Chuck Yarbro knows how to work a Cellarbration crowd

MOSES LAKE — Local auctioneer Chuck Yarbro Jr. has a way with words and he can rattle them off faster than Snoop Dogg on the Midnight Special.

Chuck’s a local boy and even when he went off to Moscow, Idaho, to block for former NFL quarterback John Friesz and get his education at the University of Idaho, Moses Lake was always home.

His roots run deep in the Columbia Basin farmland and that’s a big reason why he donates his time to the Big Bend Community College Cellarbration! for Education every year. The Yarbro family has worked every event since its inception back in 2002. Saturday night will be the 15th annual Cellarbration.

“It’s only money … for a good cause,” is his battle cry. Cellarbration! for Education has raised more than $1 million for student scholarships at Big Bend Community College and Yarbro is a big part of its success.

“When Chuck Yarbro, Jr. is wearing a tuxedo, wiping sweat from his brow, working the bidders, and telling them ‘It’s only money,’ you know you are going to have a good night,” said LeAnne Parton, executive director of the BBCC Foundation. “When out-of-town visitors see the show and ask where we found Chuck Yarbro, Jr., we just say he is local.”

He’s proud to be a part of something that’s built momentum over the years.

“We started out over in the convention center years ago with eight or nine items,” Yarbro recalled. “This year’s list is 27 items.”

Fifteen years later the Foundation Scholarship Fund has grown so it can provide scholarships for at least one graduating senior from the 19 high schools in the college’s service district, scholarships for returning students who have been out of school for a while, and scholarships specifically for students in professional/technical programs.

Giving young people a chance is why Yarbro’s involved.

“It’s a doggone big deal. Big Bend is a local college and they do a good job helping these kids,” he said. “They’ve had success story after success story about kids that got their start there at Big Bend and went on to change their life. There was a kid last year that had kind of a rough background. He might have had a little trouble with the law, and he came back and got his degree and went on to get a four-year degree. It broke a pattern in his life, so yeah, it’s a great cause.”

This year Yarbro’s nephew Jake Barth will graduate from Big Bend in June. He’s on board and will join a family tradition at this year’s Cellarbration.

“There’s kids out there utilizing these scholarships that are the first kid in their family to go to college,” Yarbro said. “There’s kids, I keep calling them kids, but they’re young adults, that are using their time at Big Bend as a launching pad to bigger things. This supports the youth and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

The first Gourmet Wine Dinner and Auction sold out at the Moses Lake Golf and Country Club and raised $25,500. The foundation board learned there were quite a few local people looking for the opportunity to dress up for a special dinner paired with Washington wine.

Today the annual goal is to raise $100,000 in the larger venue of the Masto Conference Center. Like Yarbro, John Allen and Butch Milbrandt of Milbrandt Brothers Vineyards have been with the event since its inception. Milbrandt sources most of the wine for the event. Allen leads the wine tasting with Milbrandt every year.

“We auction only Washington wines in support of all the grapes grown in the state,” Yarbro said. “I’m not a huge wine guy, but this year we’ll auction a Wine Shadows Leonetti. That’s a big deal. The CEO Club, which is a bunch of locals, pick out their favorite wine from their private cellars and donate it to auction.”

The event also raises about $10,000 every year for a special fund to help BBCC students in good standing deal with financial emergencies, so they don’t have to drop out of school.

Helping make a difference in the lives of Columbia Basin young people is good enough for Chuck Yarbro.

“Remember, it’s only money.”