Community Corner
Renton Rotary Club Wine Tasting Fundraiser Nets Upward Of $12,000
The annual Renton Rotary Club wine tasting, at Beauterre Cellars, was a festive event earning thousands for local charitable causes.
The has been doing great deeds in Renton since it was chartered in June of 1943. Last week the club held its annual wine tasting last Saturday night at the home of Denny and Bernadene Dochnahl on Lake Kathleen. The event hosted 19 wineries, one brewery—Big Al Brewing (Alejandro "Big Al" Brown and his wife Noelle live in Renton), local artists and glassblowers, and jewelry makers. Close to 200 people attended the fete-fundraiser.
The Dochnahls, Mayor Denis Law and his wife Patty, and Renton City Council member and Rotarian Don Persson and his wife Vicky all pitched in to organize the event. Committee organizers absorbed all of the costs to ensure that 100 percent of the proceeds return to the Renton community.
Vintners from all over the state of Washington presented a variety wine at the event, and Renton’s own and local artists, attended the event for the first time.
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Attendees sampled — and purchased bottles and cases — from popular Washington state wineries, including Walla Walla Vintners, Windy Point, Hollywood Hills, Otis Kenyon, and Coyote Canyon. Corky Cellars from Des Moines donated 10% of wine sales from the evening to the Rotary Club.
“We don't have a total yet, but it will likely exceed $12,000," said Mayor Law. "We owe a great deal of thanks to the wineries that donated their time and wine, the donors of food, and the services of who coordinated all of the food,” Law said.
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Attendees tasted wine and beer, sampled chocolates and wandered around the grounds of Beauterre Cellars, the Dochnahl’s beautiful property, until the skies opened up and the rain came down. The Dochnahl’s planned well for the event to keep the crowd dry in their house, wine cellar and under the cover of tents.
The Renton Rotary Club supports many projects locally and internationally, including providing dictionaries for every third-grade student in Renton; Operation Warm (coats for kids); Rotacare, a free medical clinic; awards scholarships to students; recognizes teachers of the month; and hosts the annual Thanksgiving Dinner at the Renton Senior Activity Center, as well as many of other service projects.
