Sponsors and supporters of Sunrise Rotary Vero Beach enjoyed a VIP Brews & Race Crews event at the Vero Beach Outlets, which offered up a large indoor and outdoor space, creatively decorated in a racing décor.
Vero Beach Outlets was the premier sponsor of the Florida Craft Brew & Wingfest, which took place Feb. 19. (See our March 3 issue for photos of that event.)
Beth Hager, VBO marketing director and a Rotarian, was responsible for decorating the space with an impressive black-and-white race car theme, complete with a ‘fuel stop’ buffet.
The theme was enhanced by NASCAR stock cars brought by the Strick 9 Racing Team, brothers Lonnie and Donnie Strickland.
“We race the vintage racing series, former NASCAR race cars that race in a vintage class now,” said Donnie Strickland. “We have five cars total, but we have two here tonight: a 2013 Toyota Camry and a 2009 Chevy Monte Carlo. The kids get a kick out of it and so do the big grownup kids too.”
Guests enjoyed entertainment by guitarist MJ Wicker and a delicious barbecue dinner catered by Niki and Jimbo’s Roadhouse and Rick Hodge’s Hodge Podge BBQ.
“The Craft Brew and Wingfest is our premier event. This will be our 10th one, but it’s our 11th year because we couldn’t do it in 2021,” said Marty Lewis, current board president. “This VIP party is a small event, primarily to thank the sponsors that help us produce the big event.”
Lewis said that through sponsorships, they had already raised in excess of $70,000.
“What the historical numbers have shown is that if you give us a dollar, we will make it $2 and plow back into our charities that we support in the community,” said Lewis, explaining that committees work on a variety of projects, wherever they see a need.
“This club has, on average, about 60 different projects here every year,” said Dr. Steve Kepley event co-chair with Arthur Hodge.
“All of our membership joins in; everybody has a job,” said Hodge in agreement.
All three credit the late Paul Dritenbas with the idea for the Florida Brew & Wingfest. An architect whose office was on Royal Palm Pointe, Dritenbas was also involved in the development of the Walking Tree Brewery, which his son Alan co-founded with Mike Malone.
“It was huge success, and it’s only grown since then,” said Lewis. “And we want to keep it there.
This is our signature place, and we don’t want it to get so big that we can’t do it well.”
Kepley said that it has been a very successful fundraiser, noting: “The first year I think we cleared $14,000, and that was the biggest we had we ever had. And in 2020 it was over $90,000.”
“I would have to say that none of this would be possible without the support of the community in attending these functions and carrying on the good things that we in Rotary do, and Rotary Sunrise in particular,” said Hodge.
Sunrise Rotary Vero Beach meets each Wednesday at 7 a.m. at the Riverhouse. For more information, visit SunriseRotaryVeroBeach.org.
Photos by Kaila Jones
