Welcome From The Foundation Chair

On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Montana State University Billings Foundation: Welcome to the 2008 Wine and Food Festival. This is a truly magical event for our community and the many supporters of the University.

Since its inception in 1993, this festival has netted over $2,600,000 for scholarships, acquisition of classroom equipment and instrumentation at the University, and professional development opportunities for faculty and staff. The Foundation, in all its undertakings, wants to offer the very best opportunities for our students and to fully support the faculty who enable their learning and the staff who serve the University so well, and this festival gives us the opportunity to do that.

Thanks to incredible leadership, staff, sponsors and volunteers, this event has grown from two evenings to a week of cooking schools, wine classes and involvement by the entire community. What a wonderful gift we have been given - a world-class opportunity to support a world-class University.

Therefore we say welcome, welcome, welcome. May your time in this gracious space - whether it be a cooking school with our many cordial hosts and hostesses, a wine wise seminar, the wine tasting and silent auction or the elegant champagne reception, gourmet dinner and live auction - be a joyous occasion for you.

We want to thank our many volunteers, supporters and sponsors, and especially the chairs of the festival, Stella Fong and Susan Carlson. None of this would have been possible without you. And we would be remiss not to recognize Jeanne Moller, the coordinator of this happening event. We don't know how she does it but each year her energy and commitment creates a more festive wine and food festival.

Thank you for being a part of this event and for helping us make history for Montana State University-Billings.

Sharon Peterson
Chair
Board of Trustees of the Montana State University Billings Foundation