KDMC Foundation presents PaLate with art, food, fun

Published 10:52 pm Saturday, January 18, 2014

This year’s PaLate event presented by King’s Daughters Medical Center and the King’s Daughters Foundation will again feature the live art work of two well known Mississippians, artist Wyatt Waters and chef Robert St. John, said Johnny Rainer, foundation director and KDMC chief development officer.

The pair recently released their latest book collaboration, “The Italian Palate,” which features watercolors and recipes from the duo’s travels in Italy. They will be demonstrating their talents during the event on Thursday, Jan. 23, in the Lincoln Civic Center, 1096 Belt Line Drive NE, Brookhaven. Waters will be composing a painting, and Chef St. John will be demonstrating his techniques on the grill.

Audience members will not miss a thing with several cameras on each artist providing a live feed on big screens around the main room of the center, Rainer said. There will also be a live jazz band. Rainer added that the $100 per plate donation is well worth the price, and there’s the added benefit of giving to a good cause.

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Rainer said attire is casual elegance, and tickets are still available by going through the hospital’s website, www.kdmc.org. The doors will open at 6 p.m., and the event will begin at 7 p.m.

“Wyatt will be on stage composing a picture of his own making,” Rainer said. He explained that the painting done during the evening will be auctioned off to the highest bidder at the end of the night. “Last year he painted a still life of different things he found around Brookhaven. This year we don’t know what he has planned.”

Waters and St. John will also sign their new book at the end of the show along with another book they collaborated on – “A Southern Palate.” Robert St. John will also have four of his popular books, “New South Grilling,” “Deep South Staples,” “Deep South Parties,” and “Dispatches From My South;” each are filled with southern cuisine and funny stories.

Rainer said all of the money raised from the event goes to benefit the KDMC Foundation.

“This is one of several fundraisers we do throughout the year to raise money for the foundation,” he said, “which is used to fund projects, equipment purchases and other things needed by the medical center.”

Rainer said the foundation was established to support and facilitate the growth of the Medical Center back in 1998. It’s governed by a board of directors from all backgrounds and professions with experience in community service. Board members serve a three-year term with the foundation.

The PaLate was planned to bring the community together to enjoy an evening of art, food, and music, Rainer said.

“It’s also an opportunity for you to support our Foundation,” he said.

Gifts, memorials, honorariums, and other expressions of gratitude are welcomed and appreciated. No gift is too small, none is too large and all are tax deductible, he said.

For more information on donating to the foundation, call the office at 601-823-5326.