WATERVILLE — The Maine Celebrity Classic is planned for July 26 and 27 at Sugarloaf Resort Center and Golf Club, with the Chef Celebrity Gala at 6 p.m. Wednesday and the Golf Celebrity Classic at 9 a.m. Thursday.

The gala line-up includes executive chefs from Texas, Boston, North Carolina and Maine. All dedicated to garden to table food preparation, the chefs are in town for a two-day fundraiser to support sustainable gardening at the Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCA of Greater Waterville at the Alfond Youth Center, according to a news release from the Alfond Youth Center. The event is sponsored by Anheuser Busch and Maine Magazine.

The fundraiser has been so successful and garnered so much support from the community that the Mary Beaupre Greenhouse is due to break ground this August with a ribbon cutting projected for October. This 42-foot diameter Growing Spaces Biodome will be run by the more than 200 youth that attend programs daily and produce fruits, vegetables and herbs year-round for the Club’s Kids’ Kitchen, which serves more than 50,000 meals and snacks annually. The fresh produce also will be used to fill the 75 backpacks that go home to families in need and feed more than 275 individuals every weekend, according to the release.

According to Mike Owens, the Gardens Program coordinator, the dome also will have hydroponics and aquaponics learning labs. “We are going to be able to expand our STEM lessons with really fun and exciting experiences,” said Owens, according to the release.

Owens is helping arrange a Day with Great Chefs for the 150 youths attending the club’s Summer Enrichment Program on Monday, July 24. Mark Beaupre will be joined by Farm to Fork Consultant Sharon Hage, Saucier Brian “Butta” Stalters, Restaurant Owner/Chef Timothy Grandinetti, Executive Chef Zeb Hartline, and Waterville native Executive Chef Nick Ocando to help a group of youth harvest the club’s outdoor garden’s produce, prepare a fresh and nutritious salad, and serve it to the rest of the group. Once the greenhouse is built the next stage is a teaching kitchen where this kind of nourishing interaction will become a mainstay of these youth’s education.

For more information about the event and to register, visit mainecelebrityclassic.org.

For more information about the Waterville organizations, call 872-7092, email clavenson@alfondyouthcenter.org or visit www.ClubAYC.org.


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