Annual Chocolate Festival serves up treats

Tasty delights of the chocolate dimension, the seventh annual Chocolate Festival of Monroe County hit the Convention Center one piece of fudge at a time Saturday. For many, the event was the ultimate indulgence to forgo diets as people treated themselves to a slice of the Bloomington Community's double chocolate cake. The icing on the cake was the donation of all proceeds to charity.\nThis annual event is intended to raise money and awareness for Options for Better Living, a local nonprofit organization that partners with disabled individuals to bring more fulfilling, self-directed lives, according to the organization's brochure. It supports about 200 adults and children in south central Indiana to be a part of everyday life. \nThe festival was selected from a long list of events, ranging from golf tournaments to galas, yet chocolate seems to be a universal favorite, said Susan Rinne, executive director of the festival. She got the idea from previous festivals held in Evansville and Indianapolis.\n"This would be a perfect signature event to promote options to a community," she said.\nSix thousand restaurants, bakeries, breweries and wineries were contacted and 100 replied to participate in the Chocolate Festival and baking contest. The contest's winners, which are selected by a panel of judges based on their chocolate expertise, range in categories from "incredible cakes" to "cooking by kids." The winners were announced by Mayor Mark Kruzan. \nThe most unusual and unique chocolate delectable of the evening was the chocolate beer presented by Upland Brewing Company.\n"You drink beer, you talk about stuff, you get chocolate beer," said Andrew St. Lawrence, brewer at Upland Brewing Company. \nThe chocolate beer was developed especially for the Festival, and will soon be sold at Big Red Liquors. \nTen-dollar tickets posed no barrier to the 2,000 students and community members who attended. All of the approximate $20,000 proceeds went to charity. This year's total is about $6,000 more than last year, Rinne said. She said higher attendance at the festival contributed to achieving the goal. \nThough there is a significant amount of money being raised for the organization, the festival itself -- costing about $17,000 -- is entirely covered by sponsorships and advertisements, and is managed by a group of volunteers who has worked every year since the first annual fest, Rinne said.\nNot only about charity, the festival is an optimal time for community involvement and family bonding, said Bloomington resident Jennifer Enoch, an avid supporter of such events.\n"It's really a lot of good chocolate with some great local music with great local businesses," she said.\n"We had fun, ate a lot of good chocolate and listened to great music."\n-- Contact staff writer Sabina Bhasin at sbhasin@indiana.edu.