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Hosting an Iron Chef Competition
At Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, Wisc., the grass on our football field would usually get beaten up by the second or third game of the year. The surface was so fragile we couldn't use it for soccer, lacrosse, or physical education. So we started a half-million dollar fundraising drive called Share the Field to pay for artificial turf, and last spring, we reached the $300,000 mark. To keep making progress, we wanted to create an entertaining, upscale event that included an auction, and we came up with the idea of hosting an Iron Chef competition, like the television show.By Larry Laux
From the outset, we planned to charge $50 per person and
invite about 300 people, with the expectation that 150 to 200 would say yes.
First, we needed to find a suitable venue, and we quickly chose the Delafield
Hotel, which has a main ballroom with an adjacent kitchen. They gave us a good
price on the wine, hors d'oeuvres, dessert, and coffee, and waived the fee for
renting the hall.
Next, we needed to enlist two local chefs to be our
contestants. We found Chef Jessie Souza, who owns Fishbone's and Zin, and Chef
John Mollet, who's been cooking at The Union House for the last 16 years. I
explained how the event would work, what we wanted from them, and how we hoped
they would interact with the audience. I said, "We're going to do this high
profile event, and even though I can't pay you, it would be a great way to help
the community. And I promise you'll have fun doing it."
Once we secured the venue and the chefs, we sat down to talk
about the rules. The two chefs would have 60 minutes to prepare three dishes,
plating one dish every 20 minutes. There would be three surprise ingredients, one
for each course, and the three judges would score the meal for flavor,
presentation, and use of the surprise ingredients. A little preparation would
be allowed in advance, and each chef could bring their knives and two helpers.
Scheduling was hard, because we had to pick a date that didn't
conflict with Kettle Moraine athletics or with the restaurants' busiest times.
We settled on Thursday April 2, and at that point, we started building the list
of invitees, printing and mailing formal invitations, and gathering donations
for the auctions.
We had nine items for the live auction and 70 for the silent
auction, including a weeklong stay at a lake cottage, a cruise on a deckboat,
tickets to a Milwaukee Brewers game, a fitness club membership, and 50 hours of
work with a personal trainer. There were some unusual ideas, like a steak
dinner for 10 cooked by Athletic Director Mike Fink, prime parking for football
games, babysitting by the field hockey team, and an opportunity to play school
superintendent for a day. We even auctioned off a chance to judge the Iron Chef
competition, which went for $400.
Attendance was great. We sold 180 advance tickets, which was
as many people as the fire marshal would allow into the room with the two
stoves and the prep tables. The chefs knew exactly what they were getting into,
because they'd met with the hotel's head chef, who took them on a tour of the
kitchen and made a list of everything available in the pantry
After 45 minutes of appetizers, which included a mashed
potato bar with all the toppings, we held the live auction. Then, we announced
the three surprise ingredients--asparagus, abalone, and mango. The two chefs
counted down the clock, grabbed their stuff, and started cooking right in front
of us. They got creative, that's for sure. Most of the time, they were only a
few feet from the front row seats, and whenever they ran back to the kitchen,
we had a video crew of Kettle Moraine students following them on closed circuit
TV. Everybody had a great time, and in the end, Chef John won by a single
point. He still has the trophy displayed prominently in his restaurant.
As it played out, we made $35,000 from the event, with
$4,000 coming from ticket sales, $13,000 from the live auction, and another
$18,000 from the silent auction. We had to pay for a few things, but we did a
good job keeping the cost per attendee under $30.
It took a lot of help to put this together, especially on
the day of the event. We had about 35 volunteers to set up the event, keep it
running smoothly, and tear it down. The hotel's head chef agreed to be our
first judge, and the school superintendent volunteered to be our second. The
County Executive was our auctioneer, and an alum who's also a talk radio host
served as emcee, providing commentary for the competition. Kettle Moraine
student-athletes carried auction items into the hotel, greeted people at the
door, and helped with coats.
If someone wanted to try to host an event like this, my best
advice is to build your team wisely. Make sure you have enough time to devote
to it, especially in the last four weeks, because it's a big project. Set your
goals appropriately and be as transparent as possible.
After the Iron Chef competition, we had a great write-up in
the newspaper, which really energized all of us. We completed fundraising in
time for the groundbreaking in June and finished installing the field in time
for 2009 fall athletics. It was hard work, but there was a lot of satisfaction
in achieving our goal. As one of the team captains of the football team, my son
was the first person to step onto the new field on opening night. That's
something he's going to remember for a long time.
Larry Laux is a member of the Kettle
Moraine High School Booster Club.