2022 Gala raffle auction items (photo by Harry Cushing)
Kathy Foord
The PebbleCreek Wine Club held their Annual December Gala on Dec. 13 in the Tuscany Falls Ballroom. The gourmet dinner featured Daou Vineyards Wine including 2021 Rose, 2020 Chardonnay Reserve, Pessimist Red Blend, 2019 Seventeen Forty Red Blend, and 2020 Bodyguard Red Blend. The wine accompanied fabulous tray-passed hors d’oeuvres while guests mingled, sipped Daou Rose, and perused some fabulous silent auction and raffle items.
This wonderful gala event was organized by Vice President Nancy Cushing. Volunteers who put together the raffle and silent auction baskets included Lana May, Judy Altmeier, Charla McGue, and Rene King.
Raffle items included over 15 fantastic wine baskets including donations from Off The Hook Meat Shop and baskets of wine from Italy, Spain, Argentina, and Chile, among others. The Silent Auction items ranged from wine lots from various vintners, winery tours, Elements massages, dinner for two with wine at a PebbleCreek Wine Club Event in 2023, a condo package in Palm Springs, and a PebbleCreek Golf package. We thank our many donors and volunteers for making this evening such a huge success and raising $4,900 for Kare Bears.
After the appetizers, guests were seated and served a first course of aged Manchego cheese, toasted macadamia nuts, and basil oil along with the chardonnay. The second course was grilled king mushroom, honey gem lettuce, Point Reyes bleu cheese, and smoked croutons with Lambert cherry vinaigrette. The course was artfully paired with the crowd-pleaser favorite, Pessimist Red Blend.
The main course was tiger shrimp with white cheddar grits, sweet peas, crispy pancetta, and cowboy butter. The Seventeen Forty Red Blend was enjoyed with the tiger shrimp course. To complete the dinner, Bodyguard Red Blend was served with Yorkshire pudding topped with fresh berries and caramel sauce.
Harry Cushing and Mike McGue along with the Tuscany Falls staff handled the setup of the 45+ raffle and silent auction baskets on tables. Jack Engelmann served as master of ceremonies for introductions. Harry Cushing kept the evening moving by announcing winners of various raffle items between courses and announcing the winners of the silent auction items. A special thank you to Betty Bailey, Wine Club treasurer, for handling all of the monies.
The 120 generous attendees opened their wallets to the benefit of Kare Bears and left happy and well-fed. We thank you very much!