Rotary Club ‘Hotdish Hootenanny’ a success

After all the hotdish was served, Mike Jensen and Jessi Mages were named the winners of the Owatonna’s first “Hotdish Hootenanny” Saturday night at the Eagles Club.

Mages and her Rueben Hotdish won in two categories, Most Creative and People’s Choice, while Jensen and his Goulash won the U Betcha category for the Most Minnesota hotdish. Both winners earned a wooden spoon and bragging rights. The event was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Owatonna.

Twenty-three hotdish chefs signed up for the event. From 4 to 7 p.m., hotdish fans could sample the dishes and cast their votes. In addition to the hotdish, there was also a silent auction.

Both chefs and guests were enthusiastic, said Lois Nelson, secretary and past president of the club. She said that people started lining up for the event a half-hour early. A number of potential chefs who contacted the group too late for this year’s line-up were put on the list for next year, she said.

Nelson said the club was looking for a fun event for all ages that would help raise money for their youth programs. The idea of a hotdish competition came up, and members decided to give it a try.

Attendees had the Herculean task of sampling 23 hotdishes; a number of people said that was hard to do in just a three-hour period without feeling too stuffed.

Entertainment throughout the evening was provided by Bruce Bernhart, who plays mandolin, banjo, guitar and bass and guitar. He said he played in blue grass bands at the Steele County Fair for 20 years and also with the jazz trio Tuition Daddies, so-named because the members had children who were in college.

Now retired, Bernhart said he plays often at assisted living facilities and fundraisers, as well as Grapeful Wine Bar.

Proceeds from the event will support the Rotary’s youth programs, including support for a foreign exchange student in Owatonna and recognition for honor students each month during the school year. The club also gives all third graders a journal and pen every year, usually in November, and encourages them to write. In May, members of the Owatonna High School National Honor Society are invited to a luncheon, and students are also sponsored to attend an enterprise camp and the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy.

Other activities of the club, Nelson said, include supporting the eradication of polio throughout the world and a program sending crutches to people in Africa.

Rotary International has seven areas of focus, including peacebuilding and conflict prevention, disease prevention and treatment, water, sanitation and hygiene, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, community economic development and the environment.

The club currently has about 50 members, Nelson said.

Initially, the club had hoped the Hotdish Hootenanny could be at least a three-year project, and the success of the first year ensures it will return in 2026, Nelson said.