Nothing to Wine About

By Edgar Bernal Sevilla

As most of you reading this know, we had our annual wine “tasting”  event on May 18th. This year, rather than being put in a corner presenting about the Childers Collection, I was tasked with socializing... 

What a tough job, I know. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I loved this task.

But it’s not what you think. It’s no secret that I am passionate about my work here at the Imperial Valley Desert Museum. I’ve had family in the Sonoran Desert for at least 300 years, so my roots run extremely deep in the desert sand. It was the Imperial Valley Desert Museum that helped spark my interest in our regional landscape, which I had previously (and sadly) thought of as just an empty space between agriculture and San Diego.

My work here has helped correct that misguided view I once held about the desert. Also, working with youth  during the hiking part of our field trip programs has been incredibly fulfilling. Nothing compares to helping children grow up with a different view than I had of the desert, one of disdain and indifference.

Being in a situation where I can talk about my love for the museum and my work there over a glass of wine was fantastic. I enthusiastically talked the ears off of quite a few people at the event. I’ve been told I was all over the place: giving wine recommendations, tending tastings to a few tables, explaining the intricacies between the whites and the reds (in full disclosure, I got a lot of inside information from Fernando Gaxiola, the curator of the wines, when I helped set up the tasting tables – I also had the first tasting of the night!). I wasn’t counting what I was doing, I was just having fun.

But it wasn’t just nothing. I received good community feedback about my newspaper articles, completely unprompted, which was very encouraging for me as a young writer. I had brief conversations about the importance of research at the museum. I was also able to speak of the importance of staffing.  So, behind the facade of just tasting wines and having a good time, I actually got a few important things done, which I think was Neal’s intention when he tasked the museum staff with being part of the event rather than just working the event. 

The important things were that our 2017 Art, Music, and Wine event successfully fundraised several thousand dollars and everyone had fun. I think both of those goals were wildly successful, and in many ways exceeded expectations. Personally, I thought I was going to have fun, but I didn’t know I’d have a blast and make the museum a little money while doing it.