It has been great to see so many of our new members coming to OCWS events and getting involved in the many activities offered. Please take the opportunity to introduce yourself to our Board of Directors at upcoming events; we would love to meet you! As we embark on our 43^rd year of existence, I would like to highlight and thank some of our founding and long-standing members, Judi Brady, Jim Graver, and Charley Owen for their continued support and participation in the Wine Society.

We are off to another year of activities and events beginning with the Buttonwood Winery tasting on January 11 at the Avenue of the Arts Hotel in Costa Mesa and our Dine with Wine event at Pescadou Bistro in Newport Beach on January 16.

The Commercial Wine Competition Committee, chaired by Leslie Brown, has already begun to plan this year’s Competition which is scheduled for Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2. This year’s Home Wine Competition, chaired by Kevin Donnelly, is scheduled for Saturday, June 15. The Annual Wine Auction will be on Saturday, April 6. The Auction is one of two sources of revenue for the Wine Society, and we hope to see you there. George Cravens is busy working on the Mini-Tasting themes for this year, so stay tuned. There are ongoing events and activities every month, so don’t delay in signing up online for events which are of interest to you.

The primary point of contact with our members is through their profile information contained on our website at www.ocws.org. Please take the time to review your information and update your email, phone, and mailing address information by accessing MyAccount>MyProfile after logging in. The Chairs of OCWS events and the office staff rely on the accuracy of this information.

On behalf of the entire OCWS Board of Directors and staff, we wish everyone a Happy New Year!  Cheers!

– Bill Redding, President