Board member Athena Kennedy & I took a road trip to bring you the chance to win a spectacular wine tasting experience. By Wendy Peloquin, Board President

If you have been to a DAHLIA auction in the past several years, you know that our wine grab has been sponsored by Kiona Vineyards, but you probably don’t know the history behind how that came to be.

First, without an in-person auction event, we didn’t need wine for a wine grab. We were looking for items we could sell and we were also placing an emphasis on more “experience” type items. I decided it would be fun to try to put together a Red Mountain experience featuring Kiona and several of the other amazing wineries that we had grown to love.

Of course, I reached out to JJ first and of course he came through in spades, not only donating wine flights at the winery, but a special 9-year vertical of their signature Lemberger wine (get your bidding fingers ready!). Another favorite, Hightower Cellars, stepped in with flights and a tour of the winery with Tim & Kelly Hightower – the owners and winemakers. (They are amazing people. One time we received a shipment from them and it wasn’t right. Tim called and said, “hey we’re going to be over on your side and can bring you the correct bottles…” They delivered them to my house personally! And threw in an extra bottle for the inconvenience… now that's service!)

​With the package complete, we needed to get the donated wine over to the westside. But, with pandemic this year, none of our remaining family was making the trip west. But, it didn’t take much arm twisting to convince Athena that she and I needed to take a road trip. 

​Short on time, we had to pack a lot in with little time to spare. We beelined over on a beautiful Saturday morning and our first stop was Kiona. It was like coming home. We sat with our wine flights on the terrace overlooking the vineyards. It's our happy place and it was tough to leave. Running slightly behind schedule, we high-tailed it down the road to Hightower. Kelly, herself, was handling the tastings, so we were able to thank her in person for the donation. “Air” hugs all around and we flew down the road to Fidelitas where we enjoyed their fabulous wines and a charcuterie plate on the patio. Our last stop of the day was at a new favorite, Frichette. Shae popped by to welcome us and we thoroughly enjoyed her Sassy Syrah and Carmenere. 

​While we loved the wine tasting, the highlight of the day was visiting our old homestead. We were so behind schedule, we missed seeing owner, Jason, but his cousin Kasey gave us the run of the place. We visited every nook and cranny – got a little misty eyed – and regaled her with the storied history of the unique house that Matt’s parents built more than 40 years ago (it has its own fallout shelter with a 1 foot thick cement & steel door - no lie).

Dear DAHLIA Supporters –

To say we are overwhelmed with your support and generosity would be a mild understatement. Going in to the two GiveBIG days, we had no idea what to anticipate. With the state of the world, we know everyone is struggling in some way and so we had no expectation that many would either be financially or emotionally able to donate. Boy, were we wrong.

When we raced past our first goal of $8,000 by 1:00 on day 1, we were thrilled. That matched what we received in the 2019 GiveBIG campaign and we were grateful. But, we sensed a momentum was building so we decided to try for a stretch goal of $12,000. You all responded and by 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, our stretch goal had been exceeded. Then we asked you to support our nurses – and you did in spades – another $1,700 raised. And, finally we asked you to donate $1,000 to honor our residents. You came through with nearly $1,200. Our preliminary total of the campaign is $14,864! (p.s. they have extended the giving deadline until 5/15 if you haven’t made your donation yet…).
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If you need a reason be inspired during these dark days,  a sign to give you hope that everything is eventually going to be o.k., look no further than the 92 individual donations we received in the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis. This outpouring could not have come at a better time. 2019 was a difficult year for DAHLIA, we lost dear residents, a staff member, family members and in early 2020, our founder Barbara Barger. We’ll say it, we were weary but optimistic for a new decade to begin. Then, the coronavirus outbreak threw us back into turmoil with worry for our staff and residents, a slew of new regulatory guidelines and reporting to adhere to, and concern that our fundraising efforts that we rely on would be severely impacted throughout the year and possibly beyond.

So, friends, you have no idea how much your support over the past two days has meant. While we absolutely love and need the financial support, the emotional boost you have given all of us is off the charts. As we have sat glued to the GiveBIG donation dashboard and seen your names appear over the past two days, we’ve cried, we’ve laughed, we’ve cheered and we’ve been utterly and completely in awe of your generosity.

While we are hopeful that we’ll be able to thank you in person at our auction on October, 10th, we are well aware that group gatherings may not be permitted or advised. We hope to make a decision on whether to move forward early this summer and will let you know as soon as we have information. Likewise, we had planned a memorial get together for Barb this coming July. In light of the outbreak, and given her love of flowers, we have set a new date to remember our dear friend. Please save May 8, 2021 and plan to join us to celebrate a life well lived and loved.

The theme for this year’s GiveBIG campaign was “Now more than ever.” Well, did you ever. And we are forever grateful. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Please stay safe and healthy.

All our best,
Wendy Peloquin, President, Board of Directors
Cheryl Jordan, Executive Director    

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