WSU HRA Sets Annual ‘Winefest’ for Oct. 29 at Ridge Pointe

PULLMAN, Wash. — Wineries throughout Washington will participate in this year’s
“Winefest,” set for Friday, Oct. 29, at Pullman’s Ridge Pointe Community Clubhouse, 1402 S.E.
Fancy Free Dr.
The scholarship fundraiser is hosted by Sigma Iota, a Washington State University student
organization in the Hotel and Restaurant Administration program.
“There will be two Winefest ’99 sessions, the first from 5-7 p.m. and the second from 8-10
p.m.,” report event co-directors Charlotte Anda and Teresa Hudak. Each session will
accommodate up to 225 people.
Nearly two dozen Washington wineries will participate at Winefest ’99 with an array of fine
whites, reds and champagnes. Hogue Cellars will introduce two new wines: a 1997 Syrah and a
1998 Pinot Gris that won a gold medal from the Seattle Enological Society.
“Bookwalter Winery will also feature a new wine, a 1998 Jocat, that has previously been sold
only in their tasting room,” said Hudak.
The Ridge Pointe Community Clubhouse is off Bishop Boulevard in Pullman. A shuttle
service from the Compton Union Building turnaround on the WSU campus and from the
Professional Mall, also on Bishop Boulevard, will run every 15 minutes. “We provide this service
every year as a convenience to our patrons, since parking at Ridge Pointe is very limited,” says
Hudak.
Another club service this year will be promotion of “responsible tasting,” she says. “A
majority of our student servers at Winefest ’99 will be TIPS trained – that is, Training for
Intervention Problems. They are taught in a special class session how to spot signs of potential
overindulgence, and how to handle them.”
Every session for the past three years has been sold out, so guests are encouraged to buy
their tickets early, said Anda. Tickets are $20 each and cover a buffet of Italian cuisine catered by
Spokane’s Old Spaghetti Factory and HRA students, 10 tickets to “buy” one-ounce servings of
the different wines and a souvenir wine glass. To purchase tickets, contact Hudak at
thudak@completebbs.com.
There will be limited ticket sales on campus from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday-Thursday, Oct.
11-14, at the HRA Caffé cart in Todd Hall Atrium.
Sigma Iota is one of five student clubs in the 67-year-old HRA program. Winefest is the
club’s major fundraiser each year. Part of the profits are used for scholarship funding for HRA
students.
HRA was recently honored by becoming the fifth U.S. hospitality school to partner with the
international managed-services corporation, ARAMARK.
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