Celebrity Chef Visits Lawton Fort Sill on August 1st

The Juliette Low Leadership Society (JLLS) of Lawton Fort Sill brings celebrity Chef Freida Nicole Davenport, notable contestant from the Food Network's Chopped Grill Masters and TLC's BBQ Pitmasters, to An Evening with Juliette Low on Saturday, August 1 to benefit Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma.

Texas born-and-raised on her family's fourth-generation ranch, Davenport grew to love both gourmet ranch cuisine and the farm-to-table concept. She was inspired to begin her culinary career by her mother, who spent down-time at the ranch baking. Davenport began traveling the nation, learning and training where ever she was welcomed, bringing her to Seattle where she trained with Christina Orchid, a classically training French chef.

For two years, Davenport trained as Orchid's sous chef before launching her own catering business, Cowgirl Caterin', in New York City. She then returned to her Texas roots to master smoking, barbequing, and mastering the pit. In 2010, following her appearance on TLC's BBQ Pitmasters, Davenport was invited to cook for more than 10,000 troops in Kuwait as the only woman guest chef on the USO Kings of BBQ tour alongside Jamie Geer, John Markus, Tuffy Stone and Johnny Trigg. In 2012, she created Sugar & Smoke, a Fredericksburg restaurant known for its old-world bakery and smokehouse concept. Currently, Davenport owns and operates Freida's Sweets and Meats food truck and is working to release a cookbook. Davenport received praise from Savuer magazine and Food & Wine magazine.

Davenport will make her Lawton Fort Sill debut on Saturday, Aug. 1 at the JLLS Celebrity Chef Dinner, "An Evening with Juliette Low," at the Hilton Garden Inn & Lawton Convention Center. Seating is still available, with JLLS memberships beginning at a tax-deductible gift of $200. Membership includes one ticket to the event. The evening's proceeds will benefit Girl Scout programming throughout Lawton and Fort Sill. For more details visit their Facebook event page.

JLLS, named for Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low, raises funds and awareness to provide leadership skills, self-esteem training, financial literacy, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programming, healthy relationship workshops and outdoor experiences to Oklahoma's girls. JLLS members provide dynamic leadership opportunities for girls in the Lawton Fort Sill community. Today, Girl Scouts engages over 4 million members throughout the movement across the nation.

This year's JLLS Celebrity Chef Dinner, chaired by Jennifer Ellis, will honor Natalie Fitch for her commitment to the Lawton Fort Sill community. Event sponsors include Cosmetic Specialty Labs, Arvest Bank, Zelbst & Butler Attorneys at Law, BancFirst, JAMARK Security, East Hill Industries, and more. Additional sponsorship opportunities are still available for this event; contact Jennifer Ellis at jennifer@aloe-vera.com for more information. You may also contact Holly Johns Rowland at hjohns@gswestok.org, 405-528-4475, or visit http://www.gswestok.org/jlls.