Sip of the Slope this Saturday

ROYAL CITY - The final touches are being made for the Sip of the Slope wine festival slated for this Saturday at the Seed Cupboard Nursery about a mile west of here.

Sip of the Slopes, which highlights area wines, will be celebrated on Saturday, September 19, from 5-8 p.m. This will be the fourth year of the festival, the first year at Seed Cupboard.

The Seed Cupboard Nursery is located at 12543 on the north side of Road H SW, about a mile north of Highway 26.

According to festival chairwoman Lisa Villegas, owner of Seed Cupboard, the festival was moved because the Royal City Community Center, which was used the first three years, had become too small for the number of people who attend.

The Sip is a SHOC (Strengthening the Heart of the Community) event. This year's proceeds will be dedicated to the beautification of Ahlers Road from the bottom of the hill to the Royal School District Administration building.

As usual, the Sip will feature wines from the Royal Slope and surrounding area, including Moses Lake, Quincy and the Wahluke Slope.

The entertainment has been beefed up. Acoustical guitarists Slag Callahan of Royal City and Gavin Rose of Moses Lake will return. Added will be a performance by an expert harpist from Moses Lake.

Twenty different packages have been donated by merchants for fund-raising contest. Those will come in the form of a silent auction (8 items), eight raffles and a live auction of four items by auctioneer Seth Davis.

“There was a very generous outpouring of donations for the auctions and raffles,” Villegas said.

Just a few of the items to be auctioned and raffled are: 2016 Watershed Tickets, 4 Seahawks Tickets, iPad, many gift baskets, tent & kayak, Facial, Swim & Cotton Candy party, Wenatchee Wild hockey tickets, 100 pounds of pumpkins and more.

“A huge thank you to Kellee Meseburg for organizing the auction items,” Villegas said.

The donors include: Mack's Mocha, Empire Drilling, DAC Consulting, CraveOrganics, US Bank, Karen Lasen, Carter Farms, Live Nation, Subway, Spuds, Brown Boy Onions, Fire District 10 & 11, Splash-n-Dash Car Wash, Tony Bruketta, Weyns Farms, Cara Holt, Clifton-Larson-Allen,

Seed Cupboard Nursery, Garden Grill, Washington Fruit, Zirkle Fruit, Mint Queen, Kris's Skincare Studio, Pepsi, Blue Sky Management, Joyful Noise, DC Drilling, Gray Girl Farms, Kally & Cindy Carter, Super Sister's Pumpkins, MJ Farms, Twin City Foods, & Ephrata Family Dentistry.

Tickets for this year's Sip, which cover a dinner choice of Prime Rib or Garlic Herb Chicken Breast, cost $45. They must be purchased in advance at Seed Cupboard Nursery, Mardon Resort, Royal City Subway, Macks' Mocha and Royal City Harvest Foods. They can also be purchased with a call to 989-0428 or 660-1188.

Sip tickets, for wine tasting and snacks only, will be on sale at the door for late-comers for $25 each.

The dinner will be held among the numerous colorful displays of flowers, shrubs and trees, and the trees will be decorated with twinkling white lights.

“We're adding a kind of country elegance to the event,” Villegas said

Dinner will be served starting at 5 p.m. There are five tables in the red barn for those who'd rather dine indoors. There are about 20 tables in the decorated dining garden.

“We have volunteers to serve the meal,” Villegas said.

Danielle Smith, owner of the Garden Grill, which is located at Seed Cupboard, will be the chef for the Sip.