Kiwanis salmon dinners are $10.

 

No luck.  Former restaurateur Tim Taylor still isn’t sharing the secret recipe for his grilled salmon – but he is sharing the salmon.

 

The Kiwanis Club of Mukilteo is hosting its annual salmon bake at the 45th annual Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival from Sept. 10-12, for the fourth year.  

 

It’s there, at the festival, that salmon lovers get lucky.

“We are fortunate enough to have our own ‘Iron Chef’ Tim Taylor to lead our team,” said Darlene Conklé who co-chairs the booth with Taylor.

 

Kiwanis will serve salmon dinners from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday – or until the booth runs out of food.

 

At the booth, festival-goers can get a dinner of alder-smoked salmon, corn, salad, and garlic bread for $10. Drinks will also be available.

“We heat up the garlic bread and we bake the salmon over alder wood in a smoker-type oven,” Taylor said.  “We have a great, big … oven that we build around this fire pit, so the fire’s underneath it, and we just smoke away.”

Students in the Kamiak and Mariner High School Key Clubs are also helping Kiwanis to serve at the festival’s booth.

“The salmon bake is the showpiece of the festival,” Taylor said.  “Many people come down just specifically to make sure they get salmon, because we do a great job cooking the salmon … and it’s for a good cause.”

Proceeds from the salmon bake benefit the Kiwanis Club scholarship fund and youth programs in the community. 

Last year Kiwanis was able to give nine $1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors in the Mukilteo School District, thanks to its fundraising efforts – the salmon bake being its biggest.  

Kiwanis fundraisers also helped to supply dictionaries for third graders in six Mukilteo elementaries and sponsorship for the Kamiak and Mariner key clubs and the Harbour Pointe and Olympic View Middle School builders clubs.

The club also serves the community at General Aviation Day, National Night Out, Chief for a Day, and the Mukilteo Car Show.  

 

“We enjoy working together toward a common goal and we have such fun doing it,” Taylor said of the salmon bake and other Kiwanis booths.  “For us, it is an easy way to raise funds.”

Formed in 1997, Kiwanis is a service club geared toward helping the youth in the community.  The club sponsors builders and key clubs, and cooks meals at the Cocoon House for homeless youth.  

 

Through guidance and example, the club works to develop future generations of leaders, Conklé said.   

 

“We help build good character and good values in our young people,” she said, “and encourage them to volunteer their service to the community as we do.”