YOUR IDEAS COUNT
Do you have an idea to help further the efforts of the Vine Trail? We are eager to hear from you!
To request a presentation or schedule an event, please contact the Coalition’s Operations Director, Shannon Kuleto.
SAVE THE DATE! Friday October 12, 2012
The VINE TRAIL 4th BIRTHDAY & Member Appreciation Party will be in Napa on the Riverbend Plaza at the Historic Hatt Building & Napa General Store. Stay tuned for more details!
PREVIOUS EVENTS
St Helena Chamber of Commerce Mixer at Tamber Bey Nov. 17, 2011
MANY THANKS from the Vine Trail to our great supporters in the St Helena business community! Great fun at the St Helena Chamber of Commerce November Mixer beautifully hosted by Jennifer Nice and the team at Tamber Bey Vineyards. See some of the fun in our Facebook photo album
Vine Trail 3rd Birthday & Member Appreciation Party October 14, 2011
Whether folks biked, walked, drove, or roller bladed, we had perfect weather and a great turnout for the VINE TRAIL 3rd BIRTHDAY & Member Appreciation Party in Napa on the Riverbend Plaza at the Historic Hatt Building & Napa General Store. There was birthday cake, great food from the Napa Valley General Store kitchens, fantastic wines from Vineyard 29 and Clif Family Winery, a wonderful silent auction, pedicab rides along the Napa River Trail, several speeches celebrating the Vine Trail and a surprised Ashley Teplin winning the Vine Trail Cruiser bike! Some photos to catch the flavor of the evening are here on our3rd Birthday Party Facebook album. And don’t forget to SAVE THE DATE–Friday October 12, 2012–for our 4th Birthday & Member Appreciation Party!
Vine Trail Founder Chuck McMinn speaks to TEDx Napa Valley on Leadership
TEDx NapaValley’s Mission is to spread the social influence from local leaders to our community through our TEDxNapaValley events. The theme of the TEDxNapaValley for 2011 was “Empowering Leadership at Every Level”. It was a natural for the team to invite Chuck Mc Minn, founder and Executive Director of the Napa Valley Vine Trail, to speak. Chuck inspired the group, speaking about about how difficult it is to overcome the paralysis we typically feel when facing overwhelming problems in the world, but there IS a way to take responsibility and dig in. ”Whose Problem Is It Anyway?” See Chuck’s entire presentation on YouTube
Vine Trail Gets Custom Coffee, Sept. 2011 - “BLAZER” BLEND NOW AVAILABLE
A Custom Coffee Cupping with Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Co. resulted in the delicious “VINE TRAIL BLAZER BLEND” now available for purchase at both Napa and St. Helena locations of The Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company. The NVRC generously donates 20% of all retail sales of BLAZER to the Vine Trail Coalition. The Vine Trail “BLAZER” Blend sells for $13.95 per 12-ounce bag of whole bean or custom-ground coffee. Order online, by phone or in person at either Napa (948 Main Street 707.224.2233) or St. Helena (1400 Oak Avenue at Adams Street .707.963.4491) stores.
Roastmaster Charlie Sange led a lucky team of coffee lovers in a tasting called a “cupping” in the coffee world, experiencing the intricate interplay of aroma, taste and mouthfeel of coffees from around the globe during the multi-stage process. “This Vine Trail “BLAZER” Blend is rich and bold like the flavors of Napa Valley,” said renowned “flavor maven” and Master of Wine, Tim Hanni, and the team found remarkable the many sensory parallels “cupping” shares with wine tasting and blending. “We think people will love this coffee, plus love the bonus of contributing to the Vine Trail!” said Vine Trail Operations Director Shannon Kuleto. “We truly value the Roasting Company’s support and partnership.” She adds, “There’s a fun photo album of our “cupping” on our BLAZER BLEND Facebook album.”
