Rotary depends on wine event to raise money
Brad Fuqua/The Western News Rotarian Laurie Duarte serves a central Washington selection during a wine tasting fundraiser Friday at the Memorial Center in Libby. Lonnie Fosgate, who later in the evening led a live auction, checks out the event program.
Providing the opportunity to enjoy a relaxing evening while raising money for a variety of good causes, the Libby Rotary Club poured, educated and entertained Friday night during its annual wine tasting event.
The pouring came in the form of red and white wines … the education came through tidbits of information about the industry in central Washington … and the entertainment materialized through raffles, auctions and good company.
“It’s our biggest fundraiser,” said John Desch, who heads up the Rotarian committee in charge of organizing the event. “We’ve probably averaged around 160 some years, 130 others. One year we had over 180.”
It was too early to tell just how many showed up for last week’s event but both Desch and Rotary president Paul Lammers were impressed with the numbers of people filing through the Memorial Center doors. Although many face a tightening of the belt through a tough economy, the attendance looked good.
“I think there are challenges,” Lammers said about the service organization’s continuing mission to help. “We increased our membership this past year.”
The local chapter of Rotary was founded in 1967 and Lammers said membership has remained steady over the years. Desch said current membership stands at 45.
As its biggest source of income, the wine tasting goes to several different Rotary projects, including scholarships for Libby High School and Flathead Valley Community College students, a youth basketball program for middle-schoolers, a student-exchange program, youth leadership camp and other projects.
The main star of the evening was the wine. Those making appearances included a cabernet, sauvignon and merlot from Washington Hills, a merlot and riesling from Millbrandt Traditions, a syrah from Terra Blanca, a reserve merlot and chardonnay from Waterbrook and a sauvignon blanc from Gordon Brothers.
What’s more popular – the reds or the whites?
“My inclination is it’s split,” Desch said. “Some like the whites, some like the reds.”
Desch remembered one year when wines from Chili were served and the reds seemed to win out that time around. Otherwise, everyone has his or her own favorites.
The evening also included a taste of Mionetto Prosecco Brut, which originates in Italy but hints of apple – an obvious parallel to Washington state.
In terms of American wines, the rolling hills of central California quickly come to mind. But Washington state is actually the second-largest producer in the country.
“We came up with an idea and talked about it as a committee,” Desch said about Rotary’s theme this year. “We hadn’t done Washington before … last year, we did Australia and in past years, we’ve done Chili, France and Germany, and also California.”
Desch estimated that the wine tasting fundraiser has gone on for about 15 or so years.
The pours originated with wine distributor Flathead Beverage and one of their own shared his knowledge on different types. Those who wanted to attend did not need to have any vast knowledge of wine tasting.
“You can just show up and taste,” Desch said, adding that an exceptional array of companion foods was also served, including cheeses, clams and salmon.