community and we love to do it,” he added.
Stacy Wilson of Old Town Bagels & Coffee shared similar notions of community support. “I think we like to give back to the community because the community is so good for our business,” Wilson said.
Her and her husband provided some flavored coffee and cream cheese to go along with the eight different choices of bagels. “It’s our first year, and we’re so excited to be here,” she explained. 
“I’m glad to be here,” Torey Statlander, owner of Torey’s Restaurant, said of his continued support of the event. “It’s a good cause, and we appreciate it.” 
Statlander’s restaurant will be finishing up a move to downtown in mid-November. “We’re excited,” he said of the move. “We’ve gotten a lot of support from the community.”
Along with some job applications he had on hand to bolster his staff for the relocation, Statlander brought with him Cajun chicken pasta and meatball lasagna, along with a few other delectable dishes.
Brian Speas of Fareway Foods noted that they’ve participated in the event ever since Fareway moved to town. “It’s always great to get out and see familiar faces and meet new people, and its always great to be part of the community and show what we have to offer,” he said.
Fareway offered some fresh cut fruit, a tray with crackers, meat, and cheese, and samples of a bacon wrapped parmesan crusted pork tenderloin along with some dips.
Linda Hoffman, co-president of the Owatonna Branch of AAUW, was grateful for the support of all of their venders at this year’s event. “I say they’re awesome, and they deserve kudos beyond kudos, because your talking about organizations that primarily provide meals in their facility, and they come and support our thing here,” Hoffman said. “I just think it’s fantastic!”
Last year the event raised $4,000 for scholarships for local girls and women who want to pursue education at all levels, be it math and science summer camps, or graduate classes at a university.
Hoffman stressed the need for more girls to get interested in science and math, fields of study that until recently have been favored by men. “It’s good to try and get girls as excited as possible and interested in that, and when they get to the college level to help them stay in that field.”
She noted that some research has shown that at a certain age girls tend to veer away from those subjects due to a perceived bias towards males in those fields, something that AAUW hopes to remedy. “We want them to maintain that interest,” Hoffman added.
Despite the rumbling of thunder and the pitter-patter of rain, the event carried on just like any other year, as people were pouring into the Eagles Club with hungry stomachs and generous donations. This year’s event also featured a silent auction with 23 baskets.