Wine and Mushroom Train 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2010 – 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Fall in Northern California’s Mendocino County turns a bit magical when the rains come and delectable varieties of edible mushrooms begin to appear. Mendocino County is home to more than 3,000 mushroom varieties – including the rare candy cap mushroom, with its intense maple-syrup flavor and sweet fragrance – that grows along the northern coast of California. The pinnacle of mushroom season is Mendocino County’s annual Mushroom Festival, this year November 4 – 13, and what better way to celebrate this event than by being transported on the historic Skunk Train.
Mendocino County’s signature event for this two week festival is the Wine & Mushroom Train, which has been featured in numerous publications and most recently in Oprah’s – O Magazine, and is a benefit event for the new Frank R. Howard Foundation Medical Campus.
The depots will open at 9am with rather more than a continental breakfast available. Guests depart at 10am from either Fort Bragg or Willits and will be transported deep into the majestic redwood forest arriving at Camp Mendocino, roughly the mid-point of the scenic 40-mile rail line. Upon arrival at Camp Mendocino guests may continue to relax with a leisurely stroll amongst the redwoods and a glass of award-winning Mendocino County wine, or jump right into the mushroom dish cook-off in which each guest may cast a vote in the “People’s Choice Award” to their favorite dish. As if the sensory overload of food and wine isn’t enough, guests can enjoy guided walks, an informative talk with Mendocino County’s own “fun-guy” Eric Schramm, a mushroom cooking demonstration, and a live and silent auction filled with some amazing items.
Joining in the fun this year will be a panel of celebrity incognito judges mingling around secretly casting their own votes. This years panel is Sara Schneider – Sunset Magazine, Gibson Thomas – Edible Marin & Wine Country, Katie Arnold Ratliffe – O, The Oprah Magazine, Diane Werner – Taste of Home (a Reader’s Digest Association publication), Elizabeth Turner – Vegetarian Times, and Sue Elliott – Popular Plates. Also in attendance will be three journalists that Visit California is flying in on a special “Foraging California” FAM tour (though they will not be serving as judges): Assigned Writer for Intermezzo – Roger Morris, Contributing Food Writer for Newsweek – Marge Perry, and Contributing Editor for Cooking Light – David Banon.
For more information on the Skunk Train or to purchase tickets for the 3rd annual Wine & Mushroom Train, please call 800-45-SKUNK (457-5865) or visit www.SkunkTrain.com . All-inclusive tickets for this day are $125.00 per person.
The Frank R. Howard Foundation would like to thank our sponsors who have helped make the event possible. Our platinum sponsors are Adventist Health, Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital, Anderson Logging, MCS/Northern Aggregates, Sparetime Supply, and The Skunk Train. Our gold sponsors are Bailey’s, MendoLake Credit Union, North Coast Plumbing, Heating & Sheet Metal, North Valley Bank, and Savings Bank of Mendocino County.
For more information and to purchase tickets please call 707.459.2777.
For more information download the Wine & Mushroom Brochure Here.
Or check out the articles on Visit Mendocino.
To purchase tickets visit the Skunk Train.
Sponsored By:
A Day at the Races: Episode III
A Day at the Races Part III: Neighbors Helping Neighbors
“A Day at the Races Part III”, Howard Community Healthcare Foundation’s annual hospital bed races, will take place on Saturday, August 14, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Haehl Creek Dr. Local organizations and businesses have already begun to form teams and excitement has begun to build. Each team will consist of five people and each race will pair two teams at a time on the Haehl Creek Drive track.
This is the third year for this event with the previous two years raising in
Willits Frontier Days and the Misfits of HMH square off at A Day at the Races.
excess of $40,000. Prior to the event each team is in the “Neighbors Helping Neighbors Contest” to see who can raise the most money by collecting individual donations and sponsorships. A unique twist this year is that half of each team’s total will go toward the construction of the new Health & Wellness Center at the Frank R. Howard Foundation’s Medical Campus, while the other half goes to the team’s local non-profit charity-of-their-choice.
