LAC LA BICHE - Like a fine blended meritage, the attendance at the recent Lac La Biche Rotary Club's annual wine tasting fundraiser was a colourful mix of age and activity. And also like a good wine, the result of the evening event was a nice and rich finish.
The event raised about $7,000 for local and international projects. "It was a good mix of people. It was nice to see so many younger people too. They all enjoyed the night and the wines, and we raised some money from it," summed up Lac La Biche Rotarian Noreen Hodgins.
One of the club's largest community fundraisers of the year, the wine tasting was held at the end of October and drew a crowd of about 100 to the Lac La Biche Agricom for a night of food, drink, fun and fundraising. This year, the local Rotary club celebrated 15 years of the event.
"People look forward to it. The night is fun and it's a way to experience some tastes you might not have had before," she said, explaining that along with various wines from six regions around the world, this year's guests were also treated to a wide-range of home-made appetizers that included mini-beef wellington and bacon-wrapped water-chestnuts.
Part of the younger crowd at this year's event included Gerry Webster, a co-owner of the locally-based Equilibrium Cannabis dispensary chain, and the current president of the Lac La Biche Kinsmen. Webster — a self-professed rookie at wine sampling — kept a running tally and rating of each of the wines at the night's event. With more than 30 wines highlighted around the tables, it was a tough job, Webster said with a smile a few days later ... but someone had to do it. He left his score-sheet with Hodgins and the other organizers when he left the function.
"I told them my scores are from a non-wine drinker," he said with a laugh, adding that he especially liked the white wines from the South African selection. "The wines from South Africa were the best I remember, the two white wines specifically."
The two South African white wines were the Ernie Els Big Easy White 2021 and the Glen Carlou Classic chardonnay 2020.
Other regions represented were Italy, North America, France, South America and Australia.
All of the other wines on display at the wine tasting are available at the Lac La Biche Liquor Stop. The local liquor store supplied all the wines for the event and the re-sale selection.
In total, Hodgins said more than 150 bottles were tipped — two ounces at a time — into tasting glasses during the event, and dozens more bottles were sold and raffled.
Tickets for the wine tasting night were $70 each and when added to money from bottle sales and raffles, plus an impressive silent auction which included a helicopter flight, a locally-crafted metal sculpture, wine baskets, and a Rotary-hosted dinner for six, the fundraiser was a success, said Hodgins.
Scholarships
Part of the fundraising money goes towards annual Lac La Biche Rotary Club scholarships for local students. The $1,000 Ken Hodgins Memorial Rotary Citizenship Scholarships this year went to recent graduates from local high schools Sara Meyers, Jailyn Routhier and Jonathan Kangaloo. Hodgins was a founding member of the Lac La Biche Rotary Club. He passed away in December of 2014.
Other funds raised from the night will towards local and international projects. For every dollar raised locally, Rotary International matches funding to provide much-needed community supports and healthcare to less-fortunate people around the world.
The wine tasting is one of several annual events hosted by local Rotarians. The club has a current membership of 13 members and an equal number of volunteers considered "Friends of the Rotary" who don't attend all meetings, but help with events.
Those volunteers and the support of community members help to make events like the wine tasting a success, said Hodgins, adding that like any fine wine, that support gets better with age.
"We have such a great community for support. We get so much support each time we do this, and that's the reason we keep doing it," she said.
Up next of the Rotary is the annual Christmas Sunday Brunch held during the upcoming Lac La Biche Festival of Trees event.
