Fourteen local men supported this year’s Black Men Cooking gala, a fundraiser for the Gloucester-based Epsilon Eta Chapter of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc.

The event was held at the T. C. Walker Education Center on Feb. 20; the sorority supports scholarships and other community needs while promoting business vocations for youth. The group has held Black Men Cooking for eight years, cancelling only in 2015 due to snow.

Thirteenn cooks were front and center, and so dedicated was one other who could not attend, Walter Donaldson, that he made sure his dish was on the table. All were there at the invitation of a friend or relative.

Willie Dickerson said he didn’t like to cook but, “if I have to cook to survive I can cook,” while Ronald Foster, who had included a dish of lima beans with his stewed tomatoes, said “sometimes I love to cook.” Vincent Pryor added, “Not a lot of cooking but a lot of eating.”  John Perrin confessed, “I...