Yoknapatawpha Arts Council to hold “Yoktail” fundraiser party this weekend

Biology, bourbon and books are three words not often heard in the same sentence, but the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council will pull them together for its fundraiser this weekend.
The Arts Council is hosting a “Yoktail Party” to celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Square Table,” a community cookbook featuring local Oxford recipes, art and literature. The fundraiser takes place Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015, at the Powerhouse Community Arts Center from 6 – 8 p.m. The Arts Council is showcasing “Square Table’s” addendum called “Yoktails.” Admission to the event includes a copy of “Yoktails” along with samples of various cocktails.
“What we really wanted to do with this event is just to thank everyone who has gotten us to the 10-year mark and for the money that has been raised in support of the Arts Council,” Wayne Andrews executive director said.
The Arts Council has an annual budget of $479,000. As a nonprofit, the council earns about two-thirds of their money and the remaining third comes from writing grants, memberships and donations, according to Andrews. Oxford owns the Powerhouse facility and lets the Arts Council maintain it and rent it out for fundraisers, private events, formals and weddings. This rental income accounts for half of the earned revenue and the remaining half comes from ticket sales and events.
“We are lucky in the fact that we get a three-legged stool,” Andrews said. “We get the nice balance in that we lease the building and rent it out for programs and events. That helps sustain us.”
Additionally, the ticket income from events, the grants and the memberships help.
Although “Yoktails” is not expected to generate as much revenue as “Square Table,” the fundraiser is meant to celebrate everyone who worked hard to make the book happen and celebrate the artists and writers who contributed, according to Operations Coordinator Caitlin Hopper.
“Square Table” is in its fifth printing.
“We have sold out four times,” Andrews said. “If we sell through this (order), that will be 25,000 books sold.”
Between 5,000 and 10,000 books are printed and ordered at a time.
“This book sells well, and we know it sells well,” Andrews said. “We are lucky and fortunate that it was so well put together and does a great job of capturing Oxford. Every time a new record freshman class comes in, every mom gets a cookbook. We get 4,000 new customers every year.”
According to Hopper, local restaurants submitted recipes for “Yoktails” and there was a contest open for community members to submit their own.
“We approached restaurants that we thought would want to be included individually,” she said. “Most of them responded.”
For the community contest, there were 24 submissions total and the winner was chosen by a team of experts.
“We actually had liquor professionals,” Andrews said, “I sent (the recipes) to one of the distributors in the state, one of the beer brewers in the state and then a food writer.”
Jason D. Hoeksema, associate professor of biology at the University of Mississippi, won the community contest. Hoeksema submitted three recipes, and his “Sweet Tea Manhattan” was chosen as the winner to be showcased.
“I heard about the contest a few weeks before the deadline and started brainstorming ideas,” he said. “I have been playing around with making cocktails at home for a few years and just having fun with it.”
Hoeksema’s inspiration for the “Sweet Tea Manhattan” began with a bottle of vermouth called Carpano Antica Formula, which was new to his liquor cabinet. “It is just delicious and really complex, and I was trying to build something around it,” he said.
A Manhattan is a timeless, classic cocktail that many people love.
“You can make it with bourbon, which is beloved around here, so that started to sound like it might be fun and appeal to Oxford folks,” Hoeksema said.
Hoeksema’s other source of inspiration was a cinnamon orange tea-infused sweet vermouth, which was inspired from a cocktail book from a bar in NYC called Death & Co. He used chocolate and orange bitters to spice up the cocktail and finished it off with a brandied cherry garnish.
“I thought it would be fun to do something with tea, because we love our tea around here,” he said. “And our bourbon.”
Hopper expects between 75-100 people to attend the Yoktails Party Sunday. Admission includes a $10 minimum donation. “Yoktails” is a 20 page, soft-bound book that costs $10, inexpensive in comparison to “Square Table” at $35. All proceeds from the event support the YAC’s Community Art Grants.