Offbeat Auburn Podcast — Mama Mocha’s Coffee Roastery’s Barista Throwdown
A return visit with Mama Mocha’s Coffee Roastery as we preview Auburn’s first ever Barista Throwdown. Just click on the button below to listen or check us out on iTunes!
You don’t have to spend much time with Sarah Barnett of Mama Mocha’s Coffee Roastery to come to the conclusion that she’s competitive. It’s hardly surprising, that’s a common quality in many entrepreneurs. Sarah’s competitiveness, though, isn’t the win at any cost variety. Rather, Sarah carries around an attitude of, “Let’s race to the top of the hill. One of us will get there first, but we’ll both enjoy the view!”
With that in mind, it’s also not surprising that Auburn’s first ever Barista Throwdown, sponsored by Mama Mocha’s Coffee Roastery, is not only all about who is best, but about raising the level of craft for coffee shops throughout the area. On August 19th, the local folks who make your lattes and cappuccinos will gather at The Gnu’s Room in the Shops @ Southside to test their skill against one another. Baristas will be judged on the quality of their drinks and their presentation. Also, in a uniquely Sarah twist, they will be further judged on a music playlist of their own choosing to accompany them as they work.
In addition to the Throwdown, there will be a wine tasting courtesy of Fine Wine and Beer by Gus and books and bags of coffee will be on sale. It promises to be a great event to send summer out with a bang and begin to usher in the fall and the return of students, faculty, and staff from the long break. In fact, when I was in Bloomington, Indiana this past week and mentioned to several friends this was happening, the response was universal. “That sounds so cool. Why don’t we have that?”
Well, probably because you don’t have Sarah Barnett and Mama Mocha’s Coffee Roastery.
Mama Mocha’s Coffee Roastery’s Barista Throwdown happens in The Gnu’s Room (414 S. Gay St.) in the Shops @ Southside on Thursday, August 19th beginning at 6 p.m. Admission is free.
– Kelly Walker
Offbeat Auburn Podcast — Auburn Area Community Theatre’s Sceneworks
Some of the many volunteers who power the Auburn Area Community Theatre fill us in on their upcoming Sceneworks. Just click on the button below to listen or check us out on iTunes!
When I arrived at the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center to talk to some of the folks from the Auburn Area Community Theatre, they were already rehearsing a number for their annual Sceneworks. Quietly, I unpacked my recording gear and starting capturing a bit of their work. When they wrapped up, I asked the AACT’s Andrea Holmes who I would be interviewing. I should probably have asked who I wouldn’t be interviewing, because I was delighted to find that pretty much every one of the group’s volunteers on hand was eager to step up.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. Mounting a theatrical production is a huge undertaking for any company and to take on that kind of work with volunteers calls for a special kind of passion. The AACT presents several full productions throughout the year and even when they claim to slow down in the summer for their annual collection of short scenes, they still aim high. This year’s Sceneworks has a theme of musical theatre, so there’s choreography to consider for a number like “Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now” from Hairspray. Their choices are ambitious, too, like “A Little Priest” from Sweeney Todd and “What Is This Feeling?” from Wicked. And, in the case of “Maybe This Time” from Cabaret, the song is framed in an original scene authored by one of the actors.
As one of the actors said to me, “Why would you want to sit at home and watch TV when you could be out enjoying the theatre.” The point is well taken whether you’re onstage, backstage, or enjoying the show from the audience.
Auburn Area Community Theatre presents Musical Theatre Sceneworks on Tuesday, August 3rd at 7:00 p.m. at the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center (222 E. Drave Ave.). The event is free and open to the public and will also feature the AACT annual membership meeting.
– Kelly Walker
Offbeat Auburn Podcast — India Garden
Inder Pannu takes advantage of a short post-lunch lull to sit down with us for a chat. Just click on the button below to listen or check us out on iTunes!
To understand how happy (overjoyed is probably more accurate) my wife and I were when news that the restaurant India Garden was coming to Auburn, a little bit of personal background is probably in order. When we moved to the South from the Midwest nearly three years ago, we moved into a region with one of America’s most beloved culinary traditions. Sadly, it’s a cuisine we appreciate largely from a distance because we are long-time vegetarians. It’s humble roots and tradition of making a lot out of a little means that a host of rice and veggie dishes owe a portion of their flavor to the addition of a nice piece of pork.
