The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

NEW WINE WORKS FORMAT

DAYTON - Dayton Wine Works wants to try something new: the wine potluck.

Manager Carl Cramer said he'll open the tasting room for guests who want to order or bring their food in from outside, listen to good music and drink his company's wine.

"All through August, we'll do dinner at 6 p.m. and music at 7 p.m. on Fridays," he said. "Bring your families, bring your lawn chairs, bring your dinner."

Attendees can bring their own home-cooked meals or order from any of Dayton's restaurants that do takeout: Ray's, Manila Bay Café, Fiesta en Jalisco, Woody's, Sky Book & Brew and the Weinhard Café.

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING

WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 10, in lieu of its regular meeting the third Wednesday of this month.

On the lengthy agenda, the council plans to tackle a number of items ranging from nuisance abatement to the new solid waste agreement. For a detailed agenda, please ask the city clerk or check the city's website.

MORE AWARDS FOR DUMAS

DAYTON - The Dumas Station Winery has received Double Gold awards for its 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Minnick Hills Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon at the 2011 Seattle Wine Awards, which is the highest award the event gives out.

For the third year in a row, Wine Spectator Magazine has awarded the winery's Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 90plus points.

"We see this as a nod to the outstanding fruit from the Minnick Hills Vineyard and Jay DeWitt's ability as a winemaker to let the fruit take the spotlight," according to a company release.

CHIP SEALING PLANNED

WAITSBURG - The City will be cracksealing the following streets starting on August 8th:

Arnold Lane from W. 4th to W. 7th; Kinnear from Willard to East 6th; All of Murphy and Maple Streets; E 1st Street and Coppei Ave up the intersection of Hwy 12(Coppei Ave) and Hwy 124 (Preston Ave).

MORE TOURISTS FOR WALLA WALLA

WALLA WALLA - The key Tourism numbers for the Walla Walla Valley started the year strongly and have continued to only improve. Through June, Walla Walla's percentage increase in Hotel Revenue dwarfed the state average. Currently, Walla Walla has seen a 21.2% increase over 2010 - the state average Year-to-Date is 7.3%. The area with the next highest increase is Snohomish, at 13.6%.

Although the Walla Walla tourism numbers have been consistently strong from day one of 2011, June was a particularly good month with Hotel Revenue up 24.2%, Room Occupancy up 17.0%, and Avg. Daily Rate up 6.2%. Occupancy and Daily Rate Year-to-Date are up 12.8% and 7.5% respectively.