A dose of fashion and wine in Plains

Danielle Switalski

Local residents who entered into the Plains fair grounds’ pavilion Thursday evening were greeted by fall harvest décor, delicious looking hors d’ oeuvres and a plethora of wine and good company to choose from at the wine tasting and fashion show event.

The eighth annual wine tasting and fashion show, sponsored by McGowan’s Grocery, brought in approximately 160 people to taste an assortment of wine, view a style show put on by Mountain West Clothing, bid on a live and silent auction and listen to music played by Darin King. All proceeds for the event benefit the Cancer Network of Sanders County, the nonprofit organization devoted to helping those in Sanders County who suffer from cancer.

“I’m really pleased given the economy that people came out for the event, and we had a good number, we were not expecting that many people there, so that’s a success,” said event organizer Erika Lawyer.

This year the event raised around $6,000 with a combination of funds coming in from the live and silent auctions and ticket sales. Included in this number are profits from Silpada jewelry sales. Also added to the total amount raised were profits from cookbook sales McGowan’s has made throughout the year that totaled $1,342.

The jewelry at the event, sold by Karen Schuster, is hand crafted, sterling silver pieces. Schuster gives 100 percent of her profits from the evening to the Cancer Network and she said she wanted to partake in the event as a way of giving back to the community. New at the event this year was a blind wine tasting contest, which had a fairly good turnout with approximately 11 people participating in the contest. There were four wines set out for volunteers to taste test and guess the type of wine. Nearly half of the contestants got two of the wines correct with Kaylan Tesh guessing three out of the four correct and taking home the prize.

“The ones willing to give it a try, they were very serious about it and trying to nail it, so it was fun to see that level of enthusiasm,” said Lawyer who would like to have the blind wine tasting contest in coming years.

As for the fashion show, Lawyer said it is one of her favorite parts of the evening. There were female and male models showing off their hand-selected ensembles from Mountain West Clothing.

“I like the style show only because we have such fun personalities come out and model for us, it is so hard for some people and some have to fight down the butterflies and they do a good job of hiding it,” said Lawyer.

Pam Loop, who is new to the Plains community and to the wine tasting event, was asked to be a model in the show. She wore a long sleeve beige shirt decorated with a cabernet Sauvignon motif with a tan faux-suede vest over.

“It was great, it was fun,” said Loop about her modeling debut. “I thought it was for a good cause, and I will definitely come back next year, modeling or not.”

A hand-made quilt was the biggest auction item this year that brought in the big pledge for the night. In total the live and silent auctions brought in $2,300.

“I think it went as well as I could hope for given the state of the economy, but we always hope that it will do well, and I want to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who supports us. Without everyone’s help we wouldn’t be able to do what we do,” said President of the Cancer Network, Kathy Miller.

With all the money raised from the event, the Cancer Network can begin figuring out how much money they can give in gifts to those who suffer from cancer throughout Sanders County. The gifts given to residents of the county are given with “no strings attached,” said Miller and can be used for anything the patients may need, from gas, to prescription drugs or heat in the winter.

Comments or questions can be directed to Reporter Danielle Switalski by email at reporter@VP-MI.com or by calling her at 826-3434.