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Wilmington Wine and Chocolate Festival – Grand Tasting
January 30, 2015 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
$45The Wilmington Wine and Chocolate Festival kicks off with the Grand Tasting event Friday, January 30 from 7 pm to 10 pm with entertainment by The Schoolboys and A Pinch of Basile.
Filled with Delight
The Grand Tasting is an effervescent event — a celebration of the senses. The evening offers mouth-watering hors d’oeuvres prepared and presented by Catering Thyme to the scintillating sounds of The Schoolboys. This year we also have A Pinch of Basile, internationally-renowned comedian to delight you. Wine and chocolate vendors will tantalize party-goers with a wide variety of their best creations while artists and a featured fine art exhibit will offer temptation of a different sort.
Friday night Grand Tasting guests will delight in heavy hors d’oeuvres and “live” entertainment by The Schoolboys. Vintners, chocolatiers, specialty food purveyors and artisans will offer delectable products for tasting and sales throughout the evening.
Please Your Palate
Upon arrival, receive a commemorative wine glass and let your tasting journey begin! You will be able to treat yourself to complimentary hors d’oeuvres. Visit the wineries and chocolate shops, where you may enjoy Sips and Nibbles from 7:00-9:00 pm. Throughout the evening, your favorite wines and confections will be available for purchase by the glass, bottle, or case and in serving sizes to large quantities.
Filled With Enjoyment
Revel in the live musical sounds of The Schoolboys, the festival’s headline entertainment — offering soulful renditions of a wide variety of rock and roll classics. Revisiting songs made famous by artists as diverse as Chuck Berry, James Taylor, The Eagles, Joe Cocker, Tom Petty, CCR, Otis Redding and more. Their performances emphasize vocal harmonies and fun interplay between the band members and the audience.
Special Guest Chef:
Samuel B. Lawler IV, Executive Chef of Catering Thyme, is commonly known as Chef Sam. A graduate of Johnson & Wales University, Chef Sam is certified in Nutrition, Service, Food & Beverage cost control, Classical French and currently critiquing Gluten Free Menus. He is best know for his Beef Carving Stations and Shrimp & Grits, which placed in the People Choice Award.
Comedic Entertainment:
Just back from his tour in Greece and recently back from on tour in Australia and fresh off of filming his new TV show for iTV, High Noon Productions & Butterfly Productions, Basile is perhaps one of the most diverse entertainers in the world today, Basile has entertained millions of comedy fans in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Africa. Basile’s unique blend of material, improvisation, and characters has made him one of the most sought after comedians in the entertainment industry today.Basile’s general audience show, “A Pinch Of Basile” Tour, is currently touring to sold-out audiences throughout North America.
Musical Entertainment:
The Schoolboys … are UNCW’s unofficial faculty rock band — educators by day and rockers by night.
- Bill Bolduc – plays lead guitar and sings with the sincere appeal of rock’s old souls. A devoted student of six-string TRUTH, Bill nails the sweet spots and blue notes with smooth versatility and joy while adding a bit of get-down funk to the mix. His eclectic tastes run widely, embracing everything from Stealers Wheel to the Allman Bros., from Chuck Berry to Springsteen.
- Bill DiNome – Coordinator for Student Media at UNCW. Bill works closely with our student newspaper, literary magazine, Teal TV and Hawkstream radio to provide sage advice and continuity. With the ‘boys he also provides continuity on bass and provide harmony vocals. He’s also hard to beat at offbeat music trivia.
- James Hunt – has provided the beat for the ‘Boys since the earliest days. “Adaptable” best describes James’ style as he applies his steady beats and fun digressions to everything from ’60s ballads to The Beatles to Tom Petty. King of the “arena-ending” James brings vigor and fire to the back beat.
- Rick Olsen – sings lead and plays keyboard and harmonica. His blues-tinged voice really shines with the band’s covers of artists like Joe Cocker and Marc Broussard.
- Frank Trimble – sings lead and plays guitar. He is our main vocal arranger and his versatile tenor voice brings incredible range to songs by groups such as the Eagles, Three Dog Night and our more contemporary covers like Paolo Nutini.
The Wilmington Wine and Chocolate Festival is produced by the Volunteer Older Citizens Action League (V.O.C.A.L.). V.O.C.A.L. is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving seniors and supporting senior citizens in the greater Wilmington community. The Wine and and Chocolate Festival is the primary fundraising initiative for V.O.C.A.L. enabling the organization to provide services to many community needs of seniors in the Wilmington community.
For more information, contact the event organizers:
Marianna Stacy
910.512.9948
Joyce Edwards
910.622.1255
Charlotte Rosenberg
910.508.7925
