Don’t miss this year’s carnvial at St. Ambrose. With proceeds benefiting the school, the event is filled with plenty to do, including carnvial rides, games and plenty of food. There also is always live entertainment from locals. Get more details at https://stambrosecarnival.com.

The City of Deerfield Beach Parks & Recreation Department would like to invite you to join us for the Annual Black Heritage Banquet on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m at the Leo J. Robb Gym, 445 SW 2 St. Come out for delicious food and live performance performed by after school theater program that is made up of 30 local 8- to 17 -year old children. See who is honored from the community this year and listen to a keybote speaker. Tickets are $25 at the door ($20 pre-sale). Tables are $180 for a table of 10. Buy your tickets at Central City Campus (401 SW 4 St.) on Tuesday’s or Thursdays from 2 to 4 p.m. or  at the Oveta McKeithen Recreational Complex. *It is recommended that guests wear African attire; however, it is not required*

For more information please contact the Community Events and Outreach Division at 954-480-4429.

By Rachel Galvin

Bacchus Beckons, held on Jan. 21 at Bloomingdale’s at the Town Center Mall at Boca Raton, signaled the kickoff to the popular culinary event Boca Bacchanal. Hosted by the Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum, this first event of many was a perfect time for everyone to mingle and try some delicious hors d’oeuvres courtesy of Sandy James Fine Food & Productions, as well as taste different wines from featured vitners. Over 150 were in attendance. Models showed off some of the fashions available there and the DJ played some pumping retro tunes.

Another purpose of this event was to announce this year’s pairing of these acclaimed vitners with award-winning chefs for the upcoming Vitner Dinners, which will be held on March 6 from 7 to 11 p.m. at five elegant homes and one new restaurant throughout Boca Raton. (See pairings and more info below).

Before the Vitner Dinners take place, there will be another event –Bubbles & Burgers.

Held on Feb. 20 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Boca Beach Club, 900 S. Ocean Blvd. in Boca Raton, this informal get together will include specialty burgers and sparking wines and champagne.

Hosted by Alina Residences. Tickets are $100. Parking is complimentary.  

The Boca Bacchanal events culminate with The Grand Tasting on March 7 from

7 to 10 p.m. in the Great Hall at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. There, guests can enjoy tantalizing tastes of specialties served up from over 25 local restaurants to be enjoyed with over 130 champagnes and wines from all over the world. There also will be a silent auction and plenty of pop ups to experience.  Thomas Arvid, America’s preeminent painter of wine, will also be at the Boca Bacchanal with a pop up art gallery, will be donating a piece of his art to the hundreds of items within the silent auction and will be doing a live painting demo. Don’t miss one of the hottest foodie events in the area! Tickets are $125.

For more information on all the events, visit https://www.bocabacchanal.com/

 Vitner and Chef Pairings

At the home of Barbara and Bobby Campbell, the dinner will feature Chef Tim Nickey, of Kapow! Noodle Bar in Boca Raton and West Palm Beach, with Tim Duncan, of Silver Oaks & Twomey Cellars, of Napa Valley, California.

Maria & Todd Roberti’s dinner will debut Chef Nathan Duensing, of Marsh House in Nashville, paired with Tim Duncan, of Silver Oak & Twomey Cellars, of Napa Valley, California.

 Joyce & Thom DeVita and Joni & Al Goldberg will feature Chef John Thomas, of Sassafras in West Palm Beach, and John Schulz, of Flora Springs Winery of Napa Valley, California.

Stacey Packer, Robin Deyo, Carrie Rubin and Donna Nero — all women for the first time– will host at the Packer home. For that dinner, Chef Amy Mehrtens, of Copper Vine in New Orleans, is paired with Aime Dunstan, of Cakebread Cellars, of Sonoma, California. 

LeAnn & Russell Berman’s dinner features Chefs Shanna & Brian O’Hea, of The Academe Brasserie at the Kennebunk Inn in Kennebunk, Maine, paired with Anthony Truchard, of Truchard Vineyards, of Napa Valley, California. One of the evenings special guests will be Thomas Arvid, the nation’s pre-eminent painter of wine.

The Rex Gryphon Restaurant Group will hold their Vintner Dinner at their unique Rex Baron Survivors Kitchen/VRex Lounge located at Town Center at Boca Raton. This avant-garde post-apocalyptic themed restaurant concept includes interactive, multi-sensory elements and a hi-tech VR escape lounge. The al fresco evening will be co-hosted by the company’s Culinary Director and acclaimed Chef Ralph P. Fernandez, and former N.Y. Giants running back, best-selling author, youth advocate, and philanthropist Rashad Jennings, who joined the Rex Gryphon (RG) Restaurant Group in December 2019. This dinner debuts Anita Correas of Montes Wines of Chile.

Local artist Pat Anderson will have a special event on Tuesday, March 31 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pat teaches people to paint en plein air. As she always says, “Learn to Paint what you see while you see it…tomorrow it will change.”  The class includes a tour of the historic Bonnet House, art supplies and use of her patented Leaf Bar Table/easel at lakeside Royal Palms. You can learn Fashion Illustration by studying the influence of ERTE sculptures & Hugh the Swan for future figure art.  Pat taught Fashion Illustration at the Fort Lauderdale Art Institute and elsewhere. Only pay at the class, which goes directly to the Bonnet House.  Additional money Donations will be accepted by volunteers at the class.   Reserve your space now at Pat@PatAndersonArtist.com. This is just one of the weekly classes Pat has. Find out more info. at www.PatAndersonArtist.com/classes.

The City of Deerfield Beach is inviting citizens to dive into Your City, Your Buck, a new survey launched in an effort to include the community in the annual budgeting process. The survey is the equivalent to a virtual public workshop and uses technology to elevate the level of civic engagement in the budget process. The surveys are anonymous, but it does ask for some demographic information.