JANUARY 16, 2011 WEEK 11

THE 15TH ANNUAL CHOCOLATEFEST AT THE HERSHEY LODGE!

Where: The Hershey Lodge and Convention Center!

What is it:  Chocolatefest is an annual event that people can come and enjoy chocolate in many shapes and forms.  Money from the tickets sales goes to the Keystone Human Services.  There were more than 75 different vendors there to show off their confection creations.  Such vendors as The Hershey Lodge, Giant Foods, Matangos Candy, Appalachain Brewing Company, Red Robin and The Hershey Hotel,  Sheraton Harrisburg, Dove Chocolates and Pampered Chef. 

We arrived to the WINK104 Boombox playing the Black Eyed Peas outside of the packed parking lot of the convention center.  Inside there were people to greet you at the door and answer any questions that you had.  We arrived and walked up to the desked and grabbed our tickets.  Then immediately handed them right back to get in.  We walked down a long hall way called the Great American Hall, to the drums beats and jazzy feel of Andrew Bellanca & Friends.  In this hall way there were several tables set up for children's games, boy scouts, banks, vacation giveaways and even the Susquehanna Service Dogs (SSD) and yes I petted the puppies!!!  They were soo cute!

In the main convention center it was amazing!  CHOCOLATE EVERYWHERE!  There were three rows of tables and on each side there was chocolate and givaways and cakes competitions and silent auctions and HUGE basket raffles and more chocolate!!  For the entertainment playing in the background was the Central Dauphin High School Jazz Band.

We were only able to hit the first two row of chocolate.  I would have to say that my favorite was The Hershey Lodge's White Cheddar and Jalopeno Grits with Chocolate chicken.  I was awesome!  The jalopenos made it spicy, the grits cooled it down and the chocolate chicken made it sweet!  It was great!  I would really love to have dinner at the Hershey Lodge to see what else they have!

Now you may ask yourself "what is the KEYSTONE HUMAN SERVICES?
Well the Keystone Human Services is made up of several branches such as services for autisic individuals, homeless, persons with mental illness, the elderly, family support assistance, and theraputic services such as service dogs, therapy and rehabilitaion.  Not only do they fund and support this but they also help CAPITAL AREA HEAD START, CHILD PERMANENCY PROGRAMS, EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES AND FAMILY PRESERVATION AND UNIFICATION.  If you would like to learn more on Keystone Human Services you can go to http://www.keystonehumanservices.org/.

Keystone Human Services not only have Chocolatefest but also several other events that are held throughout the year such as PawsAbilities, Basket Bingo & Silent Auction, Black Tie & Tails, Chocolate Ball, a Golf Tournament and A Night of Design: A Benefit for Children.  I think that these people are amazing and should be supported to then help support us!

I had a great time at ChocolateFest and I plan on going back for more next year!