Entrants will use their noodles to raise funds at pasta cook-off

WARREN

On Sunday, Blessed Sacrament Church and the Youngstown Metro American Heart Association will team up for their Ninth Annual Pasta Cook-Off.

All proceeds of the event will go toward Blessed Sacrament’s donation to the American Heart Association’s 2011 Heart Walk, which funds cardiovascular research and educational efforts in the community and beyond.

The cooking competition will begin at 12:30 p.m. at the church, 3020 Reeves Road. Advance tickets are $12 per adult and $5 per child 5 to 11 years old, with a $30 maximum per family (two adults plus children). Tickets at the door will sell for $15 per adult with a maximum cost of $35 for a family.

The cook-off will include dishes from local restaurants and catering companies, including Alberini’s Restaurant, Buena Vista Caf , Carmelo’s Restaurant, the Chophouse, DiVieste Banquet Hall, Leo’s Ristorante, Piazza Italia, Quinlan’s Irish Pub, Salvatore’s Springfield Grille, Station Square, Sunrise Inn, The Reef, Up-A-Creek, and Vernon’s Caf .

Amateur winemakers from the area will feature blends in a separate competition, and in previous years the competition has proved to be intense.

Desserts will be provided by Colonial Bake Shoppe and Coldstone Creamery. Take II will provide musical entertainment for the event.

A committee of judges will decide the pasta winners based on presentation and taste. Celebrity judges for the pasta event include Channel 27’s Rich Morgan and Peggy Sinkovich, Channel 33’s Stan Boney and Jim Loboy, Tribune Chronicle’s Bob Coupland, Warren Municipal Court Judges Thomas Gysegem and Terry Ivanchak, Warren Mayor Michael O’Brien, Heart Walk Director Allison Oltmann, Howland Police Chief Paul Monroe, Howland Township Administrator Darlene St. George, and the 2011 Heart Child, Alyson Smith.

Alyson, 6, was diagnosed with aortic stenosis after her doctors heard a heart murmur. Before the procedure to repair the defect was performed in June 2010, Alyson’s parents, Kevin and Kathy Smith of Columbiana, explained the need for surgery to Alyson by saying that the sound her heart made was “whoosh-whoosh,” and that it should be “bump-bump.”

When she awoke after the five-hour surgery to repair her heart, the first thing Alyson asked was, “Is my heart bumpy now?” Due to research and her medical care, it was.

For more information about the pasta cook-off or ticket information, call Blessed Sacrament Church at 330-372-2215. For more information about the 2011 Heart Walk, call the Youngstown Metro American Heart Association at 330-318-1002.