Cellarbration Banquet set for May 18

 By Cheryl Schweizer of the Columbia Basin Herald

MOSES LAKE — Tickets are on sale for the annual Cellarbration for Education fundraiser, sponsored by the Big Bend Community College Foundation. Cellarbration 2019 is scheduled for May 18 at the ATEC building on the BBCC campus. The wine/beer tasting begins at 5 p.m., with dinner at 6:30 p.m.

Cellarbration is the foundation’s biggest fundraiser; proceeds go to BBCC’s scholarship fund. The first Cellarbration was held in 2002, and the event has raised more than $1 million for BBCC student scholarships.

Cellarbration and other fundraisers allow the college to provide scholarships for graduating high school seniors, professional/technical and returning student scholarships. (Returning students are people who have been out of college for a while but plan to come back.)

Cellarbration also raises money for a special emergency fund for qualifying BBCC students dealing with financial emergencies.

Cellarbration is not just any dinner — as indicated by the name, it’s about the wine, and the pairings of wine with each course. A panel of volunteers picks the wines, and sometimes that job is a prize during the fundraising auction.

For 2019, the wines will be provided by Jones of Washington, Quincy; 14 Hands Winery, Prosser; Wit Cellars, Prosser; Errant Cellars in Quincy and Milbrandt Vineyards, Prosser.