A catered connoisseur dinner, rosé wines, a guitarist, silent and dwell auctions — and much and many wigs — will spotlight Most cancers Help Sonoma’s main annual fundraising occasion in Glen Ellen.
The occasion, WigOut Sonoma! will happen at Abbot’s Passage Vineyard & Mercantile on Thursday, Sept. 19, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
“Abbot’s Passage Vineyard supplies handy entry for our friends and an intimate stunning setting in step with our occasion, which is designed for about 150 attendees,” stated Lori Rukes, chair of the Most cancers Help Sonoma Board of Administrators.
Attendees are invited to put on wigs — as colourful and distinctive as they want — to assist create a festive ambiance.
Nook 103 — an unbiased vineyard that could be a longtime supporter of Most cancers Help Sonoma — will welcome friends by serving them glowing rose wines upon their arrival.
Goodness Gracious catering in Glen Ellen, one of many main sponsors of the occasion, will present the dinner (see sidebar). Unfold Kitchen Sonoma will deal with the appetizers and Flour & Bloom in Glen Ellen will provide the desserts.
The dwell and silent auctions will embody experiences at Auberge Stanly Ranch, MacArthur Place Lodge & Spa and Fairmont Mission Inn & Spa, in addition to tickets to Forefront Networks’ Dwell within the Winery occasion and a keep in Bend, Oregon.
Extra gadgets can be introduced in the course of the buildup to the occasion.
“Sean Carscadden, who performs a six-string guitar and sings because the chief of the Sean Carscadden Trio, will play solo guitar whereas performing his signature mixture of blues, New Orleans funk, folks and old-time songs with a up to date contact,” Rukes stated.
Attendees may even have the ability to dance to music spun by a neighborhood deejay.
Proceeds from WigOut Sonoma! assist all points of Most cancers Help Sonoma’s operations.
“The funds raised from the occasion have elevated every year,” Rukes stated. “In 2023, it raised greater than $100,000, and our purpose for 2024 is $125,000.”
Scott Murray, president of the Most cancers Help Sonoma Board of Administrators, stated that the “WigOut” theme for the occasion was chosen as a enjoyable method to present assist for a lot of most cancers sufferers who lose their hair as a aspect impact of therapy after which select to put on wigs.
“Humor is understood to have a optimistic, therapeutic impact on folks preventing most cancers,” he stated. “The response to our ‘wiggy’ theme from shoppers and attendees to WigOut Sonoma! was overwhelmingly optimistic from the start.”
The primary WigOut Sonoma! fundraiser was held at Gundlach Bundschu Vineyard in September 2019. As a result of pandemic, it was a digital occasion the next two years. In 2022, it resumed at Gundlach Bundschu Vineyard.
“In 2023, we moved to Abbot’s Passage Vineyard,” Rukes stated. “We had been very completely happy to remain inside the Gundlach Bundschu household of wineries.”
Most cancers Help Sonoma was created in 2015 as a analysis venture to review efficacy of integrative therapies in assuaging the bodily, psychological and emotional points of most cancers therapy. It supplies quite a lot of integrative companies, together with oncology therapeutic massage, therapeutic therapeutic massage, acupuncture, psychological counseling, assist teams and naturopathic counseling.
“A key function of our companies is to offer a therapeutic, caring setting the place most cancers sufferers discover a sense of neighborhood,” Murray stated. “We additionally supply group-based actions similar to oncology yoga and medical qigong.”
The nonprofit group serves people who find themselves in energetic therapy for most cancers or struggling the aftereffects of therapy in addition to caregivers.
“We’re the one clinic centered on serving most cancers sufferers and their households in Sonoma Valley,” Murray stated.
He stated the success of WigOut Sonoma! has enabled Most cancers Help Sonoma to supply new companies and to open a brand new, bigger facility at 585 First St. W. in Sonoma on April 1.
“Consequently, we now have been capable of greater than double the variety of shoppers we serve and are fulfilling our purpose of being a singular useful resource to the Sonoma Valley neighborhood,” Murray stated.
Rukes urges the neighborhood to proceed to spice up the group on the fundraising occasion on Sept. 19.
“Don a wig, alter your ego and have enjoyable as we occasion with a objective to assist those that have had a most cancers prognosis and want the therapeutic therapies of most cancers assist Sonoma practitioners,” he stated in a information launch. “Most cancers Help Sonoma workers, practitioners and volunteers invite you to hitch us so that every one who want our assist and companies obtain them. Nobody must be omitted.”
Attain the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.