A professional wine sommelier and a whiskey master will guide partygoers at the second Whiskers, Whiskey, and Wine fundraiser for R.E.A.L. (rescue, educate, adopt, love) Cruzan Cats Friday night at the former Club Comanche.
Christine Southworth, founder of the organization in 2016, told the Source there will be at least six wines, plus a Madiera, a port and a similar number of top-shelf whiskies to sample. Appetizers, a cheese board, and lobster dip will tingle the taste buds while guests sip their favorite beverages at the second-floor pavilion. Guests will receive a punch card so they can take a break to socialize and bid at the silent auction or munch hors d’oeuvres.
The wine sommelier, Peter Nelson, has more than 20 years of experience in wine/beer and restaurants. He has taught wine classes and ran an award-winning wine shop in Boston for five years.
Music professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Evan Ziporyn will guide guests on a world tour of single malt whiskeys.
The silent auction will raise funds for the organization with a large variety of desirable items. Auction donors include Seathru Kayaks, Sandcastles, Cottages by the Sea, Grapetree Bay, Mutiny Vodka, the Domino Club and Lyric Sail. Other items include a sunset sail, hotel accommodations, art and jewelry.
There will also be live music during the event with steel pan drummer Te’Amir.
To purchase tickets online, click here. Tickets will also be available at the door if all 140 have not been sold.
Since 2016, Southworth said they have found homes for more than 1000 cats and dogs and have spayed/neutered another 500 cats and dogs. Some pets were sent to homes in Boston.
“We were seeing the need for a cat rescue on the island. We were working very closely with the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center,” she said. “It’s hard to get kittens in the northeast and there are so many on the island.”
Southworth said the major focus has been, so far, on the TNVR program – trap, neuter, vaccinate and return feral cats to their original location. So far, 5,000 cats have been treated in this program.
In 2021, RCC acquired a five-acre property south of Altona Lagoon and plan to build a cat sanctuary. The 100-120 cats that reside around the Lagoon will be moved into the sanctuary after being vaccinated, neutered, microchipped and recorded in a database. The organization recently received their first permits – to clear land and fence the land.
“We should get some cats moved by this summer,” she said.
