The cheese does not stand alone. Especially when it comes to grilled cheese. The Orcas Island Education Foundation wants to thank the almost 200 people who came to our 1st Annual Grilled Cheese showdown. You were all incredibly delightful and full of good cheer. Thank you for your support

A hearty congratulation to our winning chef: Wendy Thomas for her sandwich of Jarlsberg/Gruyere cheeses, grilled onions, house-made rye sourdough and a special sauce! It was a stunner. And a huge thank you to ALL the chefs: Wendy, Chris Hogle, Hilary Canty, Mia Kartiganer, Janet Brownell and Kyle Freeman. The sandwiches were outstanding and the generosity of all the chefs was inspiring.

Thanks also to: Island Market who provided one of our chefs with provisions, “Girl Meets Dirt” who donated preserves for tasting and the “grand prize” of a basket of their wares and to Camp Orkila for lending us pitchers for the evening.

Finally, to all of the volunteers who helped set up, clean up, bake, and assisted during the event—THANK YOU! We could not have done this without you.

It was a terrific evening and we hope to do it next year. If you’d like to learn more about OIEF, please go to oief.org.

With deep gratitude,

The OIEF Board