Cellarbration draws full house

MOSES LAKE — Final totals won’t be available for a few days, but the annual Cellarbration fundraiser was so successful organizers had to add more seating.

Cellarbration is the most important fundraiser for the Big Bend Community College Foundation scholarship program, and was sold out for 2018, said foundation director LeAnn Parton. So she added four tables and those sold out too, she said.

“The community is amazing in their support,” said Cellarbration chair Judy Oakes.

Big Bend president Terry Leas detailed what the money raised through Cellarbration and other foundation fundraisers means to the students who receive scholarships. He told the story of a prospective BBCC student who received notice of a $300 scholarship in the mail. “She stood in front of the mailbox and cried,” Leas said, at the encouragement the scholarship represented.

“I’m a firm believer in education,” said Howard Skaug, a foundation board member. Education helps individuals, which helps families, which helps communities, Skaug said, and “every one of these people (at the fundraiser) recognizes the same thing.”

Jon Lane said BBCC and the education he got there definitely made a difference for him. Lane is a BBCC trustee and alum, and all of his eight brothers and sisters also attended the college, he said. Eight of the kids graduated from college, and Lane said that was due in part to the start they got at BBCC. “It wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

Oakes said 2018 marks the 18th year for the dinner, which pairs different varieties of wine with the menu selections. There’s a silent auction before dinner and a live auction afterward. “I think everybody (who attends or donates) so believes in the cause – scholarships for our students who wouldn’t be able to come to college.”

Lane said BBCC and community college are a good way for people to access higher education. “Big Bend is just a great start to your next step.”