Galentine’s Day to support non-profit

Area bartenders come together, create menu to fundraise for women

ALYSSA STANFIELD | THE DAILY EVERGREEN

Nectar manager Levi Vixie, left, and shift supervisor Charlotte Verinder organized the charity event tomorrow.

RYAN LUNDBERG, Evergreen reporter

Nectar Restaurant and Wine Bar will host a charity event tonight to support a local organization, Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse (ATVP).

Levi Vixie, a manager at Nectar, said the event brings bartenders from the community together to make a special menu of cocktails. The bar will donate a dollar from each drink to ATVP.

“We’re trying to make events like this,” Vixie said. “Where we have a focus on the appreciation of women in general and having something that doesn’t just bring people in but gives back outwards to the community.”

Galentine’s Day is a term coined from “Parks and Recreation” Vixie said. It’s like Valentine’s Day, but instead of celebrating couples, women get the focus.

Vixie said he worked closely with Nectar shift supervisor Charlotte Verinder to make their first Galentines Day event a success. While Nectar hasn’t had an event like this, the buzz on social media gives the restaurant and wine bar’s staff confidence for today’s event.

“I think there was a lot of work and a lot of effort that went into this.” Vixie said. “Me and [Verinder] sat down for four hours just to make sure to get the wording and everything right for it.”

Verinder said she wanted to do something for ATVP as soon as she learned about the organization through her sociology major interview program. She said she thinks she would not have heard about the group if not for the interview.

“I thought, why don’t we bring attention to the fact there is this amazing free service here providing safe places and outreach and education about violence,” Verinder said.

Verinder said she thought support for women who are victims of domestic violence is the perfect cause for a Galentines Day event.

The opportunity to reach out to many local bartenders made the event fun, Verinder said.

“That’s the cool thing with having these connections with all these other bartenders,” Verinder said. “It just expands the idea of community.”

Nectar has been in Moscow since 2007, but only obtained its liquor license two years ago, Vixie said. Now, there are five or six cocktail menus a year for the restaurant and wine bar.

Vixie said Galentines Day marks the start of many different charity events to come.

“I’m talking to the humane society right now about events for the future,” Vixie said. “Most likely for the summer — whether Galentines happens again? I hope it does.”

Anyone interested in the Galentines Day event can visit Nectar Restaurant & Wine Bar on 105 W 6th St. in Moscow Friday from 4 – 10 p.m.