The annual fundraiser will take place next Wednesday, March 26th, from 11 am to 6:30 pm at the Didde Catholic Campus Center, 1415 Merchant Street. As always, proceeds from the feed will go to support the John “Doc” Baxter Athletic Training Student Scholarship and the ESU Athletic Training Club.
Emporia State University Program Director for Athletic Training Matt Howe, a recent guest of KVOE’s Talk of Emporia, says for the last 13 years, the taco feed has allowed athletic training students to access a range of invaluable opportunities to better prepare them for the working world.
Organizer Gilbert Rodriguez tells KVOE News the demand for the event is always high and so is the number of tacos they prepare each year.
Preorders are currently being accepted for tacos and residents can also walk through and place orders the day of. The cost is $30 for 12 tacos, $15 for 6, $5 for 2 and $3 for 1. Meals are also available for $10, consisting of two tacos, beans and rice, and customers can add additional tacos to the meal option when placing their order.
To place a preorder, contact Howe by calling 620-341-5499 or the Didde Catholic Campus Center by calling 620-343-6765. The event will once again be in a drive-through format, with residents asked to enter the parking lot from the north end off 15th Avenue and exit onto Merchant Street.
Baxter, whose career at Emporia State spanned 45 years, served as the head athletic trainer and instructor from 1966 to 2012. Baxter passed away back in 2016.
In addition to the taco feed, Baxter’s memory is also kept alive through the John “Doc” Baxter athletic training and human performance lab located inside of ESU’s Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) building. The state-of-the-art facility had its grand opening this past September.