It was morning when the call came in, and I groggily answered the phone and heard my sister-in-law Christy, and her friend Corri, asking if they could entice me to emcee the upcoming Dawson Food & Wine Festival benefiting the Alexander Dawson School on Rainbow Mountain.  An event, they informed me, that would be honoring my friends Elizabeth Blau and Jerry Nadal.  Since I’m a fan of Dawson (both my niece and nephew have attended since they were toddlers), and I love my friends, I replied in the affirmative; after which I hung-up the phone and went back to sleep.

I didn’t even remember this exchange until Corri Backman (the event co-Chair and my sister-in-law’s previously mentioned pal) called me a couple of weeks later, and – realizing I had no idea what she was carrying on about – reminded me.   Cut to late-August, and there I am, in the office of Dawson’s ever-ebullient Development Manager, Cathi Muckle (Backman's DFWF co-Chair, and the best part of waking up), changing into the circus ringmaster costume that had been rented for me to wear in some teaser videos being shot to promote the festival.

And what a festival it would turn out to be, due not only to the wonderful chefs who participated, and the generous sponsors who donated the items for the silent and live auctions (the latter of which found me serving as auctioneer), but also in great part to the creative wherewithal of designers Backman and David Steen who, with Destinations By Design, created an ersatz big-top fit for a queen (and on a milkmaid’s budget)!  And speaking of things fit for a queen, a very special thanks to the talented Tracy Foote, who created my made-to-measure circus ringmaster costume, that was so great I’ve decided to repurpose it, as my Halloween costume!!

All of the chefs really turned it out, and while I can’t list them all herein, some of my favorites included Chayo Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar (where Chefs Garry Valiente and Antonio Mejia merchandised the bejesus out of their booth, going full-on Día de Los Muertos); Pinkbox Doughnuts (where proprietrix Judi Segal had taken the circus theme and run with it, including large stuffed animals in cages); Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, Downtown Summerlin (that found Chefs Dustin Lewandowski and Kamal Guechida plying us with Truffle Potato Chips with Bleu Cheese Fondue and Zeppoles with a trio of sauces); and Honey Salt (where Chefs Kim Canteenwalla and Sven Mede served Honey Salt’s signature Biloxi Fried Buttermilk Chicken Sandwiches, of which I ate many).

The sultry and seductive DJ 88 wo-manned the ones-and-twos while featuring a fabulously styled afro, and her musical selections kept dancers (especially Jere Garcia) shaking their respective groove thangs, all night.

The auction was fun for me, though I should note that it’s tougher than I’d expected.  Here’s a tip, though, if you’re ever planning on having an auction: Stock your audience with billionaires, and seat them close to the auction action!  One lot found me inviting Perry Rogers on-stage, where we hawked what I dubbed the Shaq-age Package, featuring floor seats to a Sacramento Kings game (with transportation via private jet), dinner at Echo & Rig, and an autographed pair of Shaquille O’Neal’s size 22 hightops.  Having known me long enough to appreciate that I’m not really a “sports guy,” Rogers was surprised when I began (accurately!) telling a detailed anecdote about the naming of the Reebok Shaq Attack “Dream Team Snub” sneakers. *

By the time the auctions were closed, and the raffle had been called, the evening’s haul (when added to the table-sales and donations) came to somewhere around $350,000, and that’s nothing to sneeze at – especially seeing as this is only DFWF’s second at-bat.  Hey look, Perry: Another sports metaphor!

2nd annual Dawson Food & Wine Festival
The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain
Click HERE for info

Get into it!
#DawsonFWF

[Editor’s Note: * The Reebok Shaq Attack “Dream Team Snub” references when O’Neal, the number one pick in the 1992 NBA draft, was passed over for inclusion on the 1992 Olympic Men’s Basketball Team (aka the “Dream Team”), in favor of that year’s Naismith College Player of the Year, Christian Laettner.  Thus, the Dream Team Snub.]

The world’s greatest hip-hop collective returns this weekend with the second edition of the history-making WU-TANG CLAN: THE SAGA CONTINUES… THE LAS VEGAS RESIDENCY