“Many local non-profits are in need of money during these challenging economic times,” explains Ian Fitzpatrick of the Howard Foundation, “and because they might not be able to host their own fundraising event, we thought it would be a good idea to work together with local non-profits in order to leverage our collective ability to raise funds. We hope the “Neighbors Helping Neighbors Contest” will prove to be an effective way for local non-profits to plug into an existing event while showcasing themselves at the races on August 14th. Howard Foundation is making the event FREE to attend and is planning to make the event a perfect evening for families. We hope that you will come join us and cheer your favorite team on to victory!”
Firing up both spectators and team participants will be live music by Samba Jamba. With a focus on Latin music and with dynamic vocals in English, Portuguese and Spanish, the band has been performing all over Mendocino County for over four years playing an eclectic mix of arrangements including well-known Latin jazz, and Brazilian classics made famous by Sergio Mendes & Brazil ‘66 and Antonio Jobim. Get ready to heat up the track with this spicy group of local musicians!
Willits Lion’s club will be providing food and drinks for a nominal charge. A dunk tank, face painting, raffles and other games will be available for all to enjoy.
For more information please call Ian Fitzpatrick at 459-3047 or email at ian@howardfoundation.org.
Seabiscuit’s Legacy Art Auction
Choose the amount of tickets from the drop down below. Or, if you are unable to attend, but would still like to donate you have that option.
A Day at the Races
August 27, 2009 by Ian
Filed under A Day at the Races
“A Day at the Races Part II: The Bedpan Strikes Back” was held Saturday, August 15, 2009. This “fun for the whole family” summer evening event had it all covered . . . food, live music, a kid’s zone, informational booths, and the bed races. The hospital bed races served as the cornerstone of the event with each team eligible for prizes and recognition. Contests ranged from the best-decorated bed to teams that raised the most money by collecting sponsorships and donations.
A sincere thank you to our teams: Sherwood Valley Rancheria and Casino, Willits Lion’s Club, HMH – Med Surg, Sparetime Suppy, HMH – Misfits, Willits Rotary Club, HMH – Dietary, Shanachie Pub, Willits Soroptimist and Main Street Music and Video.
Food was being catered by Kemmy’s Smokehouse BBQ Shack with the Willits Lion’s Club handling all refreshments (soda, water and beer). The Boy Scouts were on hand with their “Monkey Bridge” for kids of all ages to enjoy. Ms. Tina dazzled the crowd with her dynamic hula hoop performances.
Ian Fitzpatrick, FRHF Fund Development Coordinator, awards Jennifer Ramming, RN of the HMH Med-Surg Team, her top 3 fundraiser plaque.
Each team consisted of five people each and raced two teams at a time on the Haehl Creek Drive “track.” This was a single elimination event with each winning team moving onto the next round and continuing until there was a winner who can claimed, “The Bedpan of Champions” trophy. Congratulations to this year’s winner, Sparetime Supply who narrowly defeated the defending champions, Misfits from HMH, in a heated final.
A unique twist to this year’s event was that each ticket purchased went into a drawing for a signed Eric Clapton guitar, a Corona CA, Black Custom Stratocaster mix copy of which he played since the Jimi Hendrix days.
Check out our Facebook page for pictures and details!
[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157622171318898"]
Signature Event
August 27, 2009 by Ian
Filed under Signature Event
The Frank R. Howard Foundation’s Signature Event “Down the Home Stretch” was a great success. On October 10th, the Willits Community Center was transformed into an elegant venue where all guests were able to enjoy a classy event. This lovely fall evening had it all…a live and silent auction, wines, ales, sparkling ciders, tapas-style appetizers, music, dancing and an opportunity to offer support for the new hospital.
The event would not have been possible without the work of a group of committed volunteers. We’d like to thank committee chair Linda Buletti, along with her team, Donna Stropes, Roxanne Lemos-Neese, Linda McEntire, Gail Richards, Ginny Holmen, Judy Donaldson, Jolene Carrillo, Louise Holsten, Dona Fridae and Gary Martin as they organized the event from beginning to end. This committed group of people put in countless hours of time and energy to make the evening possible. A big thank you also goes to our sponsors who helped underwrite much of the expense associated with the event: Sparetime Supply, Howard Memorial Hospital, Adventist Health and Northern Aggregates/Mendocino Construction Services.
