Membership Committee Meets

So last night, Lisa Murakami, Rady Bauer, Carmen Emery, Gerard Carelli and I met to talk about the upcoming Scotch Tasting at the Lucas' home on Saturday, May 7. Already we have 45 people signed up! (The maximum is 60.) We learned that Evan Cattanach is bringing some friends along to lay out the tastings on the special tasting-mats, and serve the rich and delightful hors d'ouvres that the committee is preparing. Steve Bauer is selecting several unique arabica coffee beans to delight our taste-buds at the end of the evening, and Rady is bringing the desserts. I shared the good news (in my opinion) that I've found a source for Fentiman's Ginger Beer (non-alcoholic, but a taste experience to remember) to supplement the other offerings (soda & wine) for those who choose not to do the single-malts.

It may be that our suggested $25-minimum contribution doesn't convey the elegance and grandeur of this event, but we didn't want to exclude anyone. Participants will be encouraged to add to their donations at the end of the evening as an expression of their joy and gratitude. All contributions will benefit the mission and ministry of PCMK.

Here's a promo to highlight the qualifications of our own member, "borrowed" from the website of Malt Advocate (note that you can pay $185 to have a similar experience next fall, with a group of people you don't know!):

Evan Cattanach
Master Distiller Emeritus
Evan Thomas Cattanach was born on October 15, 1935 at Kingussie, Inverness-shire, Scotland. After completing his education at Kingussie Secondary School and serving a four-year term in the British Royal Navy, he went to work for his father on the Cattanach farm.
In 1961, at the age of 25, Evan joined the Scottish Malt Distillers. He spent the next 33 years managing the production of single malt whisky. He worked on all four of Scotland’s whisky-producing regions at 15 different distilleries. He served as wither manager or assistant manager is seven of them before retiring in 1993.

During his career, Evan has worked at some of the most revered distilleries in Scotland, including: Oban, Lagavulin, Dalwhinnie, Cragganmore, and Cardhu, among other.

Evan’s ambassador duties have been expanded to include a tour of select U.S. markets promoting The Classic Malts; a group of six of the finest single malt whiskies – each representing a distinct scotch-producing region of Scotland, the Classic Malts include: Talisker from Skye, Oban from the West Highlands, Dalwhinnie from The Highlands, Lagavulin from Islay, Cragganmore from Speyside and Glenkinchie from The Lowlands region. Evan is uniquely qualified for this assignment because he has personally managed four of the six distilleries.

Evan has received several honors including “Keeper of the Quaich” from the Scottish Society which recognizes achievements in the Scotch Whisky industry and the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Midwest Spirits Exposition in Chicago, IL.

--Jack Lohr, Interim Pastor

PS: We also discussed the joyous experience of Easter at PCMK, and talked about how to be sure that all newcomers know they are welcome to return.