Wine/microbrew tasting and auction still going strong

This year’s 21st annual winetasting and auction was another well-attended event that raised a generous amount of money from both Odessa residents and visitors from out of town. The proceeds this year will go toward implementation of the electronic medical-record-keeping system

Carol Schott, chairperson of the organizing committee, said that the amount of money raised was about the same as last year, as was the attendance. She also added that expenses were somewhat higher this year.

The volunteers came out in force, though, to solicit items for the live and silent auctions, to serve appetizers and pour wine and beer, as well as to perform the setup and teardown work. Among them were the members of the Odessa Healthcare Foundation board of directors: Dr. Linda Powell, Sue Null, Carol Schott, Keith Schafer, Brenik Iverson, Lecia Fink, Nancy Floether, Gary DelForge, Carol Bell, Matthew Kagele and Lise Ott.

Other volunteers were Barb Schlimmer, Sally Kagele, Deanna Lobe, Deanna Nelson, James Smith, Jean Starkel, Jeanie Read, JoAnna Thompson, Jodi Bailey, Julie Wehr, Kim Todd, Marianne Iksic, Mark DeWulf, Sara Fink, Mary Schorzman, Pam Williams, Patty Williams, Riley Allen, Sandy Libsack, Sherie Heimbigner, Tamra Winfrey, Terri King and Todd King.

The pourers this year were Bill Bell, Doug Starkel, Neil Fink, Carl Ryan, Lani Schorzman, Tom Null and Brenick Iverson.

A new addition to the auction this year was dubbed the “Ace in the Hole” game. Clinic manager Barb Schlimmer spent the better part of the evening selling chances to win any of the live-auction or “live on the side” items (with the exception of the top few big-ticket items). A fee of $20 bought the patron a playing card which was then cut in half, with one half going to the person and the other half going into the pot to be drawn from.

Of the two decks worth of cards sold, two winners were drawn. The first was John Strohmaier, who was having a hard time deciding what to choose despite being reminded repeatedly by emcee Clark Kagele that everyone had been told to choose something ahead of time in case they won. Kathy Strohmaier saved the day by coming up and choosing for her husband, who was visibly relieved (but it was all in fun between them).

The other winner was ?

Wines from seven different wineries were offered for tasting: Ste. Chapelle, Maryhill, 14 Hands, Snoqualmie, Amavi, Gifford Hirlinger, Washington Hills and Le’Cole. After the tasting session, wine could be purchased by the bottle at prices ranging from $8 to $25 per bottle. Rocky Coulee Brewing Company provided the microbrew sampling of four of their most popular beers: Fireweed Honey Blonde, Dunkel, Creme Copper and White Out.

As has been the case for several years, the auction itself was handled by Chuck Yarbro Auctioneers of Moses Lake. This year Chuck Yarbro, Jr. was the man looking for bids.

The silent auction was composed of 88 items divided up into three sections, each of which closed at different times during the evening.

The “Live on the Side” auction items were the final event of the evening, with the close of bidding coming 10 minutes after the end of the live auction.

Next year’s event will be held on May 3, 2013.