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Celebrity watchers, get out your camera equipment and head for Syracuse - the big names are coming to town.
This Friday in Syracuse Dorothy Mengering will be signing her cookbook - just in time for Mothers Day.
But your mom probably won't recognize this chef. She isn't famous for her fine cuisine but for her son, David Letterman.
She's been to Lillehammer and Barcelona covering the Olympics for "The Late Show With David Letterman." Now she's coming to Syracuse to help raise money for her favorite charity, the Kiwanis.
She's signed a lot of books all over Indiana for the Kiwanis, Mengering said in a telephone interview last week. The list of stops on the fundraising route read like a state atlas: Monticello, Richmond, Carmel.
This weekend's stop is Syracuse, where Al Eades of the Syracuse Kiwanis and many Syracuse sponsors will host the famous mom at Brookepointe Inn.
The book became a tool for Kiwanis fundraising after Dorothy's husband, Don Mengering, took several signed copies to members of the Carmel chapter, she said. Soon a formal signing was set up, with half of the $20 cost for the book going to the Kiwanis.
Coincidentally there are 10 reasons to venture to Syracuse to meet this celebrity's mother:
10. Mengering is a charming diplomat.
If you ask her what her favorite recipe is she'll politely say, "I like them all." When pushed she cites the strawberry pie, the lemon bars and the meatloaf.
9. She has a sense of humor.
What is the one recipe that Mengering hasn't tried? The dog food (it's cat food if you add the water from canned tuna to the mixture), she says. That recipe, Mengering notes, was contributed by Late Show "Stupid Pet Tricks" coordinator Susan Sheehan.
8. Pictures of David Letterman as a child.
The cookbook includes not only the recipes Letterman raves about on his show, but also old family photos along with captions and family members' favorites. He has always looked a little goofy.
7. Mengering is a Hoosier hero.
Already on the walk of fame, she has traveled to the area before on many day trips. She mentioned Shipshewana, a Nappanee bed and breakfast and the Auburn Museum as a few of her recent destinations.
6. David probably isn't going to come anywhere near Syracuse.
But Mengering will be in Syracuse two days before heading up to Auburn for another book signing. Her second day in Syracuse she will be a guest speaker to the Kiwanis chapter.
5. You've had enough fried chicken.
This is an out of the ordinary fund raiser for the Syracuse group, Eades said. The group usually raises money through chicken barbeques and fish fries, he added.
4. Local needs.
The funds from the many different fund raisers the group sponsors stay in Syracuse, for the most part, helping area people, said Eades. The group sponsors young baseball players and more than 40 needy families at Christmas time.
3. Outreach.
The other charity that Kiwanis sponsors is Riley's Children's Hospitals. Part of the money raised this weekend will likely go to that organization, said Eades.
2. Limited time engagement, one night only.
Eades said Mengering will be available from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday to sign autographs. Anyone not able to attend could purchase a cookbook beforehand and have a personal message inscribed by Mengering, Eades said.
1.You haven't bought a Mother's Day Gift yet.
