1st Quarter Meeting Summary

Thanks to IWA members, our First Quarter 2008 General Membership Meeting was a great success. We have three great challenges ahead of us:

. to influence Illinois legislators to pass laws governing winemakers that protect our right to growand prosper while preserving reasonable access andcosts for consumers, and

. to introduce consumers to Illinois wines and wineries through various cooperative promotional programs, and

. to improve the quality and reputation of Illinois wines by establishing quality standards according tothe tenets of the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI).

The Second Quarter General Membership Meeting will beheld in May on a date and in a location to be determined. We will hear the reports of the Marketing and Legislative Action Committees and the BTI StudyTeam at that time.

World's Largest What?

This Sunday morning, while watching the news, I heard of a town here in Illinois who were trying to create the world’s largest ketchup packet. That’s right. . . ketchup packet.

It happened this weekend in Collinsville, Illinois and was a fundraiser for the local school. The goal was to create a 1500 pound packet of ketchup to submit to the Guinness Book of World Records. I have always liked people who think big.

So this got me thinking; why couldn’t the Illinois Wineries create the largest grape stomp ever?! You know, the whole Lucy & Ethel dream so many people have could come true. A weekend of purple feet and world records. Hmmm. . .