OCEAN COUNTY – The month of March brings one of the county’s grandest events, the annual Chefs’ Night Out hosted by the Ocean County Vocational Technical School that has a full menu of delicious food, drinks, and desserts from around 60 local restaurants and vendors.
The event is always held on the first Monday in March. It moved back to the RWJBarnabas Health Arena on the campus of Toms River High School North last year after two years at the Lacey Elks Lodge.
Attendees enjoyed sampling a lot of great flavors. They also came away knowing that they were helping the cause of providing funding for scholarships, educational programs, and support services for OCVTS schools.
The big event marked the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Ocean County Foundation for Vocational Technical Education and included a gift auction and a 50/50 raffle valued at $10,000. You could win a wooden chair set handcrafted by OCVTS Jackson Center woodworking students Matt Beck and Kaleb Lloyd. Crooning some Frank Sinatra classics was singer Joe Necci who is a regular entertainer at the event.
Annie Sayers who serves as OCVTS transition specialist and Foundation event planner was busy that night coordinating the event with other Foundation volunteers. She thanked the Foundation and the Ocean County Vocational Board of Education.
“Their dedication is unwavering. We are equally grateful to the Ocean County Commissioners for recognizing the importance of vocational education and for continuously supporting opportunities supporting students throughout Ocean County. I would also like to thank the Toms River School Board of Education and the superintendent of the Toms River School District who supported this.”
“Most importantly I want to thank you, our guests. This event has become a signature evening in Ocean County and each year it grows because of the generosity of this community,” Sayers added. “Your support makes a direct and lasting impact on our students and staff.”
OCVTS culinary students from Cuisine on the Green and their bakery booth presented various delicious items they cooked or baked.
Also helping out at the event were OCVTS cosmetology students and their teacher Barbara Stewart. Student Alexandra Stavropoulos was among the 22 Twilight Cosmetology students who volunteered that night “to help out with the restaurants, picking up trash, asking people if they needed anything. The program I am in is the 10-month long Cosmetology Well Rounded program so we are getting knowledge about hair, skin care, nails, make-up and it has been a lot of fun. It is a lot of information in 10 months and I am really excited to graduate in June.”
Some of the familiar restaurants present included The Waterfront based in the Forked River section of Lacey Township, the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen of Toms River and Klee’s in Seaside Heights. Capone’s of Toms River served several of their Italian specialties while Ob-Co’s Donuts represented by staff members Valerie Viera and Mark Ferranova was back with a variety of their baked goods.
River Rock Restaurant & Marina Bar had Manager Edwin Wydra serving up some specially made slider sandwiches from his Brick based business. You could also get a taste test from another Brick founded establishment with Copa’s tequila cocktail. You could try their citrus drink or mango pineapple. Both drinks were lightly carbonated and had no aftertaste nor any artificial sweeteners
A&A Distributors were also present with samples of their products, many of which can be found at area Spirits Unlimited. A&A brought a variety of their Italian wines to sample this year.
For those with a sweet tooth there was Freddy’s Ice Cream of Toms River who served up mini sundaes with a variety of toppings. Alfredo Scala represented the La Scala Italian Pastry shop of Toms River. They had been part of the event in prior years but not in recent years so Scala said “it was time to come back.” Also serving some ball park favorites was the Jersey Shore BlueClaws. You could also enjoy a cold brew or hot coffee from the Spire Coffee House of Toms River.
Among the dignitaries present were Ocean County Commissioner Director Frank Sadeghi, Deputy Director Jennifier Bacchione, Commissioner Robert Arace, 9th District Senator Carmen Amato and Manchester Council President Roxy Conniff. Former Commissioner Virginia Haines was in attendance helping out. Former Toms River Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill also enjoyed samples at the event.
For more information on what the vocational school has to offer, visit ocvts.org.
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