Month: September 2017

Categories
Scholarship Thank You Letters

Scholarship Thank you

Thank You For Your Generosity
September 25th, 2017
Orange County Wine Society
P.O. Box 11059
Costa Mesa CA 92627Dear Orange County Wine Society,

I am writing to thank you for your generous $1200.00 CPS Orange County Wine Society scholarship. I was overwhelmed with joy and extremely appreciative to learn that I was selected as the recipient of your scholarship. Receiving this scholarship was particularly special to me because of the nine years I spent working and living in Orange County, which is one of my favorite places in the world. I decided to go to college at age 29 after falling in love with wine during my career in the restaurant industry in the OC.
I am a Wine and Viticulture major with an emphasis in enology. I plan to pursue a career in the wine industry upon graduating from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. I am currently a senior working on my last quarter, and plan to graduate in the fall of 2017. After graduation, I will be looking to travel to the Southern Hemisphere to work harvest and then be moving to Sonoma County to find employment in the wine industry. Thanks to you, I am one step closer to that goal.
By awarding me the CPS Orange County Wine Society scholarship, you have lightened my financial burden which allows me to focus more on my studies. Over the last four years I have been in school full time, while working in restaurants part-time to pay for school and all other regular expenses. Your generosity will help me as I work towards my goal of graduating this fall Summa Cum Laude. It has also inspired me to help others and give back to the community, because without the help of generous people and organizations, like the Orange County Wine Society, I would not have been able to achieve my goals. I hope one day I will be able to help students achieve their goals just as you have helped me.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Huff
Categories
Members Corner

2017 President’s Award

At the Annual Business Meeting last month, Jim Beard awarded the 2017 President’s Award to Ken and Irene Scott. As many of you know, the President’s Award honors and recognizes those members for their exceptional contribution and dedication to the OCWS.

Both members for a number of years, Ken and Irene are passionate in supporting the various initiatives of the OCWS. They consistently contribute their expertise, knowledge and talent to many events and committees doubling the benefit to the OCWS.

As members of the Marketing Committee, Ken and Irene helped develop a marketing strategy promoting the mission and message of the OCWS. Their best practice approach made a significant impact in implementing a fresh approach toward brand recognition by updating materials and information provided to California wineries in connection with the Commercial Wine Competition. The brochures and other marketing materials they created carried that same brand identity into the Homewine Competition and the Winecompetition.com website.

This year, as members of the Commercial Wine Competition, they co-chaired the Volunteer subcommittee coordinating hundreds of workforce volunteers in various roles and schedules during the wine competition – no easy feat as both spent hundreds of hours making sure that everything ran smoothly, and they worked tirelessly at the Competition and behind the scenes.

Congratulations to Ken and Irene on receiving the 2017 President’s Award. This year’s award is in the hands of the most deserving and worthy candidates!

Categories
BOD Election

Announcing the 2017-2018 OCWS Board of Directors

Brian McDonald, Bill Redding and Ken Scott were elected by a majority vote of the OCWS Board members held on September 6 as provided under Article 4, Section 4.6 of the current Bylaws. Section 4.6 allows the Board to suspend the election and declare the candidates elected at the Annual Business Meeting if the number of candidates is equal to or less than the number of Director positions to be filled. By resolution, the Board took such action on said date.

During the Board of Directors meeting held on September 18, the 2017-2018 Board members  Jim Beard, George Cravens, Fran Gitsham, Brian McDonald, Terry McLean, Bill Redding, Ken Scott, Rich Skoczylas and Stacey Taylor elected the following Officers for the 2017-2018 Board year:

Fran Gitsham — President, 

Bill Redding — Vice President,

Brian McDonald —Treasurer, 

Rich Skoczylas — Secretary

Next time your paths cross, please congratulate and welcome them to their new positions as well as Ken Scott, as a newly elected Director.

– Jim Beard, Past President