The annual Curtis Park Wine Tasting, Silent Auction & Beer Garden returns from 4-7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Sierra 2 Center. Original organizers of the event can talk about its humble and sometimes rocky beginning 27 years ago. Those days featured gourmet dishes made by neighbors, and festivities were exclusively held in Curtis Hall. Today the wine tasting is the largest fundraiser for SCNA. It takes the complete south end of the Sierra 2 Center to accommodate the 600 guests, 60-plus wineries, breweries, restaurants, caterers and more than 100 silent auction items.
Tickets
Tickets to the wine tasting are available now at sierra2.org or at the Sierra 2 Center office. Prices are $45 for SCNA members and $50 for non-members through Oct. 11. After Oct. 11 tickets are $60 for everyone. Interested donors, restaurants, wineries or volunteers for the event can contact [email protected].
Local businesses, large and small, have loyally supported the event over the years. Guests this year can expect to enjoy tastings from Tower Café, La Famiglia Catering, Masullo Pizza, Dad’s Kitchen, Freeport Bakery and many more. Plus there will be a wide variety of local beer and wines. The silent auction offers the chance to bid on a wide range of gourmet gift baskets, fitness packages, dining experiences and creations by local artists, including some by artists who participated in August’s Curtis Fest. Major support once again comes from Cook Realty, and from McDonald Plumbing Heating and Air for the Pangaea Beer Garden, Steffan Brown and Towerpoint Wealth.
Funds raised by the event not only help maintain the historic Sierra 2 Center and its diverse offerings, but they help support the arts and education programs in nearby schools. In addition to assisting McClatchy High School’s HISP program and debate team with their travel needs for enrichment and competition, the wine tasting also helps send Bret Harte sixth graders to the Sly Park Nature and Science camp, where students expand their knowledge of the natural sciences. The camp program also helps develop social skills, a sense of responsibility to community, and physical skills beyond what they learn in the classroom.
By Faith Johnstone, Events coordinator