‘Wine-down’ the summer at second annual Kiwanis event on Aug. 19

Enjoy a variety of vintages while supporting community causes during the Pacific Beach Kiwanis Club’s “Wine-down Summer” fundraiser.

The club will host its second annual wine tasting on Saturday, Aug. 19. It will include a silent auction and opportunity drawing featuring gift baskets and activities donated by local businesses.

“It’s a nice gathering,” said Kiwanian Jim Moore, the event’s chairman. “People can talk and meet different people in the community, and we explain what we’re doing. We ask people to open their wallets, get their credit card out and bid.”

Last year, one of the main prizes was determined by the most accurate guess of how many corks were in a bottle, which is why all are encouraged to bring a generous spirit and best guessing hat, according to Moore.

“We reached out to a lot of different people to get silent auction items and get the word out,” Moore said. “We had about 60 people last year. We’re hoping to get 60 to 70 people this year.”

Some auction items to look forward to include half-day passes on Point Loma Sportfishing’s Daily Double vessel, Belmont Park ride tickets, USS Midway Museum passes and much more, not to mention, plenty of wine to go around.

After making it through 2020 and the pandemic, the Kiwanians put together the wine tasting to help the community come together as they fundraise for schools and youth programs in Pacific Beach. The club was founded in 1946 with the mission of serving youths in Pacific Beach and to support community activities and organizations.

Last year’s wine tasting featured more than 20 auction items and baskets. They ranged from red merlots to bubbling champagne and a variety of wines in between. This year all participants will again be able to sample all the wines and bid on the bottles.

Janice Roussel, Atta Erikas and Brian Jackson at the 2022 “Wine-down Summer” fundraiser in Pacific Beach.

(Milan Kovacevic)

Appetizers are being provided by the Broken Yolk Cafe.

Last year’s event raised around $5,000, which was invested back into local youth programs, according to Moore.

Some of the supported programs include Mission Bay High School’s Key Club and music program, and Pacific Beach Middle School’s Builders Club. Key Club and Builders Club are youth programs in Kiwanis International.

The club also provides Mission Bay High School’s athletic department with trophies and $1,500 scholarships to selected seniors.

The Kiwanians also honor local elementary students each month and present the annual Kiwanis Hope of America Award to two students at each of the community’s five elementary schools.

“The kids really love it and we love meeting them because these kids are unbelievable,” Moore said. “We had eight (scholarship) applicants this year. We were planning on giving three, but we ended up giving them four scholarships and we just hated not being able to give all eight. They were just fantastic kids.”

Other local organizations and events the club donates to include the Pacific Beach/ Taylor Library, Concerts on the Green series, PB’s police and emergency service appreciation night celebration and the PB Community Surf Garden mural at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center. The club also donates to programs such as Meals on Wheels, Rady Children’s Hospital and the San Diego Food Bank.

This year, Moore said they’re hoping to at least meet, if not exceed, the $5,000 raised from last year and get the community together for a fun night of festivities.

“A lot of people know each other and other people get to know each other,” Moore said.