OUR LAGUNA:Wine tasting held to benefit students

Four $2,000 scholarships will be split between students at Laguna Beach High School and the Laguna Beach College of Art & Design, funded by Grapes for Grads II, held Sunday at Tivoli Too.

The fundraiser was presented jointly by Laguna's Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce. This year's event doubled the number of scholarships funded by the 2006 event and a $500 prize was awarded to college junior Katherine Corcran, who won the contest for the program cover design.

"We started working on this event in September, building on last year," said chamber President Elect and event chair Jeff Redecker. "The committee met once a month until March, when we started meeting for two hours a week. We have easily spent 200 hours on the event.

"But it is all for the kids and it is important to support education and the arts to keep Laguna what we want it to be."

The committee also included Bill Buus, John Campbell, Yvette Cercone, Steve Dotoratos, Maggie Hempen, Jerry Immel, Peter Jones, Tom and Pamela Simpson and Tracy Otto, the college's associate director of development.

"All the work done by volunteers was admirable," said chamber President Dave Sanford.

Jones, formerly in the wine department at Pavilions in Boat Canyon and a familiar face in "Lagunatics," organized the wine donations.

"Whenever Peter asks, I'm in," said Paul Parks, of Don Sebastiani & Son winery.

As for questions about the appropriateness of raising money for students by serving alcohol, Sanford said, "This is a wine tasting, not a beer bust, for adults to have fun and to raise funds for kids. We even have a couple of recovering alcoholics here, who don't drink but want to support the community."

Besides the participation of more than 20 wineries and distributors, the event included live entertainment, a silent auction, a raffle and displays of art by Laguna College of Art & Design students and Karen Pike, who is represented by Mark Hefferan, a local for 30 years.

Two of Pike's paintings were donated to the auction, alongside a basket of Rumors Salon products, Angels tickets, a donation from Bubbles, a Callaway putter, tee time at Aliso Creek Golf Course, a stay at Capri Laguna and an hour's massage by chiropractor Veronica Nice.

Bank of America, John L. Campbell Insurance, the Marine Room, Coldwell Banker, RTC Mortgage, Rumors Salon and Day Spa, Simpson Termite & Construction and Super Dave's Print & Mail were major sponsors of the event.