GoVine.com Launch Party, benefiting the VineTrail, September 9, 2011
Another great business partnership supporting the Vine Trail! What a great night at Farmstead Restaurant’s newly opened outdoor event area for a Launch Party. Huge thanks to GoVine.com and April Madden for showcasing the Vine Trail as a non-profit beneficiary. The silent auction they organized for us brought in over $3000! SPECIAL THANKS TO THE HARD-WORKING VOLUNTEERS: Mary Lou Peterson, Brittany Eyer, Georgia Carolina, Philip Sales, Chris Cutler, Christina Kennedy, Billa Donaldson, and of course Chuck McMinn and Shannon Kuleto!
Velo Vino’s Grand Opening Raises money for the Vine Trail May 2011
Congratulations to Velo Vino on a spectacularly fun opening party–great food, music, and PEOPLE! So many new Vine Trail members to welcome as a result of Velo Vino inviting us as their guests and hosting a donation drawing to benefit the Vine Trail. $805 total AMAZING–THANK YOU VELO VINO! Velo Vino is an unusual wine tasting room with lots of extras, including cycling clothing, select foods, an espresso bar and a great outdoor lounge area from the folks at Clif Bar and Clif Family Vineyards. See more photos of this great business partner’s grand opening on our Facebook Album
Echelon Gran Fondo 2011 Teams Benefit Cancer Research & the Vine Trail
May 21, 2011 was a beautiful day for the 2nd annual Echelon Gran Fondo ride & festival benefiting cancer care and prevention –St Helena Hospital, Queen of the Valley and the Napa Valley Vine Trail. TEAM CHAPPELLET & TEAM PINE RIDGE rode especially in support of TEAM VINE TRAIL.The 30-60-100 mile rides all started together on Main Street in downtown Napa and everyone returned triumphantly after their rides to enjoy the great food music and party! Special thanks to our VT volunteers Georgia Carolina, Philip Sales, Chris Cordano and Shannon Kuleto–with assistance from Chris Kennedy and Mark Butler. THANKS EVERYONE! See Facebook photo album for some great shots!
Sec. of Transportation Ray LaHood & Rep. Mike Thompson Tour Vine Trail in Yountville, May 18, 2011
THE YOUNTVILLE MILE, the Vine Trail’s first completed portion, hosted many users and events in 2011 to rave reviews. We even welcomed federal Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Congressman Mike Thompson for a site visit in May, where the secretary delivered remarks on the importance of bike and pedestrian trail funding and took a walking tour of the “Yountville Mile.” See more photos on our Facebook album
Cycle For Sight Uses the Vine Trail’s “Yountville Mile” to Rave Reviews, April 16, 2011
Napa Rotary’s annual Cycle For Sight fundraising ride incorporated a new venue on the route this year–the Yountville Mile of the Napa Valley Vine Trail! What a day for this ride, Rotary! Two thousand riders, we hear. Lots of candid action shots–feel free to download your favorites from our Flickr or Facebook albums!
Ribbon Cutting on the Napa Commuter Trail, October, 2010
With two major ribbon-cuttings in a two-week span, no wonder the Napa Valley Register heralded October 2010 as “the greatest month in the history of Napa Trails.” Read the full Register story here. The Napa Crosstown Commuter Trail follows beside the Wine Train tracks from the Oxbow area (Vallejo Street near Soscol/McKinstry) all the way across town–and across Highway 29–to Solano Avenue at the busy Trancas/Redwood intersection. Engineering is well under way for the City of Napa and Napa County to connect Napa to Yountville along Solano Avenue, with construction beginning as early as summer 2012 if funding comes through.
Ribbon Cutting on the Inaugural Mile of the Vine Trail–”The Yountville Mile” –October, 2010
OCTOBER 21, 2010: The YOUNTVILLE MILE is OPEN and BEAUTIFUL! Over 120 people turned out to help celebrate with a ribbon-cutting, speechifying, and the official Inaugural Ride/Stride/Glide along the very first section of the Vine Trail. See more of the excitement on our Flickr and Facebook photo albums and read the Napa Valley Register’s story here. Next best thing to being there? Videos on our YouTube channel!
