Port Angeles, Wash.– Visitors to Port Angeles’ annual Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival will have an opportunity to help support the families of fallen military servicemen and women this year at the event’s inaugural Captain Joseph House Benefit Chowder Cook-Off supporting the Captain Joseph House Foundation.
Professional and amateur chefs will compete in an effort to create the most delicious chowder, as determined by a People’s Choice Award, and by the seasoned palate of Celebrity Chef Graham Kerr, better known as the iconic Galloping Gourmet.
The cook-off will take place on Sunday, Oct. 13 from 10am – 2pm at the Clallam Transit Center (next to the Gateway Center) between Front Street and Railroad Avenue in Port Angeles.
All chowder entries will be made from scratch on site beginning at 10am. Festival-goers can watch the chowder cooking, sample the work of the chefs, and vote for their favorite chowder. Tickets for five 2 oz. tastes can be purchased for $10, and ticketholders receive one vote per ticket in the People’s Choice Awards. There is no limit to the number of tickets individuals can purchase.
All proceeds will be donated to the Captain Joseph House Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides a unique respite/retreat experience in the Pacific Northwest where families of fallen warriors can heal, make new memories, and rebuild family traditions without their loved one.
Helping to Heal Hearts
Captain Joseph House was founded by Port Angeles resident and Gold Star Mom Betsy Schultz, whose son, Joseph William Schultz, a Green Beret, made the ultimate sacrifice for his country while on active duty in Wardak Province, Afghanistan in 2011. While navigating her personal journey of grief, Schultz became aware of a real need to extend the immediate care provided to families of the fallen by military, private and non-profit organizations, and of the healing that comes from connecting and sharing with others who have experienced a similar loss as a casualty of war.
“Celebrating annual holidays and other family traditions or taking a family vacation without their loved one present can be extremely difficult, while at the same time one of the most healing steps that a family takes together,” says Schultz. “Captain Joseph House will be a place where families can draw strength from their common experiences and together create new beginnings.”
