Friday 20th May saw the LightHouse Club host its 2011 Wine & Cheese Night.
The event was sponsored by McConnell Dowell SEA Pte Ltd and was held at La Nonna Restaurant in the swanky dining enclave of Holland Village.
The Wine was supplied at excellent prices by Altimate Spirits Pte Ltd who also arranged the venue and got the owners to give excellent discount for the food, service and also allowed us to utilise their premises on a busy Friday night.
Ticket sales started out slow and we were struggling to fill the min 40 pax requirement leading up to the event but took a gamble & decided to go for the maximum capacity of 50 pax and in the end had to turn away more than 10 LHC members a week before the event.
Whilst this was ultimately good news for the LHC, it is an increasingly frustrating phenomenon here in Singapore where we get last minute rushes on events by members. This is particularly risky for the LHC as if we over subscribe to an event in anticipation but we don’t get numbers then the LHC is liable to cover the cost on short attendance, something we as a charity cannot afford to happen.
The evening licked off at 7pm with the lovely Ms Priscilla Goh being first to arrive and assist, by 7:15pm we had about 20 people and by 7:45pm we were in full swing with all 50 pax enjoying free flow Wine & Food in abundance.
A short break in proceedings by the MC to thank the sponsors (whom he works for none the less), the handing out of a few novelty door prizes that were well received by the audience and winners alike and the next 10 minutes were handed over to Sandy from Altimate Spirits to give a description of the wines on offer and the food pairing.
A quick break to recharge the glasses, empty the bladder and grab a quick smoke outside for those that had the urge and we were into a short sharp fun auction.
We auctioned a limited edition LHC Moneybox that went for $125 and a range of wines. The most paid for a single bottle was $100 (on 3 occasions!). The Auctioneer set the evening record when put on the spot by the audience by taking a 2 bottle set for $220 but in general the Auction was well received and LHC Members & guests got into the spirit of the event and donated generously.
The donation bucket did the rounds and added to the funds
The event ended well past the 10pm cut-off date with stragglers poured out the door closer to 11pm and across to various bars to continue the destruction of brain cells in the name of charity.
The evening raised a total of $6392 for the LHC generated in the following areas on the night
Attendance $3000 / Auction $1330 / Bucket Donation $1147 / Extra Donations $365 / Wine Sales $550
Massive Thanks go out to Alfred & Sandy from Altimate Spirits, McConnell Dowell who covered the cost of the evening and the wine auctioned and most of all a big thank you to all who took the time to attend and confirm your attendance. It is much appreciated