Hello Everyone,

This is a reminder that Paula and I will be hosting the 2009 RVVA Summer Social at our Hellanback Ranch on August 1. Things will begin around 4:00, and will go until everybody leaves or it gets dark! We will be providing Hellanback Ranch beef hamburgers - which I will start around 5:00. You should bring a picnic dish and a bottle of wine to share with everybody. Remember to bring your own wine glass and a lawn/beach chair.

If you have not already sent an RSVP, then please do so, so that we know how much burger to have on hand. We have around 65 people signed up so far, so it will be quite a crowd.

We will be doing hayrides again this year, for those who are interested in such things. It will be hot, so dress accordingly, but we'll all be in the shade of our riparian forest, so it's really not so bad down there.

This year, we decided to hold a local wine contest. This is open to anybody who makes wine from Ramona grapes and wants to enter. If you want to enter, bring an extra bottle of wine for the competition. This will be a "fun" contest to determine the best, second best and third best wine submitted - only 3 places (very prestigious!). So, no complicated scoring - just which wines do the judges like best. Our judges will be both experienced and unexperienced, so that we get a "people's choice" result. I have 3 judges so far. If you are interested in being a judge, please contact me. Don't worry, we'll tell you what to do and who to vote for (just kidding). Paula is in charge of the contest, and Lum is one of the judges, so he'll help us muddle through.

Here are the directions. You MUST follow these directions! Do not use your GPS devices or Internet map applications. As far as we can tell, they are all incorrect, and we've had to send out search parties in the past. Here's how you get here:

From Ramona:

• Turn right at 3rd Street (by the Sizzler)
• Turn left at Old Julian Highway (which is exactly at mile marker 2)
• Turn right at Cinnamon Rock Road (this is right at mile marker 5 – if you see a mile marker higher than 5.0, you've gone too far) (the gate will be open – if not enter #2567)
• Turn right on Starlight Mountain Road – that quickly turns into Oak Hollow Road
• Go to the end – our place will be the big pueblo style house (it's on the left) There's a sign at the end of the driveway that says "Hellanback Ranch".

Drive past the house and down towards the woods and barn. Park anyplace you want. Watch for the wino crossing!
Please drive very slowly past my neighbors' homes! They get very upset when guests drive too fast past their places – children, dogs, horses, tractors and all sorts of things you can run into if you're going too fast.
See you there!
John York