Wine and Trees fundraiser aims to ‘turn wine into water’

BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

The aim of this year's second annual “Wine and Trees” fundraiser is literally “to turn wine into water,” says New Minas Rotary Club Sunrise spokesperson Adam Smith.

The fundraiser, set for Thursday, March 29 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Nova Scotia Community College Kingstec campus, is jointly sponsored by the New Minas Rotarians and tourism management, horticulture and culinary arts students at Kingstec.

Kingstec tourism and hospitality instructor (and event co-chair) Nicole Robinson describes the evening, which will include food and wine tasting, music and other entertainment; as well as exhibits from Nova Scotia wineries, food production and landscaping companies, as “a Midsummer Night's Dream in the middle of winter.

Last year's inaugural event was a success, “and we're looking to do even better this time,” she said. “Our goal for this year is to have 700 people (attend) and raise $10,000.”

After coming up with the idea last year, Robinson and her students “went looking for a partner with contacts,” and found a willing participant in the Rotary Club. Last year, profits were split between Chrysalis House and the Valley Regional Hospital Foundation. The lion's share of this year's proceeds will go toward the Clean Water initiative in West Africa and scholarships for Kingstec programs.

According to New Minas Rotary spokesman Scott Prime, the club last year raised $3,500 to sponsor a well for a village in Sierra Leone in West Africa. This year, he said, “we'll be doing the same thing” this year.

Prime explained the availability of water is a huge problem in a number of African countries, including Sierra Leone, where “civil war broke out five or six years ago, which completely devastated the country. They're only just recovering from it.”

Students in Kingstec's horticulture program have spent the past two months transforming the college's greenhouses. The tourism and hospitality students have been busy with publicity and ticket sales.

Robinson added, “the whole thing is about raising awareness” - of the college programs, the plight of West Africa and the Clean Water initiative, and “all that the Valley, and Nova Scotia, has to offer” in terms of food, wine and other products and services.

Tickets are $35 and can be purchased from Founders Financial in Kentville and Wolfville, the dining room at Kingstec and at Royal Bank locations from Windsor to Berwick. Tickets can also be reserved online at wineandtrees@eastlink.ca.