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The Beefaloni Brothers give back.
By day, Roger Shollmier and Bill Powers are all business. Shollmier is founder and chief designer of Kitchen Ideas, while Powers is owner of Power Design and Build LLC.
But on many weekends, they are all party, known not as Roger and Bill but by their increasingly recognized alter egos — “The Beefaloni Brothers” — chefs and hosts who cook and entertain for a good cause.
It all started in the early 1990s when Shollmier’s daughter asked if he would help raise money for her school fund-raiser. An avid cook, he agreed to host a cooking class during which patrons could bid to win a certificate promising a Shollmier-hosted dinner party in their very own kitchen.
The certificate sold quickly, and soon several other Catholic schools and nonprofits expressed an interest in hosting their own cooking classes. Realizing he had hit on a popular idea, Shollmier decided to enlist Powers, his friend of 22 years, to help him.
Now, 16 years later, Shollmier and Powers have brought their “Beefaloni Brothers Pizza Party” to 240 kitchens in northeastern Oklahoma. The menu of pizzas includes their signature Muffuletta pizza, a New Orleans Italian-style pizza topped with salad; a BB’Chue pizza with barbecue sauce, pork and other flavorful toppings; a meaty Stacked Taco pizza, a recipe Shollmier created in 11th grade; and a Tomato Parmesan Cheese Garlic pizza. Occasionally, when patrons bid on the Beefaloni Brothers certificates at a higher price, the brothers prepare their special Shrimp Acapulco pizza.
Overall, the pizza parties have raised more than $700,000 for area nonprofits, and the Beefaloni Brothers are booked for events through January 2011.
“For us, it’s a way for two guys that are fun-loving, energetic and creative to give back to the city in a very original way,” Powers says. “We have a real comedy routine that is funny, outspoken and kind of a loud ruckus, but we make people have fun and we’re able to cue in the specific personalities … and get people to break out and have a good time.”
