Sunday, August 10, 2008

Neighbor to Neighbor Big Sur Fire Relief Gala...

August 9th, 2008 about 6pm... Monterey Convention Center

Fantastic food from two of Big Sur's best chefs, a live auction, a silent auction, wonderful wine from the likes of Talbott, Pessagno and others, nine hosted bars, and Big Sur PuertoRiqueño music were the hallmarks of last night's Neighbor to Neighbor Big Sur Fire Relief Gala.

I'm not quite sure exactly how much money was raised, but a guess would be in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred thousand dollars.




Big Sur Volunteer Fire Fighter Toby Rowland Jones (far-right in the picture to the right), of Partington Ridge, offered for auction dinner for 6 at his home. Toby, who stayed with a number of others to fight the flames face to face, was floored when the winning bidder raised his hand at $9,000.

It was such a successful and amazing moment, that, shortly thereafter Toby - always fast on his feet - made a unscheduled auction offer of dinner for four at his home, which netted about $3500.

Toby, hide the Spaghetti-O's, dude...

As the event wore on, an people were treated to poignant video of those who stayed to defend their homes, complete with Johnny Cash singing Tom Petty's "I won't Back Down."



I had the chance to catch up with the host of the event, 5th District Monterey County Supervisor Dave Potter. He was gracious enough to chat with me about where things might go from here, now that the Basin Complex fire is behind us. 

You can listen to the audio by clicking HERE.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It was a wonderful event and I am glad I could attend. Look forward to listening to your interview with Dave Potter.

Tomorrow night, the second BSMAAC meeting.

Kelly said...

Thanks, Kate!!!

It was great to be there, always great to see you, Toby and Linda and all my friends from Big Sur!

Sorry to hear about Ventana's Cielo Restaurant! Very ironic and tragic!

See you at the meeting tomorrow night!

Best,

Kelly

Anonymous said...

Spaghettios! hah! I have not once in my life eaten such a dish.,..however, what my esteemed guests will be enjoying shall be the finest kosher hot dogs and marshmallows that money can buy!
Kelly: Thanks so very much for posting this - it was my true pleasure to donate, as well as get deeply involved in some of the coordination. Here it is Monday afternoon, and I am still exhausted...
What a wonderful job everyone did, and thank you, Big Sur Kate (my neighbor and good friend!) for the amazing job on the flowers!

And yes, I was stunned, truly stunned at the generosity and spirit of the bidders!

Yes, a great tragedy for all involved at Ventana. I literally cried when I arrived on scene; but GM Jonathan Farrington said something lovely to me - Life doesn't give you more than you can handle. His primary worry is for the displaced workers, who only just got back to work. If you know anyone that can take on some additional summer help, have them call Ventana at 831-667-2331.
Kelly - you're amazing -thank you so much!
Love from Big Sur
Toby

Kelly said...

Hey, Toby!

Step it up a level and at LEAST serve them S'mores instead of plain o' marshmallows!

*smiles*

It was quite an event and everyone involved deserves credit. It was a fine way to recover from the shock of the past few months.

Toby, save the "amazing" comment for yourself, my friend!

How many seasonal people from Ventana need work? Anyone know?