On Sunday, August 9, Friends of the Maltz Museum hosted Straight to the Toppings: Kosher Hotdog Cookout Challenge. More than 500 visitors turned out that sunny afternoon for a friendly competition. Local teams concocted their perfect hotdog using very creative condiments such as cholent, chunky peanut butter, pastrami and turkey bacon. Kosher dogs were grilled under the supervision of Friendship Circle and Rabbi Yossi Marozov. Some guests purchased one dog and stuck with traditional toppings like ketchup and mustard. Other guests ate four (or more) to sample the variety available. At least one clever guest cut his hotdog into small sections and tasted a small bite of each of the teams’ offerings.
Event-goers voted for their favorite flavors and M-Cubed, the Maltz Museum’s young professionals group, came out on top of the competition with the winning combination—yellow mustard, chopped white onions, green sweet pickle relish, dill pickle spears, tomato slices, pickled sport peppers, and celery salt. It was a tight contest though, with the Happy Dog team taking second place and B’nai Jeshurun Men’s Club, Green Road Synagogue, Sudow Lefkovitz Great Debate and The Temple-Tifereth Israel not far behind.
Visitors also had the opportunity meet retired left-handed Cincinnati Reds pitcher and Cleveland native Moe Savransky. (He regaled volunteer docent Candy Anker with tales from his days on field while she showed him around the Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American exhibition.) Children were invited to take a swing in our outdoor batting cage, create original chalk art on the front walk and request their favorite inflated design from balloon twister Z.N. Singer.
The Kosher Hotdog Cookout Challenge was held memory of Earl Lefkovitz, who, along with Tom Sudow, first introduced a rabbinically-supervised Kosher hotdog stand to the home of the Cleveland Indians.
Overall, 28 volunteers gave their time to the planning and execution of the event. Generous donations by American Greetings, Bertman Ball Park Mustard, Boris Kosher Meats, Hermann’s Pickles, Marc’s Stores, Orlando Baking Company, Pierre’s Ice Cream, Schwebel Baking Co., Stars of Jacobs, Tibor Kosher Meats and Unger’s Kosher Bakery & Food made the event possible.
To see photos from the day, click here.
–Sheri Stallsmith, Manager of Group Sales & Private Events, & Aaron Bane, Interim Manager of Volunteers & Visitor Services
