The 8th Annual Twice as Fine Wine Festival benefitting the Texarkana Alzheimer’s Alliance will be held Saturday, May 6th. The Wine Festival has continued to garner local support through the years between local small businesses, bands, and wineries and breweries from all of the state of Texas coming together to support the Alliance and their continued fundraising goals.”Last year we raised around $250,000 from our local community to support the Alliance, and this year we are hoping to raise around $300,000!” said Executive Director Terrie Arnold.
The Texarkana Alzheimers Alliance is a local nonprofit organization that provides support, education, and relief to families who are dealing with Alzheimers in a loved one. One of the biggest supports the Alliance provides is their respite care that they provide for families in the area. “Respite care is a service we offer to families who provide sole care to loved ones with Alzheimers. Three days a week we have trained volunteers who come in to help support our clients with Alzheimers. Our clients get to come in and receive social stimulation with others, while allowing their caregivers to have downtime. Caring for those with Alzheimers is a full time job, and through our respite care program we are able to give those caregivers time to themselves, by allowing their loved ones to be in a safe well trained environment,” said Terrie.
(Photo by Erin Rogers | TXK Today)
The monies raised from the fundraising event goes 100% towards the needs and goals that the Alzheimer’s Alliance provides to their community. “Fundraising also allows us to provide scholarships for families who are in desperate need of respite care for their loved ones. We are not a medical facility, what we provide is simply socialization for our friends to come in and be with well trained volunteers, while providing relief for their caretakers. It typically costs around $50 a day for our friends to come visit us, by giving scholarships we are able to take care of that burden from families in our area in need,” said Terrie.
The 8th Annual Wine Festival this year is already coming together. “So far we have a total of 27 wineries and one beer booth ready and excited to come. We also have a long waitlist for other wineries and breweries from the Texas area on file in case we need more. We also have several bands who have already signed up to donate their time to keep our guests entertained on the outside of the festival where other local businesses and food trucks will be. Our event is much more than just a wine festival, it’s also a way for families to come out and have fun, while supporting local businesses,” said Terrie.
This year’s wine festival will begin at 11AM on Saturday, May 6th and will go until 7PM. We will still be located at Spring Lake Park in Texarkana and the General area is free to the public. The wine garden will cost $20 for entry. Those going into the wine garden will receive a wine souvenir bag and wine tasting glass upon ticket purchase. If you want to skip the line ahead of time you can purchase your wine garden tickets online at https://www.texarkanawinefestival.com.
