Event to raise money for BBCC scholarships
Guests mingle near the wine table at Big Bend Community College Foundation's 2012 Cellarbration For Education. The event is the biggest fundraiser for the foundation's scholarship program.
MOSES LAKE - Big Bend Community College Foundation's "Cellarbration for Education" fundraising dinner will be Saturday at the college's ATEC building, 7662 Chanute St. Doors open at 5 p.m., and the evening includes a silent auction before dinner and live auction afterwards.
The money raised pays for scholarships for high school seniors and BBCC students, and includes "intervention" scholarships for students who face sudden economic challenges, said foundation Director LeAnn Parton.
Cellarbration raises money through the vehicle of a gourmet dinner, complete with complimentary wines. It's the "complimentary wine" part that's tricky.
People who don't drink wine may think the stuff in the box works, and is okay with pretty much everything. People who do drink wine want more choices.
Wine and food change when they come in contact with each other, Parton said. "Certain kinds of wine lend themselves better to certain kinds of food," she said.
A panel of volunteers starts with a menu and picks the wine to accompany each course, Parton said. For 2013 all the selections were produced in Grant County vineyards.
Dinner will be prepared by Timothy Grayson, executive chef at Whitworth University. Butch Milbrandt, Milbrandt Brothers Vineyards near Mattawa, and John Allen, owner of a wine shop in Spokane, helped with the selection.
Wine can be sweet or sour, have a strong flavor or a light one, have fruit or even flowers added, and sometimes picks up tastes from the environment, like the barrel it's stored in as it ages. All of those things affect what wine works with what food, Parton said.
"It (the wine) really needs to be a compliment to the flavors of the food," Parton said.
Cellarbration 2013 will feature wines from Milbrandt Vineyards, and Kyra Wines and Neppel Cellars, both in Moses Lake.
The menu will include a selection of beers and nonalcoholic beverages for people who don't drink wine, Parton said.
All money raised goes to scholarships, Parton said. The foundation gives scholarships to students returning to school for continuing education, professional/technical majors and other disciplines, high school seniors and the "intervention" scholarships. "Life has hit them and not in a good way," Parton said. The intervention scholarships help those students stay in school, she said.
"It really is a fun event and it is an amazing cause," Parton said. The evening also includes an auction; "we average between 25 and 30 items," Parton said. They range from a trip to Hawaii to Mariners tickets with accommodations. "And of course, lots of wine," Parton said.