Rotary Club's Taste of the World dinner lets diners sample international fare

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On Tuesday, September 15th, the Pikeville Rotary Club successfully hosted its 19th annual Taste of the World fundraiser at the Appalachian Wireless Arena, bringing together area residents to enjoy a diverse array of global cuisine while supporting the organization's mission. Rotary President Shelley Justice Fouse described the evening as going great so far, noting that after an exciting opening rush, all the planning efforts from the previous couple of months came together seamlessly. The event relies on a collaborative effort involving internal Rotarians, friends and family volunteers, and various community sponsors who provide the meals, creating a unified atmosphere where Rotarians, Interact high school students, Rotarak college students, and other volunteers work side by side to serve the guests. The tradition behind this significant gathering began around 2006 when local Rotary members visited another club in Kentucky and observed the success of their similar international dinner event. Inspired by that experience, the Pikeville club adopted the concept to foster community unity through shared dining experiences while raising essential funds. This specific event serves as the club's largest fundraiser of the year, acting as the primary financial engine for all other community projects undertaken by the organization throughout the rest of the year, with additional support coming from a pancake day event held in December. Over the years, the scale of the dinner has expanded significantly since its inception. What started with just seven tables offering different international dishes has grown into an impressive spread featuring fourteen distinct food tables plus a dessert selection. Although President Fouse noted that an exact headcount was not taken during this year's event due to a lack of a clicker, she emphasized that the crowd was great and the atmosphere was wonderful. The growth from a small beginning to such a large-scale operation highlights the increasing support from the community and the enduring popularity of the event in bringing people together to celebrate international fare while strengthening local bonds.

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On Tuesday, September 15th, Pikeville Rotary Club hosted its 19th annual Taste of the World fundraiser at the Appalachin Wireless Arena. Area residents could purchase a ticket to support Rotary and enjoy a wide variety of global cuisine. Rotary President Shelley Justice Fouse tells us about the evening. >> So, this is our 19th annual Taste of the World event. Um, it's it's going great so far. We had the the opening rush, which is exciting. Um, but it all comes together tonight. you know, we've spent a couple of months planning. Um, so we work in partnership internally with our Rotarians. Um, and we have friends and family who volunteer to provide food, but we also look to the community. We have sponsors from the community who provide meals for us. Um, and so we all come together, Rotarians, um, our Interact students, which is high school Rotary students, our Rotarak students, which is our college level Rotary students. We're here with a bunch of other volunteers and we're serving. Um, I would love to be able to tell you a total of how many have come to the door right now. Um, but I was like, next year we need to do the clicker because I just we didn't get a count. Um, but it's a great crowd. Um, it's a really great time. >> Us hillbillies have a saying, if it's too good to be true, well, it probably is. At Appalachian [music] Warehouse, we just tell it like it is the Kentucky way. Local people with dependable service and no [music] runaround. Keep it local, keep it connected. We are Appalachin Wireless. The tradition began when Rotary members noticed another Kentucky Rotary Club organizing a similar event. All of Pikeville Rotary's other projects are funded by Taste of the World. >> So, approximately 2006, we had some internal Rotarians visit another club in the state of Kentucky. Um, and that club was doing a similar event, an international dinner, and they saw the benefit of bringing the community together, letting them have the different types of cuisine, uh, but also the benefit of the fundraiser. And so, this is our largest fundraiser of the year. So all of our projects that we are able to do in the community comes from this event. And then we have our pancake day event that's in December as well and it also helps. Um but uh yeah approximately 2006 they saw it, they saw the benefit and they've brought it and we have grown and grown and grown. Um if I recall correctly, I think we just started with seven tables. Um and today we have 14 different tables plus desserts represented. Reporting for Mountaintop News, I'm Nick Colum.