14 CapitalPress.com
November 13, 2015
Dine Around Oregon a delicious adventure
By GEOFF PARKS
For the Capital Press
Appetizers greet diners at the first stop of Dine Around Oregon event at the 2014 Willamette Valley Ag Expo.
WVAG15-7/#8
The wildly successful Dine
Around Oregon dinner event
at the Willamette Valley Ag
Expo returns for a fourth year
to offer something different
and tasty for everyone.
“It’s kind of like a progres-
sive dinner,” explained Jill
Ingalls, WVAE manager. “At-
tendees can start anywhere
and move freely through the
offerings — menu items cre-
ated from pork in the Cas-
cade Building, lamb in the
Santiam Building, beef in
the Willamette Building and
cheese, soups and appetizers
in the Calapooia.”
All of the products are Or-
egon-sourced, she said. Lamb
comes from Reed Anderson
Ranches and is prepared by
Pat Manning of Manning
Farms, the Oregon Dairy
Women provide the cheese,
and the rest is purchased or
donated from local growers
and ranchers. The Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association will
help sponsor the beef.
Beverages are another
highlight, featuring sampling
from 4 Spirits Distillery —
and various Oregon wines
and beers. Desserts are also a
top draw.
Catering by Valley Ca-
tering of Adair Village pulls
it all together, Ingalls said.
“(Valley Catering owner)
Mary Bentley is like a ma-
gician. She takes all these
ingredients and seemingly
with a wave of her hand turns
them into a masterpiece, then
brings out a staff that is sim-
ply stellar.”
Students from the Scio
FFA Chapter assist that staff
in taking tickets and hosting
attendees through the four
different dining stations.
Gary and Teresa Pul-
len, owners of Spring Acres
Cranberries in Bandon, are
providing the fresh cranber-
ries for the event. They and
their son-in-law are the only
employees of the 40-acre
Courtesy of WVAE
Dine Around Oregon offers the best of the state’s food and bever-
ages.
operation, and an Oct. 1 har-
vest time had them hopping
to flood, float and gather the
tart, juicy berries. It’s a la-
bor-intensive operation, Gary
Pullen said.
“We typically wet har-
vest and sell our tonnage to
an independent handler, who
brokers them out,” Pullen
said. “But we will dry pick
with a 100-year-old hand
scoop to bring berries to the
WVAE.”
He said the hand imple-
ment has been in the family
and used by four generations
of Pullens to harvest small
quantities of cranberries,
which are destined for dinner
and desserts at the Expo.
“We used to just attend the
WVAE as guests and for the
ag show,” Pullen said. “But
we decided to volunteer to
give them some unprocessed
fresh fruit, picked just a day
before the (Dine Around Ore-
gon) event.”
Dine Around Oregon runs
from 5 to 9 p.m. on Wednes-
day, Nov. 18. A total of 500
tickets are available while
quantities last at www.wvaex-
po.com.
“Thanks to sponsors and
all the amazing food provid-
ers we can keep the cost of
tickets to under $12,” Ingalls
said.