The Junior League of Fort Myers announces its 2009 Taste of the Town co-chairs are Michelle Thomas and Paige Biagi.

Thomas is an executive of Saturn of Southwest Florida and Biagi is the chief legislative assistant to state Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral. This is the second time Thomas and Biagi will team up to organize the signature event.

For more than 25 years, Taste of the Town has been the largest and most well attended event of its kind in Southwest Florida, attracting an estimated crowd of up to 15,000 annually. Thomas and Biagi are determined to make the 2009 event, set for Nov. 8 at Centennial Park, a success for the community, families, business owners and nonprofits.

All proceeds from Taste of the Town support the Junior League’s projects, which serve area nonprofits working for women and children in need.

Thomas and Biagi hope to give an economic boost to local restaurant owners who have been feeling the pains of a slow economy. They are offering a discount to restaurants that preregister prior to Aug. 1.

According to Biagi, restaurants really look forward to participating in the Taste of the Town event because of all the publicity they receive, as well as the revenue they produce during the event.

Restaurants that would like to participate should contact Jodi Maher at jodirmaher@hotmail.com or call 277-1197.

Taste of the Town is the annual fund-raiser for the Junior League of Fort Myers. Proceeds are given back to the community through the league’s volunteer projects.

Some of the organizations that have benefited from Taste of the Town funds include the Calusa Nature Center, Imaginarium Hands-On Museum, CCMI, Harlem Heights, Our Mother’s Home and TLC Center.

The Junior League of Fort Myers, a member of the Association of Junior Leagues International, is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.