The 41st annual Rotary Club of Healdsburg Crab Feast will be like none of the previous 40 jovial fundraising evenings that have taken place every December at the Villa Chanticleer. This year the Villa will remain dark and all the boisterous live auction action will take place virtually on the club’s website (www.healdsburgrotary.org.) But there will be crab to eat from DL Catering, which will take preorders and deliver crab cakes and iceberg wedge salads for $70, serving two people.
A virtual silent auction opens Monday, Dec. 7 and runs through Dec. 13. Items on the club’s website will include dinners at Montage, Valette, Bear Republic and in private homes of local Rotarians. Donated gift items, wines and local services also are available for bidding. Dec. 12, the original date scheduled for the Villa gathering, will now be reserved for a virtual live auction beginning at 7 p.m.
All funds from the Crab Feast support the local Rotary Club’s many community projects to support schools, seniors and civic projects. Funds also support the Club’s work in partnership with Rotary International in countries and continents all around the world to fight poverty disease and environmental collapse. The club also is continuing the worldwide fight to eliminate polio, which has suffered a few setbacks due to traveling restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local club president is Dick Bertappelle, supported by incoming president Barbara Rosen. This year, club members have been active in supporting efforts to collect and donate food for local food drives and distribution. The club continues to meet Mondays at noon via Zoom.