The food was an absolute delight and was provided by Kilkenny’s Kitchen along with local preparers, Ann Alumbaugh, Dana Lewis, Dorothy Roediger, Kathryn Sterngold, Linda Relin, Sulin Bell, Hellagood Desserts, Kathleen Lewis and Howard Memorial Hospital. The evening’s entertainment provided by The Bassics was timeless. Thanks also to Hal Wagenet of Modern Music Sound Services for providing sound and lighting, The Shifters for helping with parking, Ron Greystar Photography for taking such amazing photos, our auctioneer Voris Brumfield who did a fantastic job with our live auction and to the staff at the City of Willits who provided remarkable support. We are also grateful to the dozens of volunteers, local businesses and wineries that made valuable contributions of time, money and merchandise that made the event a success.
Last, but certainly not least, thank you to all the members of our community as you continue to keep the dream alive with your unwavering support. Here at the Howard Foundation, we are extremely grateful and we can’t wait to celebrate together when we cut the ribbon for the new Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital!
Wine and Mushroom Train
August 27, 2009 by Ian
Filed under Wine and Mushroom Train
On Saturday, November 7th, the Frank R. Howard Foundation hosted the Wine Mushroom Train, which was the headline event for the 2009 Mendocino County Wine Mushroom Fest running November 6-15, 2009. More than 150 patrons were aboard the Skunk Train for a majestic trip through the redwoods to Camp Mendocino. The event was a great success with proceeds going directly to the Howard Hospital Building Fund and was a collaboration of many organizations working together to achieve results that benefited everyone involved.
The Wine and Mushroom Train pulling into Camp Mendocino
Guests began arriving at the Willits Skunk Train Depot at 9 am and were treated to an array of coffee, tea and pastries from Kemmy’s Katering and Pies. The Skunk Train, which donated the use of the train for the day, departed at 10:30 am and headed deep into the heart of the redwoods.
Train Singer, Greg Schindel,
Train Singer, Greg Schindel
serenaded guests as they moved from car to car, including the observation deck where they were able to take in the beautiful autumn day. Upon arrival at Camp Mendocino, an intimate room with a fireplace ablaze, hosted the silent auction and wine tasting served by several Mendocino County Wineries that included:
Weibel Family Vineyards & Winery
The lunch menu, which was inspired by Chef and Author Jack Czarnecki, was inspired
Guests enjoy wines from America's Greenest Wine Region, Mendocino County while bidding on silent auction items.
“We are very pleased to have been able to work with so many different organizations from Mendocino County and we feel that everyone was able to benefit by working together. In addition to many local people we had attendees from places as far as Canada, Oregon, Florida and Washington, DC. We were able to tell the story of the new Howard Hospital to a wider audience and succeeded in expanding our donor base,” explains Ian Fitzpatrick of the Howard Foundation. “We’d like to thank all of the people and organizations that participated in the event, and we would especially like to thank our guests who chose to spend the day with us.”
Meet the Chef:
In a nationwide talent search in 1987 Jack Czarnecki was named one of the top 16 chefs in the country by the James Beard Foundation out of a field of 550 chefs in North America.
Jack has appeared on about television stations across the country including “Good Morning America” (two times), “The Home Show,” “Regis and Kathy Lee,” “the 60 Minute Gourmet,” “CBS Morning News,” and several cable features including three appearances on the Television Food Network, the Discovery channel, and QVC.
Magazine features include half a dozen features in airline magazines, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Harrowsmith, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, People, and Town & Country among others.
Jack and Heidi, fulfilled a lifelong dream and opened The Joel Palmer House in Dayton, Oregon, which has received outstanding reviews in Food and Wine, and the New York Times as well as being named Restaurant of the Region by Willamette Week magazine in Portland.
