Rockport Ramblings: Tickets available for Rotary Wine Tasting
Tickets are still available and will be at the door for The Rotary Club of Rockport's Wine Tasting tonight from 6 to 8:30 at the Rockport Golf Club, organizers said.
For a donation of $30, people may join members of the Rotary Club for an evening of wine sampling, hors d'oeuvres, and live jazz and blues music performed by Alek Razdan and A-Train.
Razdan, 15, is a Rockport High School sax and clarinet phenom who plays with a group of seasoned professional musicians that includes his father, Rik Razdan.
Nine wine vendors and importers are participating, including Arborway Wines, Boston Wines, Commonwealth Wines, Frederick Wildman Importers, Horizon Wines, M.S. Wines, Martignetti Wines, Masciarelli Wines, and Select Wines. Louis Linquata, owner of Seabreeze Liquors in Gloucester, coordinated the wine vendors.
Participants will choose from more than 100 red, white, rose and sparkling wines to sample.
The event is one of several annual fund-raisers carries out by the Rotary Club. A wide variety of community projects and organizations benefit from the funds raised by Rotary annually. In recent years, the Rockport School District received support for several projects which include a scholarship program; funding for students to participate in curriculum-related trips such as DECA; sponsoring several students to go to summer camp; donating books to the high school library and dictionaries for classroom use.
Community works projects include painting the Veterans Memorial in front of the former Story Library, painting benches, cleaning up Nugent's stretch, and clearing the Kieran Path.
For more information on the wine tasting, contact Club President Alan Battistelli at 978-546-7103 or visit the Club's Web site, www.rockportrotary.org.
'Swing into Spring' with jazz
The "Jazz in Rockport" Concert Series and Brickhouse Productions presents "Swing into Spring" with the artful sounds of Kendra Shank and quartet on Saturday, May 16, at 8 p.m. at the Rockport Art Association.
Shank, a jazz vocalist hailed by the New York Times as an artist with "effervescence, depth" and "integrity," is introducing her new CD "Mosaic." Tickets cost $25 and are on sale at the Rockport Art Association, 12 Main St., Rockport; Toad Hall Book Store, and The Book Store in Gloucester.
For more information, visit Jazz in Rockport Web site at www.rockportjazz.com.
Quick hits
The minutes of Rockport's Special and Annual Town meetings, which took place April 4, are now posted on the town's Web Site on the Town Clerk's page under "reports."
The minutes finally appeared on Rockport's official Web site on Monday, two days after a story appeared in the Times that outlined how the town's recently received "e-Government Award" from Common Cause of Massachusetts in recognition of its commitment to open government, was apparently an undeserved honor — an issue Selectman-elect Sandy Jacques had raised in his campaign.
One of several criteria for the honor requires Town Meeting results to be available on the community's Web site for a year — and in Rockport's case they were not featured at all until Monday, more than a month after receiving the award from the watchdog non-profit organization on March 19.
People in the news
Congratulations are in order for Angelina and Valentina Jimenez, daughters of Sydney and Pablo Jimenez of Rockport. Both sisters competed with their ponies, from Sandy Bay Stables, at a recent Weston horse show, said Sandy Bay Stables co-owner Krissie Burnham.
Angelina, celebrating her 7th birthday at the show, was the youngest competitor in her division. She logged a fifth and two sixth place finishes in the Walk-Trot Equitation 10 and under class. She also earned a Walk-Trot 10 and under Pleasure Championship ribbon.
Her older, 5th-grade sister, Valentina, placed in every class she entered. She ranked second in Short Stirrup Hunter on the Flat, second in Short Stirrup Equitation on the Flat, third in Short Stirrup Equitation over fences, and fourth in Short Stirrup Hunger over fences. She also earned the Pet Pony Division Championship.
Bridge club
Saturday, May 2: First, Greg Hannifan and Merrill Gerstner, 52 1/2; second, Milt and Helen Lauenstein, 46; third, Bill and Kate Holloway, 43 1/2.
Tuesday, May 5: First, Helen and Milt Lauenstein, 59; second, Muriel Davis and Merrill Gerstner, 57; third, Maureen Sheehan and Virginia Widmer, 56 1/2.
Thursday, May 7: First, Molly Foster and Merrill Gerstner, 54; second (tie), Greg Hannifan and Gus Lawson and Pat Sylvia and Marge Baker, 45 1/2; third, Bill and Kate Holloway, 44 1/2.
Rockport Ramblings is compiled each week by reporter Jonathan L'Ecuyer. If you have an item for Ramblings, call L'Ecuyer at 978-283-7000, ext. 3451, or e-mail jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.