Event Programs

FALL SOCIAL: Chili Cookoff

The OCWS Chili Cookoff was held Nov. 5 at the Courtyard on a beautiful day with over 150 people attending the event.

The guests also were provided hot dogs, hamburgers, salad, quesadillas, popcorn and amazing desserts by the Cooks Caucus. We had the Winemakers Group pouring their homemade wines and the Wine Wall kept everyone enjoying the winning wine.

The Wine Wall generated $1,000 for scholarships! Thank you, Rochelle Randel. The music provided by the Three 2 Sevens Band keep the dancing going the whole afternoon.

We had 11 teams making their delicious chili for the event. They worked hard in preparing the chili, decorating their location and serving all the attendees with tasty chili. Thank you to all the teams for their great entries!

So many people contributed to making the Fall Social a fun experience. It is always impressive to see how many of our members volunteer, plan, coordinate the setup, serve the wine and set up the courtyard.

Thank you to all who made this event a great afternoon full of fun!
—Alice Polser,
OCWS Member

WINNING CATEGORIES

Best Chili with Beans
Dean and Robyn Strom

Best Chili with Wine
John and Teresa Lane

Best New Member Chili
Art Cordts and Sharron Jestin

Best Most Unusual Chili
Carol Frank and Sam Puzzo

Best Overall Chili (tie)
Arts Cordts/Sharron and Jestin Glenn/Nicole Tormey

Best Presentation
Robyn and Dean Strom

An American Picnic—Wrap Up!

On Saturday, May 7, 121 OCWS members and guests enjoyed a beautiful spring day at The Courtyard for “An American Picnic.”  The red, white and blue was everywhere to be seen. Everyone danced to the music of the Three 2 Sevens, OCWS’s favorite band. The dance floor was full to the very end.

A special thank you to BettyJo and Jay Newell for the fabulous decorations. The Courtyard looked like a 4th of July Parade. And special thanks to Alice and Glenn Polser for directing the set up. It was Alice’s first time directing part of a major event and she totally stepped up to the plate. People were working on the set up as early as 9 am.

And, of course, to the Cooks’ Caucus led by Lynda Edwards for a great dinner (and a special mention to George Cravens’ sous vide tri tip, Craig Rowe’s special marinated grilled chicken, Rich Skoczylas for a Great American desert, Cheryl Heineke for homemade beans, Pamela Clauss’ Caesar salad, and Bonnie Gausewitz’ homemade potato salad).

And to all those who volunteered to work short shifts pouring wine, doing check in, serving food, etc. This organization only works because of our wonderful volunteers.

And thanks to the generosity of our members who donated wines, we raised $1,220 at the Wine Wall which will go directly into the OCWS scholarship fund. Thank you Rochelle for all your work.

We had a lot of new members who came to their first OCWS event. They were on the dance floor until the last song. I hope this event shows what a fun-loving group we are and that we will see them back for future events.

– Brian McDonald, Event Chair

OCWS Annual Wine Auction

As I informed the membership last month, the Annual Wine Auction which was scheduled to take place in April was cancelled by the Orange County Fair & Event Center due to restrictions in place at the OC Fairgrounds.

As this issue goes to print, we are waiting for additional information to determine a future date for the Annual Wine Auction. My apologies for not being able to provide more details at this time.

– Bill Redding, Cellar Master

Oktoberween 2018 Wrap Up

The OCWS Oktoberween themed Membership BBQ was held October 14 at The Courtyard under clear skies and comfortable temperatures.

It was a tremendous success with over 150 members attending and over $2,000 raised for the OCWS Scholarship Fund from the Wine Wall and silent auction.

This year’s event maintained our long-standing tradition of great food, good music, and the bringing together of our members for an afternoon of fun and comradery.

I would like to give special thanks to the following members who helped make it such a success:

  • Betty Jo and Jay Newell: Decorations and making all of the gift baskets
  • Irene and Ken Scott: Decorations and games development
  • Liz and Lloyd Corbett: Coordinating the Wine Wall, silent auction, and OCWS logo merchandising
  • Jim and Linda Downey: Making the homemade German Potato Salad and Sauerkraut
  • Robyn and Dean Strom: Donation of soft drinks
  • Sara Yeoman: Event MC (Mistress of Ceremonies)
  • Lynda Edwards and Rochelle Randel: Administration, event ticketing and tracking
  • Brian McDonald: Leader of the Grilling Team, invaluable help in menu planning and shopping
  • Jolen Zeroski: Volunteer Coordinator

And to all the volunteers who gave their time in support of the event and helped to “make it happen” – Thank You!!

– Terry McLean, Event Chair