Copperfield Dinner Certainly Top-Shelf

Bill Clapper
ESWA Executive Secretary

“This is (was) the best meal I’ve ever had at an ESWA event,” was a common refrain during and after the ESWA dinner at Lorenzo’s, inside the Copperfield Inn, North Creek N.Y.

The accolades were unsolicited and came from seasoned media types as well as those experiencing an ESWA meeting for the first time. The meal the staff put on for ESWA members and guests during the December meeting  in every respect.                            

Photo by Fred McKinney Gore’s Emily Stanton receives her third ESWA hosted by Gore Mountain was top shelf Recognition plaque from ESWA President Dan Cassidy.

Served family style in shallow crocks or cast iron bowls, the entrees ran the gamut from steak to chicken to salmon with potatoes and a vegetable medley as accompaniment. Oh yes, there was also a choice of salad.

Thin slices of sirloin, which were fork tender, swam in delightful mushroom-burgundy gravy. The chicken piccata had just the right amount of lemon tang and more than a hint of capers to the sauce covering the moist and tender chicken breasts. The salmon was covered with a lemon butter sauce and decorated with crisped leek slices.

Slices of russet potatoes were prepared in a savory sauce that featured caramelized onions while the vegetable medley was cubed summer squash and zucchini with vegetable fritters.

The highlight of the dinner, apart from the meal of course, was a trivia contest emceed by Bernie Weichsel, producer of the BEWI Ski and Snowboard Expos. After a series of elimination rounds, Pat Turner Kavanaugh won by knowing Marvel Mountain is in Newfoundland.

ESWA President Dan Cassidy presented Emily Stanton with a plaque of recognition, thanking her for all her efforts that made this early-season meeting a success. According to Stanton’s count, it is the third plaque she has received from ESWA.

“Our big success is our relationship with the region and the stories we can tell,” Stanton told the assembled writers, corporate communications representatives and guests after dinner. “This region is about to explode and you’ll have to come back and write your own story.”