Olive Garden Announces 15th-Annual Pasta Tales Essay Contest

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Olive Garden is seeking to capture students' future aspirations and plans to achieve their goals as part of its 15th-annual Pasta Tales essay writing contest.  This year, Olive Garden is asking students to: "Describe how furthering your education beyond high school will help make your dreams come true."  The contest grand prize is a three-day trip to New York City and a $2,500 savings bond.

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Today through Friday, Jan., 21, 2011, Olive Garden's Pasta Tales contest will give students in first through 12th-grade in the U.S. and Canada the opportunity to share their stories in essays of 50 to 250 words.  Pasta Tales entry forms and complete rules are available on Olive Garden's website at www.olivegarden.com/company/community/pasta_tales.asp and at local Olive Garden restaurants.

In addition to Olive Garden's Pasta Tales grand prize of a three-day trip to New York City including dinner at the Olive Garden in Times Square and a $2,500 savings bond, winners will be named in each grade category and awarded a $500 savings bond and a family dinner at their local Olive Garden restaurant.

Olive Garden's Pasta Tales entries must include the writer's first and last name, complete address, phone number with area code, grade, date of birth including year and a statement that the work is his or her own.  Entries must be submitted either online or postmarked by Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 and sent to Pasta Tales, PMB 2000, 6278 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33308-1916.

Submissions will be judged based on creativity, adherence to theme, organization, grammar, punctuation and spelling by the Quill and Scroll Society of the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Iowa, with winners selected by Olive Garden.

Olive Garden's Pasta Tales essay contest provides students in its local communities an outlet to creatively express the influences, experiences and stories that have shaped their lives.  For more information about Olive Garden's Pasta Tales, contact Katie Lennon at (919) 376-1737 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.

Olive Garden is the leading restaurant in the Italian dining segment with more than 700 restaurants, more than 87,000 employees and $3.3 billion in annual sales.  Olive Garden is a member of the Darden family of restaurants (NYSE: DRI), the world's largest company-owned and operated full-service restaurant company.  For more information, visit Olive Garden's website at www.olivegarden.com.

SOURCE Olive Garden