The Flower Mound Rotary Club’s recent Vine and Dine fundraiser had more than 300 people attend and bid during its live auction to help raise more than $60,000 for the club’s charities.
The fifth annual event was held on Friday, Jan. 28, at Celebrations in Highland Village.
The funds raised help guarantee the service club’s commitment to “service above self,” the motto for the more than 1.2 million members of Rotary International.
The evening began with a wine-stroll tasting, provided by Clif Benton and Republic National Distributing Company, of more than 30 wines from eight suppliers available at nine local outlets. Serving as co-chairwomen of the “A Toast to Flower Mound Rotary Charities” fundraiser were Jackie Davis-Herr and Janet Ogletree who oversaw every detail, down to the stem-less wine glasses stamped with the Rotary logo for each diner to keep as a remembrance of the evening.
The Greg Hardy Trio provided the superb mix of easy jazz and standard musical selections during the pre-dinner hors d’oeuvres period provided by the evening’s caterers, Salerno’s Restaurant of Flower Mound and The Grotto Steakhouse of Highland Village. Accompanying the gourmet dinner selections were two wines selected by WineStyles: the new, unreleased Kendall Jackson Avant Chardonnay and a Chateau St. Michelle Cabernet. The décor was provided by Complete Interior Solutions and Dalton Flowers.
Serving as honorary chairman for the second consecutive year was Flower Mound resident and radio broadcaster Mark Davis of WBAP/Dallas-Ft. Worth.
Live-auctioneer Mike Fickling again provided his expert talent for coaxing people to bid with their hearts, rather than their fiscal budget, to support local charities and the neighbors-in-need serviced by them.
Winning the bidding war with three bids each were Rotarians Chris McLucas of Paradise Settlement Services and former Flower Mound mayor Jody Smith of CornerStone Staffing, which was also the event’s champagne-level (title) sponsor.
Among the record-setting number of auction items were such one-of-a-kind items as: an invitation to play a round of golf at the private Lantana Golf Club and the exclusive Vaquero Country Club in Westlake; a flight for two in a 1941 open-cockpit aircraft; tickets to Stars, Mavericks and Cowboy games; and a bronze sculpture by Laran Ghiglieri provided by Premier Gallery.
The Flower Mound Rotary Club supports more than 30 local, national and international charities. Local organizations receiving Rotary funds include PediPlace, The Mound Foundation, CCA, Communities in Schools of North Texas, CASA, CACDC, Hearts for Homes, Spirit Horse, The Actor’s Conservatory Theatre, FMPAT, Lewisville Lake Symphony Orchestra, the Lewisville ISD Education Foundation and the Flower Mound Public Library, among others.
For photos and further details of the 2011 Vince and Dine, visit the Flower Mound Rotary Web site at: www.flowermoundrotary.org.
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