Southern cooking shares a lot with one of our favorite cuisines, and one of the most vegetarian-friendly, Indian cuisine. Both feature relatively simple base ingredients and both put a premium on slow cooking. What really distinguishes them, though, is the use of spices…lots and lots of spices. When you walk into Auburn’s India Garden, there’s definitely something in the air. Indian cuisine is first a feast for the nose. The spice trade literally put India on the map, for Europeans anyway, and Indians have had centuries upon centuries to devise ways to combine those spices with spinach, potatoes, and vegetable of all kinds into a seemingly endless array of dishes.
All that being said, don’t think that a trip to India Garden isn’t a delight for omnivores as well. One of the key elements of Indian cuisine is the clay oven called a tandoor. Tandoors cook hot, they cook long, and they’re most often used to cook meats to succulence. Well, so I’ve heard, but clearly it’s a hit locally based on the way people load up their plates with tandoori chicken at India Garden’s lunch buffet.
India Garden is located at 1251 Opelika Rd. and opens for lunch featuring a buffet at 11:00 a.m. Full dinner menu begins at 5:00 p.m.
– Kelly Walker
Offbeat Auburn Podcast — LCHS Best Friends Calendar Contest
We talk with Stacee Peer of the Lee County Humane Society about their 2011 Best Friends Calendar Contest and Woofstock. Just click on the button below to listen or check us out on iTunes!
C'mon, Henry has self-esteem issues!
First, let’s get one thing straight. I needed a photo to illustrate this story and Scout and Henry are as worthy as any of the other 50+ entrants in this year’s Lee County Humane Society 2011 Best Friends Calendar Contest, right? I mean the fact that I’m friends with their people, Allyson and Bailey of Sundilla, has nothing to do with it.
Awww…who am I kidding? Of course I’m biased. But, seriously, just look at them!
The LCHS’s annual Calendar Contest has got to be one of the truly great fund-raisers around town. Not only does it bring in good money for a great cause, but how often does participating in a contest include looking at dozen of pictures of highly photogenic pets? So, drop a dollar and cast a vote. You have until the 10th annual LCHS fundraiser Woofstock on September 11th.
The Lee County Human Society is accepting votes for the 2011 Best Friends Calendar Contest at leecountyhumane.org until the Woofstock annual fundraiser, which is Saturday, September 11th at Kiesel Park.
– Kelly Walker
Offbeat Auburn Podcast — The Southeastern Raptor Center Owl Release
Liz Crandall takes us an unforgettable visit with the residents of the Southeaster Raptor Center in advance of their next owl release. Just click on the button below to listen or check us out on iTunes!
Photo by Heather May
When I was in grade school, the Wolf Sanctuary outside St. Louis brought a wolf to visit. They were relatively new then and doing a lot of outreach, so they brought their star resident, Rocky, out and about in the community as they raised funds. For me, it was an formative experience and my interest in wildlife conservation probably began with that visit. When we were in Bloomington, we were close to Indiana’s Exotic Feline Rescue Center, which offered us up close visits with an amazing array of big cats. Unlike the wolves in St. Louis, the residents of that acreage outside Terre Haute will live out their lives there, unable to be returned to the wild. Not so with many of the birds who come to Auburn’s own Southeastern Raptor Center.
Members of the Auburn family are, of course, very familiar with raptors. The flight of the War Eagle before home games is one of the great traditions in college football. Those birds call the Southeastern Raptor Center home and its mission extends well beyond stirring the Auburn faithful on game day. Wounded and orphaned raptors from all over the region are brought to the center for evaluation and, hopefully, return to the wild. The latter portion of their mission happens again this week when Barred and Eastern Screech Owls who have been fostered at the Center are returned to the wild in an event at Kiesel Park. As it turns out, several of the owls were brought to the center as orphans by well-meaning people who did not realize they were healthy fledglings, so the Center will provide an educational session before the release as well.
The Southeastern Raptor Center, in collaboration with the City of Auburn Parks and Recreation Department, will release owls into the wild at Kiesel Park on July 8. An educational program at 6:30 p.m. is followed by the owls release at 7 p.m. People are encouraged to bring a picnic and to enjoy the park at Kiesel while watching the unique event.
– Kelly Walker
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