Optimist/Chamber Event Aids Students

More than 200 people lifted their wineglasses for a good cause last Saturday afternoon at the Palisades Lutheran Church: college scholarships. The ninth annual wine-tasting fundraiser, co-hosted this year by the Palisades Optimist Club and the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce, featured wines from 22 wineries in the Central Coast region, plus a silent and live auction. ‘It’s a breath of fresh air to have a group that pushes for positivity in a world that is so negative these days,’ said City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who thanked the Optimists for their contributions to youth. ‘I visited the Optimist Youth Home in Eagle Rock and it was amazing.’ The Optimist Foundation awards scholarships to students at Palisades Charter High School who meet requirements in all three of the following categories: financial need, scholastic improvement and community service.   This was the first year for the Optimist-Chamber partnership. ‘I have to credit [past Chamber president] Sandy Eddy, who went to the event last year,’ said Chamber president Greg Wood, the chief business officer at Palisades High. ‘She knows how much I like wine and thought it would be good if we joined with the Optimists.’   One of Wood’s long-term friends is a winemaker for Constellation in the Monterey area, which includes the Robert Mondavi wines.   ’Drinking is secondary to my learning about the kinds of wine and an appreciation for the process, grapes and area,’ said Wood, noting that he liked Eddy’s idea because it would expand the fundraiser’s reach by having both organizations involved, while also encouraging outreach by the Chamber with local nonprofit organizations.   Wood convinced PaliHi’s cafeteria catering company, Sodexo, to donate the food, which included grilled vegetables, smoked salmon canap’s, hummus, grilled chicken with peanut satay and turkey/ham/vegetable pinwheels. Sodexo general manager Cecilia Ramirez attended the event and ensured that the platters were constantly replenished.   Event organizer Peter Scolney, who originally came up with the idea of having a wine-tasting fundraiser for the club’s community projects, said that attendance was up from 150 people last year and that proceeds more than doubled from $9,113 to close to $20,000. Once the expenses are deducted for stemware, advertising, printing and supplies, the profit will be close to $17,000, which will be split between the Optimists and the Chamber.   Optimist member and Lutheran Pastor Wally Mees secured a five-piece jazz band, the Yankee Wailers, led by Wally Holmes (composer of ‘Rock the Boat’), who played in the courtyard. Mees had originally met Holmes and his band at the Sweet & Hot Music Festival in Los Angeles and was impressed. ‘Holmes has one of the sweetest sounds you’ll ever hear on a trumpet,’ he said. Members of the Santa Monica Oceanaires, who range in age from 11 into the 80’s, entertained the gathering with renditions such as ‘Hi, Neighbor’ and ‘Roll Out the Barrel.’ The 34 members and their conductor were perfectly in tune and kept the event lively, as participants sampled different wines and bid on silent-auction items that included merchandise from local shops and, of course, bottles of wine.   Tim Perr, a Palisadian who is co-founder and managing partner of the local Pali Wine Co., was guest speaker at the VIP reception.   Typical of the people at the event were Fran Aponte and Kathleen Hyatt, who spoke seemingly in unison: ‘We’ve known each other since 1974. We were Junior Women together, our husbands are past Optimist presidents, we both have sons named Eric and WE LOVE WINE!’   Said current club president Wally Hastings, ‘We hope this will turn into an event that goes forever.’   The participating wineries included Beckman, Brander, Claiborne & Churchill, Cobblestone, Cottonwood Canyon, Estrella Creek, Hahn Family Wines, Hayman & Hill, Kim Crawford, Loring, Marquis de la Tour, Melville, Paul Lato, Silver Oak, Pali wine, St. Supery, Talley, Three Wine Company, Tantara, Tolosa, J Wines and Carol Shelton.