Vine Trail Volunteer Rally, July 28, 2010
More than 60 Vine Trail enthusiasts filled the room at Yountville’s beautiful new Community Center July 28th. All ages — from toddlers to octogenarians — came out, eager to hear how they could help the Coalition’s efforts to build a dedicated walking, hiking, biking trail from Vallejo to Calistoga.
Executive Director Chuck McMinn introduced the Vine Trail’s new Operations Director, Shannon Kuleto, before presenting an informative overview of the Vine Trail’s vision, master plan and pledge to accomplish its goals of open, inclusive and voluntary cooperation; with no vineyard land taken out of production.
EVERYONE CAN HELP
Vine Trail Marketing Chair Gwen McGill then highlighted the many areas where the Vine Trail offers volunteer opportunities, and attendees gathered in smaller groups to offer their help, including (but NOT limited to) Marketing (especially creating business partnerships or training as a speaker to talk up the Vine Trail to clubs and groups), Engineering, Grant Writing, Capital Campaign, Administration/Database assistance, Membership Outreach, or staffing an event table (such as at Farmers Markets, Cheers! St. Helena, etc) to raise awareness and sign people up.
If you were unable to make this rally but would like to join us, please send a note with your name, contacts and possible areas of interest to Shannon Kuleto shannon@vinetrail.org. We are looking for an ace volunteer coordinator, too, by the way!
Most important for an all-volunteer grass roots coalition is simply SPREADING THE WORD. Become a member (donate securely here on the website). Join our Facebook nonprofit group page “Napa Valley Vine Trail.” Invite us to present to your community or professional group. And ask your friends to do the same! The stronger our network, the greater–and sooner–our success!
See photos of our great new volunteers on our Volunteer Rally Flickr page
Vine Trail Event at Oxbow Market with Congressman Mike Thompson! Saturday May 22, 2010
A celebration and kick-off of the construction of a paved trail that will eventually allow those to ride, glide or stride all the way from Calistoga to the Vallejo Ferry Terminal, will be held Saturday, May 22 at Oxbow Market, from 2-5PM. Progress being made on the trail will be reported, and the membership program will be introduced. Congressman Mike Thompson is visiting our community to show his support for the Vine Trail, and he will be speaking at this event about the federal transportation grant he is backing for us. All are invited and encouraged to join the celebration and learn more about how the Vine Trail is coming to fruition.
Download Full Press Release Here
Echelon Napa Valley Cycling Gran Fondo: May 23, 2010
‘PlanetZ/Echelon’s inaugural Napa Valley Gran Fondo Series cycling event and fun run is designed to attract both local and tourist fitness enthusiasts. The event, open to all levels and abilities of cyclists and runners, is focused on raising funds for the Queen of the Valley Cancer Center in Napa, and the Martin-O’Neil Cancer Center located on the campus of St. Helena Hospital. Additionally, a portion of the proceeds will be given to the Napa Valley Vine Trail and their important grassroots efforts to implement a multi-use trail from Calistoga to Vallejo.’
CHEERS! ST. HELENA: 1st Friday of Every Month, May – October
‘CHEERS! ST. HELENA is a non-profit friendship celebration in downtown St. Helena. Join us from 6 to 9pm on the 1st Friday of every month. Enjoy our wine, restaurants, entertainment, and shops. Bring your friends, meet new friends and welcome visitors as we celebrate with a toast to how special and amazing it is to be here in St. Helena, the heart of the Napa Valley.’
The Vine Trail will be on hand, helping to support the local community and spreading the word on the future of alternative transportation in the Napa Valley. Cheers!
Cycle for Sight: April 17, 2010
With three scenic 50, 25, and 15 mile courses, winding among the hills and vineyards of the Napa Valley, Cycle for Sight’s goal is to raise $100,000 for two local organizations, Enchanted Hills Camp For The Blind & Visually Impaired and The California Veterans “Pathway Home Project.”
The Vine Trail will be in attendance, at the start line at Justin Siena High School, with information and opportunities for you to join us in support. Hope to see you there!
