Potter Lucy Stoppler “throws” a bowl for the Empty Bowls Fundraiser for Desert Sun Counselling and Resource Centre. (Richard McGuire photo)
Last year’s Empty Bowls Fundraiser for Desert Sun Counselling and Resource Centre was so successful that it will be returning this year.
The event takes place on Friday, Nov. 4 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos. Tickets are limited and are on sale now.
Once again, the Osoyoos Potters Club is busy producing the one-of-a-kind bowls that participants will receive to sample soups made by some of the top chefs in the area.
The event was inaugurated last year to replace the long-running gala A Grand Night, which was Desert Sun’s main fundraiser for the previous decade.
Last year’s Empty Bowls Fundraiser brought in just under $20,000 to support Desert Sun’s programs.
“I like the fact that it’s combining so many different artisans,” said Sandy Summers, who is again organizing this year’s event. “It combines the local artists making the bowls and putting their time and energy into it, it involves the chefs who are using produce from the fall harvest, and then the wines and ciders as well are all local and the breads are from local bakeries.”
Tickets for the event are $49 and guests can keep the ceramic bowl they choose when they arrive.
This year’s event will be similar to last year’s, but there are some minor changes, said Summers.
There will be added seating, she said, noting that last year there was a shortage of seats and this was hard for some seniors.
Guests sample their soups at a long communal table, getting up to fill their bowls and often finding a different location to sit and eat, meeting new people.
“The room’s not that big so we can’t have complete seating,” said Summers. “It’s supposed to feel like more of a walkabout.”
The event is also being shortened by an hour to three hours instead of four.
“Last year it went on a little too long,” said Summers. “We were a little bit tired by the end and it is a lot of soup.”
Instead of an auction this year, participants will have a chance to purchase a spoon with a number on it for $20. Afterwards, they’ll pick up a wine bottle corresponding to the number on the spoon.
“Desert Sun was the recipient from an anonymous donor who donated some of his wine cellar to us,” Summers explains. “The wines come from across Canada.”
There are wines from Ontario, Nova Scotia and of course B.C., and some are older vintages.
Instead of bidding on an auction, or drawing for a raffle, everybody who purchases a spoon is guaranteed a bottle of wine – they just don’t know which bottle until they pick it up at the end of the night.
Summers said it was decided not to charge more for the bottles in order to make it accessible to all and because guests are already spending nearly $50 to attend the event.
There was a different demographic attending last year’s event than the gala Grand Night, where people were more willing to bid on an auction, she said.
“It was a lot more people who came on their own and was a much more affordable event,” she said of last year’s Empty Bowls.
Participating chefs have not yet been confirmed, but once again guests will vote on which soups they like the best. The winning chef will be awarded a Golden Ladle.
People last year loved the handmade ceramic bowls and the fact that they got to choose their bowl, said Summers. They also loved the competitive element between the chefs and being able to sample different soups they had never tried before, vote on them and meet the chefs.
“I think people liked the casual part of it that it wasn’t a sit-down dinner,” she said. “It was a nice way to sit because of the communal table and you get to meet new people.”
When people take home their bowls, it’s a reminder of those in the community who have less, said Summers.
“You go to some wine and food events and you may get a wine glass and stick it in the cupboard,” she said. “But you know somebody took the time to make that bowl, it’s an artistic product and it’s one of a kind. Nobody else has that bowl. Mine sits filled with nuts on my counter, so every time I fill it up, I know the bowl was made with love from the community.”
The number of tickets is limited to 200 due to capacity of the room. Summers said many tickets have already sold.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased on the Desert Sun website at desertsuncounselling.ca.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
