It was a night to celebrate with good food and good friends. That was the recipe for the sixth annual “Taste of North Royalton” event held Thursday November 3 at the St. Paul Hellenic Center.

The event was held in support of the North Royalton Education Foundation and the North Royalton Stadium Foundation.
Looking at the scoreboard on the night, there were plenty of impressive numbers. There were 19 food vendors; 81 raffle baskets were available for bid and more than 430 people came to enjoy themselves, and the food.
“A night like this, put on by both the Education Foundation and the Stadium Foundation, is important for our entire district because the proceeds from this go directly to help our students,” said North Royalton School Superintendent Greg Gurka. “For the Stadium Foundation, it goes to fund future projects, like turf replacement. For the Education Foundation, it funds teacher mini-grants and scholarships for our seniors.”
President of the Stadium Foundation, Larry Vasil, agreed with Superintendent Gurka. “Tonight is very important for us. We are still fund-raising because at some point, around the tenth to twelfth year we will have to replace the field. The money that we fund-raise will be used to replace the field.”
To replace the field at Serpentini Chevrolet Stadium will be expensive. Vasil estimates the cost “to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $400,000 give or take.” So far, the Stadium Foundation has raised about $100,000 towards the replacement cost.
The raffle baskets included certificates and gift cards, plenty of sports memorabilia and other items. “We got great support from businesses in North Royalton and Broadview Heights,” said Kelly Tarnowski, who organized the raffle baskets. “It shows the enormous support for our causes. The proceeds are split equally between both foundations. It shows a great relationship between businesses, the cities and the schools.”
Among the food vendors on hand were Niko Moulagianis of Niko’s Bar and Gyros located on Royalton Road. This was the “rookie year” for Niko at the Taste of North Royalton. In fact, this was the first time that Niko has done a “Taste of” event.
“This is like being among friends. I must know at least 25% of the people who are here. Anything community-wise I’ve always stressed from Day One being from North Royalton. This is getting us out.”
Everyone in attendance went back for seconds and was encouraged to go back for thirds. “All of the food here is excellent,” said John Kobunski. “I liked the gyros from Niko’s and the lasagna from the Fire Truck Pizza Company.” This was also the first “Taste of” event for Fire Truck.
Amy Kuntz couldn’t tear herself away from Tom and Chee’s with their Grilled Cheese donuts. “It’s amazing,” said Amy. “I’ve found another place to do lunch.” Tom and Chee’s is located on Pearl Road in Strongsville.
Tickets for the Taste of North Royalton event usually sell out early. Be sure you keep that in mind for the 2017 event. And come hungry.

By JOE JASTRZEMSKI
Contributing Writer