By Melanie Petrucci, Senior Community Reporter
Photo/courtesy Shrewsbury Rotary Club
Shrewsbury – Members of the Shrewsbury Rotary Club are busy planning their fourth Annual Food & Brew Fest to be held, rain or shine, Sunday, June 23 at Avidia Bank, 23 Maple Ave., from 12 – 3 p.m. This event is co-chaired by the club’s incoming president, Stephanie Luz and fellow club member, Shrewsbury Selectman Beth Casavant.
“We have about 30 tables and it’s a combination of sampling products from local restaurants and local breweries so that we are able to fund raise for projects that are going back into the community,” Luz explained. “This is one of our major fundraisers.”
The Food and Brew Fest will have something for everyone as it is family friendly and provides offerings from local establishments including Burtons Grill & Bar, Civic Kitchen & Drink, Il Forno Italian Restaurant, Not Your Average Joe’s, Hooters, Mooyah and several others.
Selections on tap will include Sam Adams, Bantam Cider, Cold Harbor and Wormtown as well as wine and non-alcoholic options.
Tickets are $30 per person (21 years of age and older) for unlimited tastings and $20 for food only (and under 21 years of age.) IDs will be checked. Kids sixteen and under are free.
There will be baskets for raffles and live music provided by Pallet House of Grafton as well as a Kids’ Korner with lots of activities for the younger set.
Luz commented that there will also be a “shelter box” on view which is a kit filled with essentials needed in cases of natural disasters. Rotary International provides these boxes through a partnership with Shelter Box, an international relief program.
“Everyone can see where their money goes when they donate to Rotary International,” Luz remarked.
“This year we are also partnering with St. Anne’s Human Services and the proceeds from our basket raffle will be going to purchase backpacks for students that are served by their food pantry,” noted Casavant.
“They provide school supplies for those students but over the years the cost of the backpacks has become so expensive that they aren’t able to provide a backpack for the kids as well,” she added. “They were very pleased to hear that we were willing to devote the proceeds from the basket raffle to their program.”
Luz expects that they will be purchasing roughly 100 backpacks for children in kindergarten through grade 12. The Rotary Club will also be holding a school supply drive throughout the summer to help fill those backpacks and will be assembling the backpacks in August as a club service project.
Avidia Bank, Thrive Real Estate, Wegmans and Shrewsbury Federal Credit Union are among the 2019 Food and Brew Fest sponsors.
Casavant said that they are still accepting sponsorships and items for their basket raffle. Anyone, including individuals, families and local businesses can participate. Visit https://shrewsburyfoodandbrew.com/contact-us.
For event information, visit www.shrewsburyfoodandbrew.com or: the Facebook page.
To purchase tickets visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-shrewsbury-food-and-brew-fest-tickets-57455443779?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete.