Winetasting Fund-raiser in OC - Sunday, Sept. 27 --THANK YOU!

Hi Guys,

Back in May, one of my dear friends and colleagues at Hi-Time Wine Cellars, Alan Halderman, had a massive stroke while he was vacationing by himself on Catalina. A stranger found him standing on the dock, motionless. They had to fly him into Harbor UCLA Med Center where he was listed as “John Doe” for several days until his sisters started looking for him. It was crazy, but we are glad that he is still with us.

As a result of his stroke, he has Aphasia. Alan is limited to a vocabulary of about 10 words and has limited mobility on his right side. His family is trying to get him into a treatment program in Michigan that is expensive and not covered by insurance. So to help with the costs, we are putting on a special winetasting fund-raiser for him at Hi-Time on Sunday, September 27th. It’s $25. I am also going to donate a few bottles of Saxum for them to pour off, plus we are going to have many prizes raffled.

Alan’s a sweetheart of a guy, was an avid surfer, has been with Hi-Time for over 20 years and a fountain of wine knowledge. It is heartbreaking to see this happen to him. I have a feeling this is going to be a really good tasting. If you can make it, that’s awesome!

Here is a picture of Alan before his stroke, and also more info on the event:
http://www.hitimewine.net/alan_fundraiser.asp

Here are pictures of him then, and now on his way back to recovery:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/alansadventures/photos


Thanks!
V.

OMG! I just heard this story recently from some friends of mine who know him from the Newport Yacht Club!

I’ll have to see if they plan on attending

Veronica, hope everything is going well with Alan. I will check with Dana and see if she wants to make the trek down there. It’s a 2 hour drive home, so one of us will need to be responsible, but the cause is worthy. Our thoughts are with you and Alan’s family.

Getting ready for Alan’s event today, we are expecting a good crowd. Stonekings, hope you can make it, but understand if you can’t as that is a long drive for you.

I have not seen the list of contributors, but I did see that our Jay Selman donated a bottle of SQN for the Silent Auction. Thank you for your generous gift, Jay! [thankyou.gif]

Best,
V

Hope it gets some good bids.

A heart-felt THANK YOU to those who supported this. Alan’s fund-raiser (the winetasting, raffles and silent-auction combined) was a big success, and we raised over 21K for his recovery. [welldone.gif]

– Jay, your donation of the SQN was great and we got some fantastic bids on it! Thank you for your generosity!

It was a very moving experience to see all of his friends, family, co-workers, and long-time customers come in for the tasting. Good to see everyone and Alan was especially happy.

Cheers, and thanks again!!
V