Hungry for community: After storm delay, Collard Green Festival names the best cook.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: October 30, 2024
Host: Big Mama’s Collard Green Festival seems indestructible. The hurricanes did postpone the event, but it happened last weekend, and it still was one of the social highlights of the year for Newtown and Sarasota. Ramon Lopez was there.
Ramon Lopez: Various community groups were hard hit by Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton. As Sarasota rebuilds from the triple threat, several LGBTQ organizations are reeling. Project Pride SRQ was forced to cancel its annual Gulf Coast Pride Festival scheduled for October 19th. And Fabulous Arts Foundation delayed the soft opening of their LGBTQ center as it suffered severe roof and flood damage.
Newtown Nation’s 8th Annual “Big Mama’s Collard Greens” Festival was also scheduled for Saturday Oct. 19th. But Milton’s impact caused the organizers to delay this year’s collard greens cook-off by one week. The family-friendly, non-alcohol event held at Newtown’s Robert L. Taylor Community Center on October 26th, celebrates community, culture and mouth-watering flavors. At the heart of the festival are “Big Mama’s” family collard greens recipes, some dating back more than a century. Local residents and restaurant chefs cooked up batches of “greens” and submit them for blind taste testing by a judging panel. The goal? The coveted bragging rights title of “Big Mama.” In addition, chefs from local restaurants showcased their soul food offerings: barbeque pork ribs & chicken, cajun-style shrimp, old-fashion cornbread, savory rice, creamy mac & cheese and slow-cooked bacon-flavored green beans.
Valerie Buchand, president of Newtown Nation, told WSLR News how the collard greens cookoff got its start.
Valerie Buchand: So back in the day, collard greens were the thing, so we decided to have a COVID cook off, see who could make the best collard green. And so we get judges, and people from out of the community, and people come and enter their dreams into the contest, and they would win first, second, third prize. But this is our eighth year, and I tell you, we just hope that we just keep going strong.
RL: Buchand said the festival needed to go on for the good of the community.
VB: So because of Hurricane Milton, and before then hurricane Helene came and just kind of distorted people’s lives. And so we wanted to give people the opportunity to kind of get themselves together, gather themselves and be able to come out and enjoy one another, because such devastation happened to so many people. So this gives them the opportunity to meet friends, to enjoy people that they already know, to get some good eating food and to listen to the entertainment. This year we have young children participating in the event, so it’s just awesome.
RL: Danette Williams, Vice President of Newtown Nation and the event coordinator of the Big Mama’s Collard Green Festival, said the one-week delay forced her to rework the overall program.
Danette Williams: I had a lot of vendors that couldn’t show up because they had a scheduling conflict. I have a lot of entertainers that I had to shift around because they have a scheduling conflict. So do I think it would have been more successful last week? Yes. But for me, families are first, so we wanted everybody to feel safe, so we just decided to just push it back.
RL: Live entertainment showcased local talent, creating a vibrant atmosphere for attendees of all ages. Children got their faces painted. Info booths pitched various causes and candidates for elected office. Ron Kashden and Sequoia Felton were there seeking votes. We hear from Kashden.
Ron Kashden
Ron Kashden: Everyone’s having a good time, good music, good vibe. I’m here with Sequoia Felton, just trying to get out the vote and inform people that there’s a City Commission election coming up, and they should be informed.
I think the campaign’s going well. I’m cautiously optimistic. We’re both newcomers. This is the first time either of us have run a political campaign, so we kind of have no benchmark to gauge against, but it’s just talking to the residents and feeling and reaching out to the community, and we’ve been getting a warm reception, just getting people out and engaged and just interacting, and particularly Big Mama’s, because Big Mama’s also crosses all the different socio-economic races. You have everyone coming together, and it’s just beautiful to see.
What really makes me feel good is just talking to the residents and just getting people educated. Because the one thing I really want is knowledgeable people, knowing what the facts are, knowing what the candidates stand for, and then voting for their interests. Where I always got concerned is unengaged, disinterested people just coming to the polls and randomly casting a vote, and this seems, this particular election, maybe because of all the different issues, people seem to really be engaged, we can all gather, like at Big Mama’s and other city events, and just come together as a city.
RL: Newtown Nation’s mission is to create a healthier, happier and safer Newtown by embracing diversity and promoting understanding. “Big Mama’s Collard Greens Fest” sprouted from the group’s Newtown Farmers Market.
This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.