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Successful and weary
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I spent the weekend up on the North Coast, hustling for donations, and I was surprisingly successful. I ended up with 23 bottles of wine in my car as I headed home. Okay, one of those bottles was wine I'd purchased for myself (Goldeneye Estate Winery's 2004 Migration Pinot Noir. So friggin' good, I could hardly stand it. I stopped by their Visitor Center on Saturday to pick up the gift certificate they were donating (for one night's stay at their Apple Dryer cottage, including private tour and barrel tasting; thanks Bob!) and while I was there I wanted to purchase a couple bottles of wine on behalf of the school. After all, they were donating a $250 overnight, and it seemed like a) the least we could do and b) it would make the Romantic Getaway package even better. So I asked if I could do a little tasting, and a very nice man named Bruce gave me a taste of the Migration, and a taste of the Goldeney Pinot Noirs. I personally preferred the Migration, which was lucky for me, as it was the less expensive of the two, by about half. So I bought a bottle of the Migration for me, and a bottle of each for the school.

I also ended up buying a bottle of Husch Pinot Noir to go in my Fort Bragg getaway package, but the other 19 bottles of wine were donated. I'm going to do some serious product placement here, because it was very generous of the wineries, and I am truly appreciative. If you don't care about which wineries donated to my event, skip the following. I got one bottle from Greenwood Ridge, two bottles each from Brutocao Cellars, Navarro Vineyards, Handley Cellars and Foppianno (in Sonoma). I got four bottles from Husch, in addition to the one I purchased. And I was given a whopping six bottles from Yorkville Cellars. Additionally, besides the overnight at Goldeneye, I acquired a two-night stay for a family of four at the Beach House Inn in Fort Bragg, a dinner for four at D'Aurelios ("the best pizza I've ever had in my life," according to several of my students), and a family membership to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. I believe I will soon have a second night for the Romantic Getaway package at some location in Mendocino, as well as a fancy dinner for two in the area. I won't say where just yet, as I haven't received confirmation.

Anyway, it was a busy weekend, and I got a lot accomplished, of which I feel proud. It was great, actually -- I re-connected with some people I hadn't seen or heard from in a long time, and I made some new connections, too. And although I didn't take any of the rejections (and there were some) personally, I do take some of the successes personally. I know that of course they gave because we're a nonprofit school and it's a good cause, but a lot of them might not have if I wasn't essentially a local girl. One of my possible dinners, in fact, is only at all possible because the woman with whom I spoke turned out to be a friend of my dad's.

It was kind of weird taking advantage of being local, but you know, I also feel like that's how it works in our society. It isn't what you know, it's who you know, right? I tried not to drop parental names unless it seemed particularly appropriate. In the case I was just mentioning, I didn't say my dad's name, the woman asked if I was his daughter, based on my last name and the fact that I was up visiting my folks. So that was cool.

I'm blathering. And babbling. This is probably all really, really uninteresting to everyone but me. I just feel good about it because it was hard work and it had good results. And because I felt like I was good at it. It's a whole side of me that I didn't really know was there until I had the self-confidence to try.

Plus, I have to say, if anyone else is ever trying to get donations, I think it makes a huge difference to go to the place in person. You can do some of the front work over the phone (in fact, I did a lot of it), and you can send in your letters (they all require something in writing), but stopping by in person has a significant effect on the outcome, I believe. It won't get everybody to say yes, but it will tip the balance for a lot of people. Of course, that presupposes that you are a polite, engaging person, and that your cause is good. :)

Okay, now I'm really prattling on, so I think I'll end here. Hooray for generosity.


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