Record attendance at beer and wine tasting fundraiser for Lee Memorial
Published 8:48 am Monday, August 11, 2014
More than 300 people attended Saturday’s Wine and Beer Tasting, organized by the Lee Memorial Foundation, the fundraising arm of Borgess Lee Memorial Hospital. It was the largest in the event’s three-year history, with nearly a dozen breweries and wineries participating. (Leader photo/TED YOAKUM)
Visitors to the Blackmond Sesquicentennial Farm on Saturday enjoyed an afternoon of pleasant weather, music and company.
They also enjoyed some of the finest beers and wines of southwest Michigan’s renewed breweries and wineries.
More than 300 people attended this Lee Memorial Foundation’s Third Annual Beer and Wine Tasting Event this weekend. In addition, representatives from nearly a dozen different local beer and wine distributors were on hand, giving attendees a taste of their wares. Several newcomers were part of this year’s event, including Cody Kresta, out of Paw Paw, and 12 Corners Vineyards, out of Benton Harbor.
Organizers with the foundation were pleased by the crowd that came out to the farm that evening. The organization managed to sell all 300 tickets they were offering for the tasting, which had been on sale for $50 since April, said Beth Cripe, development coordinator with the foundation. It’s the first time they have managed to sell out the event, she added.
“Word had really, really spread this year,” she said.
In addition to drinks, visitors also enjoyed an assortment of high quality finger food, such as meatballs, chicken and shrimp. They also enjoyed live music from Ron Barany, out of Portage, Indiana.
There were also several items up for auction during the event, including tickets for major league baseball and college football games, a recliner from Imperial Furniture and a Webber grilling set.
Last year, the event generated around $14,000 for Borgess Lee Memorial Hospital, which was used to pay for the new mammography equipment installed earlier this year. With the surge in ticket sales, organizers are hoping to exceed that amount this year.
“We will top last year’s numbers, we just don’t know by how much yet,” Cripe said.
The Beer and Wine Tasting is one of two annual fundraisers the foundation hosts every year, with the other being the Lee Memorial Golf Outing, which took place last month. Proceeds from these events will go toward their current capital campaign, which is raising funds new hospital beds, surgical equipment and renovations to the hospital’s outpatient entrance and the registration area.
