43
Wine tasting event raises money for Poland Swim Club
Photo
Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Jim Lavorini (left) talked about wine with an attendee of the wine tasting event at Holy Family Parish Center.
Photo
Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Joe Graziano poured a glass of wine for an attendee dueing the wine tasting event at Holy Family Parish Center.
Photo
Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Attendees of the wine tasting event at Holy Family Parish Center checked out the various baskets that were raffled off to raise money for the Poland Swim Club.
By TIM CLEVELAND
In an effort to raise money to help with renovations of the Poland Swim Club, Holy Family Parish Center hosted a wine tasting event March 28.
Organizers said they expected more than 225 people to attend. With ticket prices at $50 per individual and $90 per couple, they expected more than $4,000 to be raised.
“We have some things on the table that need funds,” swim club president Jim Mullally said. “We need a new deck, so there’s a couple things that we need. It’ll be a group decision.
“This is our first go at it, and we are just happy as heck that we have a lot of people here with us.”
L’Uva Bella Winery of Lowellville supplied six of the 32 wines for the event, which were Petite Sirah, Riesling, Muscat, Youngstown Red, Black Berry and Rosato. In addition, Gianna’s Catering of Lowellville catered with various beef, seafood and pasta dishes, plus cookies, cupcakes, fruit and cheeses.
There were three stations set up with the wines matching up with the food at each station. There were also a Chinese Auction and a 50/50 raffle.
Mullally said L’Uva Bella teaming up with the Poland High School swim club is what gave him the idea to organize the wine tasting event.
“The success of the Poland High School swim club wine taste at L’Uva Bella’s, and with the help of some people there, we got this rolling and we’re happy to kind of partner with them. They help us, we help them,” he said.
Charles Crespi is the winemaker at L’Uva Bella and was on hand to answer any questions attendees had about the wines.
“We were just called on a whim and asked to provide all the wine for the event and we were very happy to do so,” he said. “I think it’s wonderful. We get to see what people think about the wine in general and meet new people.”
Mullally said the event was also a chance for attendees to socialize with people they may not have seen for a while.
“They’re going to have fun,” he said. “It’s a time to have fun, to re-acquaint with people that you don’t see all winter. We’ve had a long winter, so I think they’re looking to do that.”