Raising a glass for books

Gibson Memorial Library’s annual wine walk will kick off the sales tax-free weekend Aug. 2 in Creston, bringing customers in to uptown stores for a glass of wine and to shop at a discount.

The wine walk, which started in 2018, is a fundraiser for the Library Legacy Committee, a group that helps fund expansions and renovations of the library. Committee member Peg Anderson explained the walk was meant to be something that brought in more community members.

"We were looking for a little bit of a different fundraiser, but we also wanted to kind of partner with the businesses uptown and get the people to go into the businesses and help promote them too, so it was kind of a two-fold purpose,” Anderson said. “This is our big fundraiser for the year, so we appreciate all the participants that we have.”

The wine walk starts off at the library, where participants can pick up tote bags, a wine glass, a map and a wristband indicating the participant is of drinking age. When checking in, participants must show an ID before receiving wine walk supplies.

"We do have to get a liquor license for the event and that’s one of the requirements,” Anderson said. “We want to make sure people know to bring their drivers license along.”

Once supplied with the map, wristband and glass, participants are free to visit the 24 partnering businesses in any order, which can all be found on Maple or Adams streets. Each business will provide one ounce of wine, along with other possible goodies.

“A lot of the businesses will have a little snack to go along with that and they can browse around the different stores,” Anderson said.

The committee added a couple new aspects to the walk this year as well, with each business receiving a literary theme.

"We thought we would do a literary theme along with this, so some of the businesses have picked out a book or a genre of books that they like, and they might be dressed up in costumes,” Anderson said. “And then we tried to pair the wines with whatever genre they have chosen. That’s something new.”

One participating business is The Latest Edition Bookstore, whose theme is Thriller.

“We will be showcasing one of my favorite wines in both a red and a white blend called Conundrum,” owner Elizabeth Fioretto said. “The book we are focusing on is about a woman in a conundrum who is drinking a little too much wine and can’t tell if her eyes are deceiving her. It’s titled ‘The Woman in the Window’ by AJ Finn and it’s probably my favorite thriller from the last 10 years.”

Meanwhile, next-door neighbor Hot Air Brewing will be featuring travel literature.

Along with the themed stops, participants are invited to dress up. Those that do will receive a small prize. Other additions include a scavenger hunt and raffle baskets.

“While they are browsing around in the different stores, we have pictures that we have taken in some of the stores,” Anderson said. “They have to figure out which store this particular picture is, so when they bring their sheet back to the library, we’ll give them some more raffle tickets for every two scavenger tickets they have correct.”

Raffle tickets can also be bought at the library.

With the event being such an important fundraiser for the committee, Anderson said they’re grateful for their many sponsors, which include Coen’s Home Furnishings, PCSB, ISSB, Creston Chamber of Commerce, Friends of the Library, Connections Area Agency on Aging, UCDA and the Union County Young Professionals.

"We’re really lucky this year, we’ve added eight new businesses to this year’s wine walk,” Anderson said. “We just hope that people will gather up their friends and come over for a fun evening of walking around and having some wine and snacks and doing a little shopping at the same time."

Tickets for the event cost $30 if bought before Aug. 2, or $35 if bought day of. The event will last from 5:30 to 8 p.m.