Soupstock to Raise Charity Funds For Third Year

Mark your calendars! Shelton's third annual will be held downtown at The Slab on June 9. With a great lineup of local artists and vendors, the fundraising event is sure to be a huge draw once again.

The idea for Soupstock was born in 2008 when Michele Bialek, who owns with her husband Fred, wanted to organize an event centered around both her business and her grandmother's involvement in the community.

"My sister had an idea to do some sort of event related to soup, and she came up with the name Soupstock. Then around the time our grandmother passed away, she heard about the doing their walk-a-thon and thought it was probably a good time to do something to honor our grandmother," said Joe Manganello, Bialek's brother and co-producer of the event.

Shortly thereafter, they established the Mary A. Schmecker Turtle Shell Fund. Mrs. Schmecker had worked with the Boys and Girls Club for 35 years as a ceramics instructor and mentor. The Turtle Shell Fund seeks to help continue her legacy of enabling children and young adults to explore their artistic talents through scholarships, apprenticeship programs, classroom instruction, one-on-one lessons and other means.

Manganello said The Turtle Shell Fund currently exists through the Valley Community Foundation, an organization that manages charity funds, but will soon gain an official non-profit status that will enable them to do a bit more in terms of giving back to the community.

"We are hoping that with grant money we can start an arts center somewhere in the Valley area," he said. "We'd also would like to have a workshop and stuff where kids can come and learn about art and music or take lessons or participate in a group effort."

The ultimate goal, he explained, is not just to raise money but to foster and bring a "creative force" to the community.

"The whole thing is, we feel our society does not champion creative energy anymore. It's all about making $50,000 a year and having the big house and the cars and whatnot, but those things really don’t speak to your soul. We really need to start making things again with our minds and our hands."

________________________________________________________________________________________

Interested in news, events, community bulletins, blogs and businesses in Weston, Redding or Easton? Sign up for the free Shelton Patch daily newsletter, "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Held to tremendous success the past two years, Soupstock has gained quite a bit of popularity and is locally known as a summer kick-off event. It features music on two stages, an art exhibition by local students, craft vendors, a kids' activity area and, of course, the Soupstock Pro/Amateur Soup Competition where participants from all over Southern Connecticut compete for the coveted title. So what goes into making it all happen?

"A lot of sweat and a lot of worry," Manganello said. "We started the charity with pretty much nothing. We decided we were gonna try to get as many sponsors beforehand to put up enough money for tents and to pay for the incidental things we need. We were lucky enough that we had a couple of gracious sponsors that were willing."

Though Manganello has worked with Bridgeport's annual music festival, Gathering of the Vibes, for the past 12 years and his co-producer Nicole Heriot also has "peripheral experience" in organizing festivals, he admits that "it has been kind of a seat-of-the-pants experience but we were very surprised with the turnout."

Feedback from both vendors and guests has been extremely positive thus far. Manganello said one of the major compliments he hears is that Soupstock "encompasses it all" into a signature event that's not just a celebration of the city, like Shelton Day.

"Overall from doing this we've gotten a much better sense of the community and we've found a great number of people that we didn’t think would be willing to help but are," he said. "There is quite a bit of hunger for these events in the area that we don’t really realize."

Soupstock 2012 will be held rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. There is no charge to attend the festival, but attendees can make a small donation to enter the soup tent and vote for finalists in the competition. For more information and for a complete lineup of musicians, visit the event website: soupstockfestival.org.