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The 16th annual Taste of Shelby County took place on Thursday, Sept. 12 at the Inverness Country Club and featured a wide array of local businesses with various dishes and beverages on offer. (Reporter photos/Alec Etheredge)

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

NORTH SHELBY – Crowds of residents were able to enjoy a sampling of what the county has to offer while supporting a charitable cause during the 16th annual Taste of Shelby County.

This year’s installment of the Taste of Shelby County took place on Thursday, Sept. 12 at the Inverness Country Club and featured a wide array of local businesses with various dishes and beverages on offer for free sampling during the event.

“Everything went amazingly,” said Bethany Ivey, executive director of the Shelby County Schools Education. “The weather looked like it might be iffy but we had awesome food and a great turnout for the event (and) the auction did really well.”

The 16th annual Taste of Shelby County featured a selection of vendors from across the county that offered a variety of tastes, flavors and cultural dishes.

“There was a lot of mixing and mingling going on,” Ivey said. “Everybody was super excited about the variety of vendors that we had this year. A sense of camaraderie was there. It was a very positive atmosphere.”

The following vendors were present at the event:

• Dread River Distilling Co.
• Carrabba’s Italian Grill
• Good People Brewing Company
• La Paz
• Jersey Mike’s
• Eli’s Jerusalem Grill
• Birds & Burgers
• Bistro ProVare
• Chick-fil-A
• Slice
• East 59 Café
• Rickey J’s Bakery
• Inverness Country Club
• Charcuterie Pieces
• Cooke Fix
• Joe’s Italian
• Tre Luna Bar and Kitchen
• Trunk Tea

Each year, the annual event also serves as a fundraiser for the Shelby County Education Foundation’s Inspire the Journey grants program, in which funds are awarded to teachers across all 31 schools in the county’s school system.

“All of this money goes straight back into classrooms, libraries, counseling centers and STEM labs across the county,” Ivey said. “We do it just to provide teachers with resources that they need to be the best at their jobs.”

As part of that fundraising effort, a silent auction was held during the evening’s festivities that offered 60 items for bidding and saw $6,517.61 raised which surpassed the organization’s $5,000 goal.

Overall, last year’s installment of the Taste of Shelby County brought in $23,305 for Shelby County Schools and the foundation was able to raise that number even high to $34,000 this year to help local classrooms.

“It was a record-breaking year,” Ivey said. “We raised more funds than we ever have before. And, the most exciting part of that is that it translates to being able to fund more grants across the county for our teachers and all of our schools.”

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