NE Georgia is not a “Let me run out to the Cheese Shop” kind of place. The closest “cheese shop” is an hour away in Athens, Greenville and for those with masochistic tendencies, Atlanta. Atlanta is 90 miles and two to five hours away, depending on traffic… Lucky for the fine people of NE Georgia there is an ACS CCP living right here to bring fine cheeses to them… that would be me.
Several years ago the American Cheese Society declared the month of October “American Cheese Month”. I’ve always hated that title as it harks to that plastic stuff that is NOT cheese. Wouldn’t “American Artisan Cheese Moth be a better description? But what do I know??? as I digress…
This year the Mayor of Lavonia, Ralph Owens, joined the celebration declaring the month of October “American Cheese Month in Lavonia, Georgia”.
To celebrate American Cheese Month, I teamed up with several local non-profits and my favorite local Wine Bar, Blue Haven Bee Company and Southern Origin Meadery to create events filled with cheese plus specialty foods that go with cheese.
“Generous” hardly describes the outpouring of cheeses and other specialty foods donated for what became several events.
When I first conceived the idea of “grazing tables” to celebrate American Cheese Month, I envisioned a handful of producers helping me with my project. I sent out twenty-seven emails expecting participation from a handful. To my delight and amazement, twenty-five responded offering to donate their creations for the events. Such generosity enabled me to share with more NE Georgia groups, charities and non-profits. It also gave me the opportunity to begin raising funds for the 2019 Facebook Cheese Study Group Scholarship Fund.
The first event took place at a local arts and crafts store, Sweet Combs of Honey. SCH showcases local artists, including the cheese boards I craft from wood slabs left me by my dad. We had an afternoon of Cabot Cheese Snack Cuts, Beecher’s Handmade Cheeses and Creminelli Fine Meats’ Prosciutto. We sold a few of my cheese boards with the proceeds being donated to the scholarship fund.
The next event was “Grazing and Sipping” at Blue Haven Bee Company and Southern Origin Meadery, our local wine bar in Canon. For this event I created four grazing tables with cheeses, meats and dozens of specialty foods that pair well with cheese.
The tables boasted more than twenty-five different cheeses, Clock Shadow Creamery Cheese Curds, several Olli Salumeria meats, a selection of 34 Degrees Crisps, several different flavors of Kelly’s Jelly jams and preserves, olives, Vermont Creamery Chevre-stuffed peppadews, BelGioioso Mozzarella caprese spears, chocolates, fruits, nuts and sprays of colorful rock candy morsels. Featured were two American Cheese Society Best of Show Award-Winners: 2012’s Flagsheep from Beecher’s Handmade Cheeses and 2018’s Harbison from Jasper Hill Farm.
It was a magical evening; the guests “grazed and sipped” on the patio. The weather was still good; not hot and not cold. A local singer charmed us with her lovely voice, guitar and covers of many songs from the 70s and 80s. Sadly, the musician didn’t know who Evie Sands is – my favorite singer/songwriter from the 60s, 70s… Estate of Mind was one one the best LPs of that era.
Even with a full house, we had lots of “leftovers” and I used them in two ways; some went to the weekly Celebrate Recovery at the First Baptist Church and H.E.A.R.T. Ministries, a local recovery program for women. I prepared platters for both programs along with the already prepared cheeses from the evening. Donations to these two programs are always needed and appreciated. Celebrate Recovery meets every Monday night with dinner at 6pm and a program following. The H.E.A.R.T Ministry campus houses between 25-30 women at any time working through a six-week, live-in recovery program.
Both programs are close to my heart. My younger brother passed away in 2006, partly a result of his battle with alcoholism. I want to thank the cheesemakers and specialty food producers who support these programs with me throughout the year: Cabot Cheese, Sartori Cheese, 34 Degrees and Kelly’s Jelly.
The final American Cheese Month ended up being in November; the First Annual Lavonia Downtown Development Business Expo at the historic Lavonia Depot. It was an opportunity for local businesses to feature their services. The Director, Vivian Young, asked me to make a couple of cheese trays, for which she offered to pay. However, due to the outpouring of so many of those in the cheese community, I had enough cheese and specialty items to create a complimentary 10 foot grazing table.
More than thirty local businesses participated with table displays and Christmas trees decorated to reflect their businesses. It was a fun, educational evening to help on-going efforts to revitalize our historic downtown district. (My dad was on the board of the DDA, back in the day.)
I’ve tried to include as many pictures as possible to showcase the generosity of our cheese community. Since, I couldn’t get everyone in, here is the complete list of those who donated. Please support these cheesemakers and specialty food producers:
BelGioioso Cheese, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, Roth Cheese, Beehive Cheese, Clock Shadow Creamery, Olli Salumeria, Rogue Creamery, Cypress Grove Chevre, Cabot Cheese, Sartori Cheese, Creminelli Fine Meats, Kaserei Champignon, Swiss American, Gourmet Foods International, Schuman Cheese, Kelly’s Jelly, 34 Degrees Crisps, Saxon Creamery, LaClare Family Creamery, Sierra Nevada Cheese, Vermont Creamery, Jasper Hill Farm.
You guys rock!!!
In addition to being an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.
All of the cheeses and specialty food items were donated for use at American Cheese Month Celebrations and celebrate we did. Almost a $1000.00 was raised at these events to support the Facebook Cheese Study Group’s 2019 Scholarships. Again my thanks to all who participated!!! Fundraising for our 2019 Scholarships is about to begin and I hope you will support it. In 2017 and 2018, we raised more than $18,000 to send ten cheese professionals to the annual ACS Conference. Six sat for the ACS CCP exam and I am thrilled to add – all six passed!!!
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