Huntsville Item;   September 28, 2004

By Kurt Allen/Assistant Managing Editor

It's been lauded as a typical small-town get-together, but the New Waverly Library's annual cook-off has only gotten bigger and better, say organizers.

The annual fund-raiser, which was held last Friday and Saturday at the site of the new library, helps benefit the construction of the facility. For those who have been building the library, the cook-off provides the life blood for the project.

"We cleared, at this point, $24,000 or so," said Ron Kolb, the library association's former president and current construction boss at the site. "It is the highest we've ever had."

With a near-record turnout as well - exact numbers are hard to come by since admission to the event was free - New Waverly Library supporters are excited about things.

"We had a great turnout despite the weather outlook," said Hal Kooken, vice president of the library and one of the key cook-off organizers. "Friday night was bigger than ever.

"Every penny we make goes to the library, so it's a community effort," he said.

The money comes at a time when it is really needed, Kolb said. With the second floor in place and much of the electrical wiring installed, the walls are nearing completion, marking a major milestone in the project.

"Next up is the completion of the air conditioning and the interior walls," Kolb said Tuesday. "That includes the plumbing rough-in."

And while the cook-off funds might not stretch far enough, officials are hoping to have enough to start work on the driveway, which could carry a $23,000 price tag.

Because a majority of the cost is for materials only, Kolb and others are hoping to stretch their funds as much as possible.

"We try not to pay for labor when we can," he said. "We don't have that much in the way of requirements because we do much of that work ourselves."

And what jobs they don't do themselves they typically have done through volunteer work. For example, the floor coverings and tiles will be installed for free, leaving only the cost of materials. Another donor is going to put in a four-line intercom phone system, and a local resident plans to do the computer wiring for free, as well.

The library construction is sometimes compared to the cook-off itself, especially because of the community connections.

"You look at the people who help us, the city and county people, the school people," Kooken said. "They donated the tables, the chairs. This is for the kids, for the library."

Other supporters of the event included Bill and Geneva Cooney, Becky Kolb, Debbie Halter, Clem Marshall, new library president Earline Middleton, Joyce Pasket, Bud Bird, Annie Holland, Debra Hardy, Dee Moore, Thomas Malak, Mim Walker, Stewart and Dee Kolb and Philip Stepanski.

The strong turnout for the cook-off - in terms of total teams, attendance and funds raised - has Kolb excited. In his long association with the library and the eight years of the cook-off, he believes the ground has been laid for the future.

"(The money raised) averages out to about $15,000 per year, and it's going to be about $12,000 per year to operate it once it's up and running," he said. "If we are able to continue earning at this rate, it should cover the annual costs."

But getting the library built - something that's already taken a few years - is the first goal, and there is an end in sight.

"What has to be done will take me, alone, about four years to complete," he said. "If I were able to get money through grants, then we're looking at less than a year. We're doing it backwards. We're doing the building and hoping we're finding the money to pay for what we just did."

For right now, though, Kolb and the other library supporters are nothing but happy with the results and the future.

"We certainly appreciate not only the fact that they came here, but we hope they had a good time," Kolb said of the cook-off visitors. "We didn't have any problems. People were extremely friendly.

"I talked to a man from Maine, and he said, 'It's bigger than our county fair.' He was very positive about it. It was just a typical small-town get-together."