Fred Hunter, host of television’s popular “places to go, people to meet” show, “Absolutely Alabama” is coming to town.
Hunter will participate in the Pike County Salvation Army’s Empty Bowls Luncheon on Friday and will feature the fundraiser as an  “Absolutely Alabama” event.
“We are honored and excited that Fred Hunter will be a guest at our Empty Bowls event,” said Kim May, Salvation Army director. “We appreciate the publicity that “Absolutely Alabama” will bring to Empty Bowls, which is an international grassroots effort to fight hunger.
“Potters, craftspeople and the general public have created handcrafted bowls for our luncheon. And, everyone is invited to come share a soup meal with us from 11 until 2 p.m. Friday at the Family Life Center at Bush Memorial Baptist Church in Troy.”
The soup luncheon will feature chili, camp stew and a variety of soups from the kitchens of some of the county’s best soup makers and from local businesses, Sodexo, Milky Moo’s, Mr. Ho’s and Momma Goldberg’s. Sister Schubert’s Homemade Rolls has donated the rolls for the event.
“It’s an all you can eat soup bar and we’ll also have dessert so the meal alone is worth the price of the ticket,” May said. “But everyone who purchases a ticket will get to select a handcrafted bowl to take home as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world.”
“We’ll have more than a hundred bowls to select from. Some were handcrafted by university students and professors and others were made by high school art students, seniors at the Colley Complex and people from the community who had a blast playing in the mud.”
The Pike County Salvation Army’s Empty Bowl fundraiser always includes a silent auction that features celebrity bowls.
This year’s celebrities are Larry Percy, Mary Ann Casey, Walter Black, Carrie Rigdon, Jeremy Murphy, Avery Miller, Lee Boyd and Carter Sanders.
“We’ll also have bowls from the storytellers at the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival, Donald Davis, Michael Reno Harrell and Andy Offutt Irwin. Their bowls will be sold together,” May said.
Something new and special at this year’s Empty Bowls Luncheon will be entertainment by Calvin Bodiford and friends.
“We’ll have great food, great entertainment and the fellowship will be great,” May said. “And you’ll get to take a handcrafted bowl home. But best thing about the luncheon is that the money raised will go to feed the hungry in our community. And, there are many people here in Pike County who go to bed hungry.”
Tickets for the Empty Bowl Luncheon are $20 and will be available at the door.