By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News

 In an effort to give back to the girls and women of the Castle Country, the Soroptimist International of Price is preparing to host the 52nd rendition of its wine-tasting charity benefit on Friday, Nov. 21, an event that has become a staple in the community.

Soroptimists Terry Willis and Tamara Dockstader joined the KOAL newsroom to preview the event and share how the organization seeks to uplift women and girls in the Castle Country.

“The Soroptimists is a women’s service organization and we’ve been in the community for 71 years. We’re basically a global volunteer organization that provides women and girls with access to education and training that they need to achieve economic empowerment, specifically those facing significant barriers to getting their education,” shared Willis of the group.

She continued,” With our wine tasting event, proceeds stay within the community to help local women who are continuing their education but may have those barriers. We give that money out rather than a scholarship; we’ll award it as a grant. And we do that because we realize tuition is probably one of the easier parts of going back to school. There are scholarships and Pell grants, but the barriers the women we help face can be as simple as a furnace that quits working in the middle of your semester, or your car breaking down, and you not having the money to fix it. As we identify those women in our community and provide grants, we have found that we have a good track record for those women staying in school and completing their education.”

Moving to the details of the event, Dockstader explained,” We have 14 different wines, plus a hot wine. We will also be tasting award-winning Helper Beer. So we’re keeping it local. Every single wine station will have food pairings with it, so it’ll have cheese, bruschetta, it could have strawberry jam, it just depends on the complexity of the wine, what we’re going to be pairing with it.”

Also included with the event are several activities to participate in, including both live and silent auctions: “It’s a premier event. We’ve got a silent auction, and there’ll be a door price for everybody who purchased a ticket. The tickets are $60 a person, and that does include all the appetizers, wine tasting, beer tasting and a full Carbon Country Club meal.”

Following this theme, Dockstader also shared word of an opportunity drawing included with each ticket: “The drawing is going to be for a New Year’s basket. So it’ll have a trio of champagne and all the fun things to go along with kicking off 2026. Some of the baskets are donated, and some are put together by our members. There will be a men’s basket this year that will feature cigars; it’s called ‘Sip and Smoke’ and it will feature bourbon and premium cigars, along with everything that goes with them. So there are things there that men will enjoy as much as women.”

Tickets can be purchased online here. Tickets are also available by calling 435-650-8550 or by talking to any member of the Soroptimists.

“There aren’t very many events that can say that they’ve been solidly here in the community for 52 years, so that should tell you something about the event itself,” shared Willis, closing our conversation. 

The Soroptimist International of Price’s 52nd annual charity benefit will be held on Friday, Nov. 21, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Carbon Country Club. Tickets cost $60 and are available online or by calling 435-650-8550. Additionally, tickets can be purchased by speaking to any member of the organization.