One hundred and forty-five tickets were taken in at the Princeton Rotary Wine Fest and Tastes of Princeton event held at the Riverside Centre Theatre on Saturday, March 1. This number did not include the Rotarians, wineries or the Tastes of Princeton participants—the place was packed.
The theatre was elegantly decorated with lights, grapevines and candles with dining tables and chairs in amongst the Tastes of Princeton representatives, all surrounding the participating wineries from the South Okanagan and Similkameen.
The evening was organized by Rob Marshall and Colleen Stevens, who stated that the whole club pitched in and did their part. “Lot’s of people helped,” said Rob Marshall, “We had great support from the wineries, businesses and community.”
The Princeton Rotary Club is a small yet powerful club that does a great deal for the community.
Marshall and Stevens were joined by April Earle, Ernie Lawrence, Judy Short, Mike Talarico, Frank Turner, Rob Bett, Brenda Crawford, Linnette McClelland and Randy McLean.
Some of the projects that this group work hard to support include; World Wide Polio Eradication, International Student Exchange Program, Princeton Ambassador Candidate Sponsorship, an annual Secondary School Scholarship, the Princeton Hospital Foundation, Dictionaries for Elementary School students, Little Folks Nursery School, Crisis Assistance and the Cindy Parolin Safe Homes Program.
The Princeton Rotary Wine Fest benefits all of the Rotary's local and international projects.
The Tastes of Princeton were provided by: Cooper’s Foods, Mikado’s, Thomasina’s the Belaire and Heartland restaurants.
The Nectar of the Gods was provided by wineries from the South Okanagan and Similkameen; Flavours from Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery, Rustic Roots, Seven Stones, Forbidden Fruit, Hester Creek, Tinhorn Creek/Road 13 and Constellation Brands featuring: Jackson-Triggs, Sumac Ridge, Sawmill Creek and SeeYa Later.
Numerous draw prizes and auction items were donated by businesses, Rotary members and local citizens. The top two prizes determined by the turn of a key to a locked box were; first a diamond pendant from Paris Jewellers won by Darnella Armitage (drawn by her friend Cynthia Frost) and second prize a set of JA Henkels Classic forged Knives was won by Councillor Doug Pateman.
“This was such a fun evening,” said April Earle, president of the Princeton Rotary Club, “It was the best turnout ever and we’re thankful for the great support from the community.”