79°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

Inaugural Wine Walk planned for Saturday

Boulder City doesn’t have the reputation of Sonoma, Calif., or Mendoza, Argentina, when it comes to wine country, but residents will soon have the opportunity to indulge in the wine of their choice during the city’s first monthly Wine Walk that is set to precede Movies in the Park June 14.

At least 25 businesses have signed up for the event, and coordinator Julie McAnany said promoting local business is the ultimate goal of the Wine Walk.

She brought forth the idea of a Wine Walk, an event she coordinated several times when she lived in Elko, to the Chamber of Commerce. In a smaller town like Boulder City, promoting local commerce is imperative.

“Back home, Wine Walks got you out to see different stores and what they had to offer,” McAnany said. “Some of them turned into my favorite stores. You get to know the owners, and you wanna go in and shop there. It gets people out to shop locally.”

Each Wine Walk will be held from 4-7 p.m. before each Movie in the Park. Participants can purchase their wine glass at the Chamber of Commerce where they’ll receive a map of participating businesses, as well as a wrist band that shows they have been approved to drink alcohol.

Each map has a checklist on the back for every participating merchant to sign when the participant stops at their store. Each store will also have a rinsing station for people to clean their glasses.

After participants fill out all of the boxes, they can stop by the Movie in the Park to turn in their completed map for a special drawing where a winner will be picked for a wine gift basket. The drawing will be held right before each movie.

Chamber of Commerce CEO Jill Rowland-Lagan said she’s hopeful that the Wine Walk will spark a greater interest in Boulder City.

“I think that this being the first (Wine Walk) is kind of exciting. You get to learn about those businesses you might not have heard of before,” she said. “It allows businesses to stay open later, and it allows us to drive traffic into those areas that may not have been able to before.”

McAnany suggested that some businesses choose white wines, while others choose red so participants have some options to work with. She said Ste. Chapelle was the favorite wine when she coordinated Wine Walks in Elko.

Each participating business will choose which wine it serves, but McAnany noted that not all businesses will serve wine. Some will serve water and appetizers instead.

“Some people don’t want to serve alcohol but still want to participate in the event,” she said.

McAnany said all participants can expect enough wine to fill the bottom of their glasses when they go to each station. She isn’t worried about rowdiness or safety concerns during the Wine Walk.

“People here can walk home because it’s so small,” she said. “I don’t see safety being an issue. We never had them back home, and I don’t see it being a problem now. It’s a lot smaller in Boulder City.”

Rowland-Lagan also said she’s not worried about safety issues, saying that if the Wine Walks are successful, the Chamber will eventually look for ways to offer rides home to participants for future events.

“But that’s down the road, so we’ll see how well this goes first,” she said.

Glasses cost $25 each or $45 per couple and are good at all participating businesses.

MOST READ
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
THE LATEST
Toll Brothers gets split decision

The development of the area near Boulder Creek Golf Course known as Tract 350 (the sale of which is slated to pay for the majority of the planned replacement for the aging municipal pool) may have hit a snag last week as the planning commission voted 5-1 to deny the developers’ request to build houses closer to the street than is allowed under current law.

Council gives nod to 185 new hangars

There is at least one part of Boulder City that is set to see growth in the coming years. A lot of growth.

Boulder City ready to celebrate America

Boulder City resident James Cracolici may have put it best when he called the annual July 4 Damboree, “The crown jewel of all events held in Boulder City.”

BC can ban backyard breeders

Although there is nothing on any city agenda yet, the resolution of the issue of whether pet breeding will be allowed in Boulder City took a huge step forward last week as Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford released an official opinion on the intent and limitations of state law that had been requested by city staff last year.

Completion dates for two road projects pushed back

Mayor Joe Hardy tacitly acknowledged that Boulder City gets, perhaps, more than its fair share of funding from the Regional Transportation Commission, given the city’s size.

Businesses recognized at Chamber awards night

The Boulder City Chamber of Commerce’s annual installation and awards night featured many business owners in town and even had an appearance, albeit an A.I.-generated one, by Audrey Hepburn.

Parallel parking approved

Like so many other things in the world of Boulder City government, the issue of reconfiguring parking in the historic downtown area along Nevada Way, which generated enough heat to cause council members to delay a decision up until the last possible moment, ended with more of a whimper than a bang.

Ways to reduce summer power bills

Now that the thermometer is on the rise outdoors, the cost to cool homes and businesses on the inside is doing the same.