January, 2006, the Junior League of Saginaw Valley was privileged to learn that their cookbook, Between the Lakes, was the Midwest regional winner of the 16th annual TABASCO® Community Cookbook Award.

“It is a distinct honor and privilege to recognize these remarkable cookbooks,” said McIlhenny, president and CEO of McIlhenny Company. “The countless hours of work required to produce such extraordinary books are matched only by the commitment each organization has for maintaining and celebrating regional culinary traditions, which are impressively displayed in each of these winning volumes.”

The Tabasco Community Cookbook Awards were established in 1990 on behalf of the McIlhenny Company as a way of recognizing achievements in the arena of community cookbooks and to encourage the preservation of a vast array of regional food traditions. It is the only program solely created to recognize the best of the thousands of cookbooks issued annually to generate money for charitable causes. Cash donations are made to the charities specified by each of three national and six regional award winners.

Entries are judged on layout and design, title, theme, storyline, incorporation of regional culinary traditions, recipe content, and the organization's fund-raising efforts.

The ladies of the Junior League of Saginaw Valley received a cash prize of $500, a distinctive dinner plate plaque, personalized for their organization, as well as awards stickers for their books. All monies raised by the cookbook support community projects within Bay, Midland and Saginaw Counties.