| Quoteable |
" What a spectacular event your Club put on. The venue (which is always a key element), the "on the ground" volunteers (what could we do without them), your sponsors and vendors, and the organizational team that puts it all together, it all comes together !!
We are in awe of the job your team did and are very proud to have been a piece of it. We so much enjoyed sharing with you the "pieces and parts" of our event and how it really does come together !!!
You should be very proud of your efforts and the final results. "
- Jerry & Denise Hearn
|
|
A New Food!
| |
It's great that people now contact us about being part of Grapes & Apes 2012.
SaborAM is a speciality cheesecake company based here in Naples that gained national recognition on a major morning television show where her cheesecake was selected as the best in the US!
Anna Hutchens has created a line of special taste combinations especially matched to different wine varietals and will be serving at Grapes & Apes in March.
We'll pair Anna's cheesecakes with some of our amazing wines to really excite our guests.
|
|
|
Greetings!
 Well it is now "that season." The time of year "when the world falls in love" as old blue eyes Sinatra would croon in his Christmas classic. It's also the time when everything gets frenetic and we try to get so much done in the short weeks following Thanksgiving.
But even as time is limited, there is no choice but to do what needs to be done, because like the Grinch on Mount Crumpet above Whoville, we just can't keep the inevitable from arriving. Most of us, yes even myself included, don't take enough advantage of the earlier autumn months to prepare and get ready so we find ourselves writing cards, buying gifts, decorating, trying to get those blasted lights to light and put the holiday dinner hot on the table without a meltdown in the little time we have to "enjoy the season."
Believe it or not, Grapes & Apes 2012 is now LESS THAN FOUR MONTHS AWAY. While that may seem in some ways to be a lot of time to pull off "The Party of the Year," in reality there is so much to be accomplished that we need to put our noses to the grindstone now in order to pull it all together. We need to be out there soliciting auction items, sponsors, ticket sales and working on our plans to start coming together so we can properly promote all the things that will delight our guests. Don't delay your efforts to sell tickets and secure sponsors and auction items, March will be here in the blink of an eye! And like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, you can't keep it from coming.
Sincerely,
Rich Ahrens
Gorilla-at-Large
|
Ticket Sales Update
Did you know we have already sold over 1/3 of our tickets for Grapes & Apes 2012? As of November 30th, over 400 tickets have been bought by folks who loved their experience last year and want to come back again. Tickets are currently discounted at $75 per person. As of January 1, tickets will be sold a the full face value of $100 each. If you know anyone interested in attending, do them a favor and tell them to buy now to save! |
WIne Plates?
Have you ever been at a party where you were standing up with a cocktail in one hand and a plate of food in the other? Using your third arm and hand is an unlikely option and you know well that you either have to put down your glass (whoops, someone took it while you weren't looking) or somehow awkwardly hold the glass and plate while taking a quick bite and not drop everything. Use a fork?!? Are you kidding? That's just impossible!
We've overcome that obstacle for Grapes & Apes thanks to Tim Wynn's (our newest honorary club member) work to get us special wine tasting plates at a price we can swallow. As you can see in the photo above, our patrons can either hang their glass from the corner of the plate or set the base down in the same spot with a little extra attention.
Yes, now our guests can eat, drink, use a fork and even talk with one hand gestures!
|
Sponsors Start to Commit to G&A
 Randy Kurtz and crew have been active all fall working on sponsorships for Grapes & Apes. Those efforts have started to bear fruit because checks have begun to arrive and commitments have been made to give us a great start. Already on board is Kurtz Homes as our Pavilion Music Sponsor and national brands Hewlett-Packard and The Sports Authority. This week, our own John Remington's A.Vernon Allen Builder, Inc. committed to sponsor the Boost Your Wine IQ program for $3,000! Please thank John when you see him for supporting our signature fundraiser so generously. Several others are in the works as well. Kimber Bosley is working on Wells Fargo private banking, Michael Orden and Jay Crandall are working on Seminole Casino which wants to be a sponsor and a food exhibitor and many folks are tapping their relationships all over Naples to recommit last year's supporters and entice new participants. Your effort, even if you can only get a $500 sponsor, will make a huge difference in the success of Grapes & Apes. Please do your part to help. |
Selling Polio Vaccinations
 As previously announced, we will not be raffling a trip this year for lack of return on the effort last time around. Instead, we will capitalize on the Grapes & Apes brand and sell merchandise. Nick Jaksich and his crew are assembling a complete line of G&A products. One of the most exciting ideas to come forward is to sell polio vaccination certificates for our club's pledge to PolioPlus. At each of the three merchandise kiosks as well as at our Rotary exhibit that night volunteers will encourage patrons to purchase 100, 250, 500 or 1,000 polio vaccines for $0.25 each. In return, each person will receive a PolioPlus enamel pin, a certificate for their contribution and a large sticker boasting their accomplishment to encourage others to join the cause. It should be great way to raise money to End Polio Now. |
About Grapes & Apes
Grapes & Apes is the signature annual fundraiser for The Rotary Club of Naples Charitable Foundation, Inc. All proceeds benefit the projects and programs of The Rotary Club of Naples as well as the endowment fund of the foundation. |
|
