On Sunday, Oct. 12, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Rotary Club of Sedona Village will host its first “Taste of Sedona Village” in the Grotto at The Collective, 7000 AZ-179.
“People should come out to see their friends and neighbors and have a wonderful time here in the Village of Oak Crek and step back from all the usual daily activities and enjoy the afternoon,” Youth Services Committee Chair Jennette Bill said. “[Also] there will be a raffle of baskets made up with multiple things donated by local businesses. And people will buy raffle tickets to put in the pot in front of whichever baskets they are the most interested in winning. And so far, we have a basket of pet items, gift certificates to multiple restaurants, a golfing package [and] a wine basket.”
Restaurants from around the VOC and Sedona will serve sample bites, complemented by wine, beer samples with full glasses also available for purchase. Proceeds will support Rotary programs including youth initiatives ranging from scholarships to cultural exchanges, the Community Garden at Big Park Community School and ShelterBox relief that provide supplies to people who have been dislocated by natural disaster.
“It’s a community gathering event where we have [about] 10 restaurants who are serving small bites, and we have a grotto area where we will have wine and beer tastings by multiple different vendors and selling wine and beer by the glass, and we’ll have music and entertainment for kids,” Bill said. “A lot of us in the Village Rotary Club came from the Rotary Club of Sedona, and we used to have the chili cook-off. … We remember that as being just a wonderful community event, with locals having such a good time. And so the idea of doing something like that out here in the Village, benefiting all of Sedona but especially the [VOC] is why this event came together.”
The children’s entertainment is to be determined and will likely be provided by local middle and high school students from Rotary’s Interact Club — with the afternoon’s musical entertainment provided by guitarist Solomon Morris. Attendees will also have the chance to help name the crowd’s favorite restaurant by voting in the “People’s Choice Awards,” which will recognize the top three food samples of the afternoon.
“I’m just honestly so grateful I have so many good memories there so far,” Sedona Red Rock High School Student Lotus Flores said to Rotary when presenting how the club’s $500 scholarship allowed her to recently study violin at NAU’s Curry Summer Music Camp, “Now, I’m actually wanting to go to Northern Arizona University because of this camp. So, thank you guys.”
“We hope that this will become an annual event, and we can accommodate up to about 300 people for this one,” Bill said. “This our first attempt at something like this and we think it’ll be great.”
For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.sedonavillagerotary.org.
