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Recreation Department Hosts Paint Night Fundraiser
Painters
Painters and sippers from a cross section of community members participated in the Friday night Pinots Palette painting class at the Riverbank Community Center. The evening activity was a fundraiser by the city Parks and Recreation Department for the Teen Center, next door to the Community Center. The Riverbank Chamber of Commerce sold the wine, other beverages and snacks to the patrons.

In a rare and odd juxtaposition of alcohol and teenage interests, the Riverbank Parks and Recreation Department hosted a fundraising activity where the Teen Center was the projected beneficiary of the proceeds of an adult-oriented event held at the Community Center on Friday night.

Hosted by a Modesto based outlet of Pinot’s Palette, the ‘paint, drink, have fun’ activity brought together painting instruction with wine tasting. The Community Center is adjacent to the Teen Center, with residents enjoying the chance to paint while supporting activities for local youths.

The 12 participants were taught some painting techniques over a period of three hours on the evening of Nov. 3, while sipping their wine and snacking on goodies sold by the Riverbank Chamber of Commerce while they worked. They had their own personal rendition of Van Goh’s famous ‘Starry Night’ painting to take home with them at the end of the evening.

The local Pinot’s Palette franchise site, at 3440 McHenry Ave., Suite E-6 in Modesto, is owned and operated by Lisa and Jim Cook, one of hundreds of locations across the country, including Canada. There are 23 sites in or coming to California soon, alone.

The evening’s instructor was Chris Garcia, who took the painters, essentially stroke by stroke, through the creation of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, starting with the blue background and continuing to work through the many other colors to completion over the three hour event.

A completed version was available for reference, and Garcia’s example was also on display as he created it, alongside the work of those in the class.

Lisa Cook also contributed tips and advice to participants as she wandered through the work area.

She said she and her husband had acquired the franchise on Sept. 21, with much of the time since then devoted to finding a suitable location. She said there are two salons available at her location, one seating 64 patrons, and the other, 32.

There are two locations in the Sacramento area, with five in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the majority in Southern California.