While news reports tell us that our nation’s economy is struggling to recover, it’s amazing to see the generosity of people that are engaged with a vibrant cause. The Wind Up/Wine Down of 2011 was a sell-out almost a week before the event! While this was only the second year of the event, it’s clear that friends are telling other friends about the great time they had at the first one, and brought their friends along for an evening of music, wine tasting and prizes. The event raised over $4,000 to help subsidize private music lessons for students in the Norwin Band as well as music students in the Norwin School District in grades 5 through 8 who are planning to be a part of the band when they enter high school.
Musical entertainment included Bad Strad, a Celtic-Rock quartet fronted by fiddler extraordinaire Bob Banerjee, as well as an outstanding jazz combo put together by Norwin’s Director of Bands Robert Traugh. The group featured Mr. Traugh on trombone, his brother Dave on bass, Evan Hertrick on sax, Kurt Wolfgang on guitar and Norwin’s own Josh Dick on drums. The Greenhouse Winery provided the perfect background with its holiday decorations and hospitable hosts Cindy Helinski and Greg Hazuza.
The interesting thing is that we can’t say that next year’s event will be bigger and better than ever – but we can say that with what we’re planning, you’ll need to get your tickets REALLY early for the event in November of 2012.