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Society Notebook: Veni, Vidi Vino

At Toast on the Coast, partygoers raise their glasses to sample some 145 different wines – and raise nearly $25,000 for Easter Seals Maine.

By Avery Yale Kamila akamila@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

With the holidays behind us and months of winter still ahead, Mainers may be ready to get out of the house but often need a little nudge. On Thursday evening, the enticement of 145 wines provided the perfect motivation to venture forth on a cold February night.

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Jim Robbins, who serves on the board and the President's Council, Melissa Marcaurelle of Bangor Savings Bank, Brian Marcaurelle of Portland and baord chair Deb Abbondanza.

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Randy and Nancy Billmeier, members of Easter Seals Maine President's Council.

Avery Yale Kamila / Staff Writer

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SEND PARTY INVITES two weeks in advance to Avery Yale Kamila, Maine Sunday Telegram, One City Center, Portland, ME 04101 or akamila@pressherald.com.

Easter Seals Maine hosted Toast on the Coast at The Landing at Pine Point to support its programs for children and adults with disabilities. The party served up samples of the wines carried by distributor Pine State Beverage Co. paired with tasty morsels from local eateries Vignola, Amato's, Kitchen Chicks Catering, Zapoteca, David's and East End Cupcakes.

The combination led to a sold-out crowd of more than 300 people who helped the organization raise close to $25,000.

"This is our first year," said Easter Seals Maine Event Manager Kelly Gunn. "It will definitely become an annual event."

With so many wines to taste, guests needed to employ a strategy.

John and Sue Collier from Mount Desert Island, who had tickets to the private tasting room, first made the rounds at the restaurant tables on the main tasting floor.

"The ravioli from Vignola is excellent," John Collier told me, and his wife added that the East End Cupcakes were delicious.

The couple planned to spend the night with friends in Yarmouth, but had thought ahead and arranged for a cab to take them there after the party.

Joe Jenkins of Wallboard Supply and Adam Skibek of the Maine Red Claws, who I chatted with later in the night, said they were only selecting one wine from each table and pairing it with plenty of food.

"The Kitchen Chicks are amazing," Jenkins told me. "The lobster mac and cheese tasted like my mother's mac and cheese."

Gabrielle Herbig, who works for Bangor Savings Bank, raved about a pinot grigio she'd just sampled and added that "the tasting plate at David's was excellent."

When I caught up with Pam Grondin of Scarborough, she'd already discovered a tasty merlot.

"But I've only been here for half an hour," she told me.

Katrina Botelho of sponsor Frank FM had also made a fruitful discovery.

"There's an organic, sulfite-free wine over there that's amazing," Botelho told me.

As the board chair of Easter Seals Maine, Deb Abbondanza of Bangor Savings Bank has been talking about hosting a wine event like this for years. She and her husband, attorney Richard Abbondanza, often visit relatives in Newport, R.I., where Salve Regina University puts on a similar event.

"The gala we'd been doing for years was successful, but we wanted to get the word out about Easter Seals to people who don't necessarily need our services," she told me. "This was a way of getting people to come to something that's fun."

Easter Seals Maine, which is affiliated with the chapter in New Hampshire, has only had a presence in the state for seven years. But during that time the organization has achieved a lot. In 2010, the nonprofit helped more than 23,000 people and provided more than $4 million in free or reduced-price services.

Executive Director Evelyn Blanchard explained to me that Easter Seals Maine provides a range of programs, including a special preschool, early intervention services for children with disabilities, therapeutic recreation programs and vocational services for adults. The organization is currently developing a deployment support program to help members of the military and their families before, during and after the service member is shipped overseas.

"We're not just the stamps," Gunn said. "We help children and adults with all kinds of different disabilities."

Now there's something we all can toast. 

Staff Writer Avery Yale Kamila can be contacted at 791-6297 or at:

akamila@pressherald.com

Twitter: AveryYaleKamila