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Mendocino College Foundation presents festive Gala on the Green June 23
UKIAH, Calif. – A festive atmosphere with music, auctions, a garden tour and an informative talk by a special guest will complement gourmet appetizers and dinner at this year’s Gala on the Green, the annual fundraiser of the Mendocino College Foundation.
The Saturday, June 23, event will take place at Campovida, 13601 Old River Road, Hopland.
The gala begins at 5:30 p.m. with a welcome reception featuring appetizers by Mendocino and Lake County food purveyors, including Stan’s Maple Café, Come to Your Senses Catering, and Nicholas Petti of the College’s Culinary Arts Program and wines from participating wineries including Weibel, Parducci, Nelson Family Vineyards, Campovida, Cesar Toxqui, and Terra Savia.
Information about the gala can be found on the event Web site, http://galaonthegreen.org .
Gala attendees interested in a tour of the Campovida gardens and an informational talk by Hubert Germain-Robin of Germain-Robin Distillery will want to arrive by 4 p.m., according to organizers. The tour and talk will precede the welcome reception.
Tickets for the event are still available and may be purchased online. The price is $100 per person. Tables, with seating for eight people each, may be reserved for $700.
A few tables are still left, according to Katie Fairbairn, the foundation’s executive director; individuals wishing to attend should purchase their tickets soon, she said.
Additional information about tickets and table reservations is available on the foundation’s Web site, http://foundation.mendocino.edu .
Proceeds from the event are used to fund scholarships for students and provide support for college programs as recommended by the administrators.
Last year’s Gala on the Green raised more than $66,000 for scholarships and educational programs.
Joining the pre-Gala activities, Germain-Robin is looking forward to discussing the differences between cognac and the wines of Northern California.
Invited by foundation board member Kit Elliott, the Redwood Valley resident said he plans to talk “a little” about himself but mostly about the different grapes, terroir and the microclimates used for producing cognac. His distillery is at the old Fetzer winery, “a good location,” he said.
While discussing cognac and distillation, Germain-Robin hopes to provide an “education about distillation,” he said, by having glasses of varietals for people to smell the differences in cocktails. “I educate the nose. I try to make it simple for people to understand,” he said. He invites people to join him for his discussion and demonstration, to be followed by a question-and-answer period.
During the gala, guests will enjoy live music by the George Husaruk Jazz Trio. Attendees will have the opportunity to make bids on nearly 30 silent auction items. Dinner by DK Catering will be followed by the live auction.
This year’s emcee for the event will be Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman, a member of the Mendocino College Foundation board.
Live auction items include an eight-day, seven-night vacation in Mazatlán, a Skunk Train private car trip for up to 40 guests, a four-night stay in a Squaw Valley Lake Tahoe condominium, an overnight luxury tent stay for two at Safari West, and a Jaxon Keys guest house getaway with dinner and music, a Hopland wineries tour and picnic with Sheriff Tom Allman and District Attorney David Eyster, and an assortment of neckties from the collection of John Bogner.
Additionally, one auction item will feature a progressive dinner around the West Side of Ukiah. The dinner will begin in the backyard garden at the home of Travis Scott and the Skunk Train’s Chief Skunk Robert Pinoli, followed by a meal hosted by Gary Nix and Tom East at a location overlooking the Ukiah Valley.
The evening will be completed with homemade dessert hosted by Jonathan Dooley and Mendo Lake Credit Union President Richard Cooper.
Mendocino College programs are supplying items for the silent auction, including lunch for six provided by Culinary Arts instructor Nicholas Petti, an auto service gift certificate from the Automotive Technology program, a sports fan package from the Athletic Department, and a basket of newborn baby items and supplies from nursing program.
Silent auction items include an original prints and paintings by Mendocino and Lake County artists, handmade quilts by Laura Fogg and Edelgard Smith, a Raku-fired sculpture by Gail Rushmore, and a specialty items pet basket.
Additional silent auction items include a dinner and overnight suite stay at Piazza de Campovida, a Home Inspection/Energy Audit by Tri County Certified Inspections, a hand-dyed scarf by fiber artist Holly Brackmann, hand-beaded items from Gautemala, Truett Hurst Wine gift baskets, framed photographs by Tom Liden, a photograph on canvas by Steve Eberhard, a Zoom! teeth whitening treatment, and a golf package for four at Sonoma Golf Club.
Several sponsors are lending their support to the foundation to present the Gala on the Green. Campovida LLC is a “Presenting Sponsor” for the event.
Platinum sponsors for this year’s event are Mendo Lake Credit Union and the Skunk Train.
Additional sponsors are bronze level: TLCD Architecture, Richard Cooper, and Wright Contracting; gold level: Wells Fargo Advisors John Goldsmith and Rand Rodgers, Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital, the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College, Realtor Gary Nix, Savings Bank of Mendocino County, SHN Consulting Engineers, Gary and Edelgard Smith, State Farm Insurance agents Jay and Lisa Epstein, Ukiah Valley Medical Center; silver level: Jared Huffman for Congress, Midstate Construction, Kit Elliott and George Husaruk, and Weibel Family Vineyards and Winery. Caito Fisheries is donating crab for the event.
For more information about the annual Gala on the Green or about the Mendocino College Foundation, call the foundation office at 707-467-1018 visit the foundation’s Web site, http://foundation.mendocino.edu .