Friends of ours invited us to join them in a wine tasting and charity event in Campbell River.  Granted $55 per person for the tickets, but as they are friends, we agreed.

This was held at the North Island College campus in Campbell River as a special event for the Culinary School to show off their skills.   Then came the notice that the evening was semi-formal.

Now, I no longer have my Tuxedo (it shrunk to nothing years ago) but I do have a black suit and white shirt and several bow ties.  As we prepared for picking up our friends, I spent 20 minutes in front of a mirror trying to remember how to tie a bow tie, but managed to get it tied before we had to head on.

The reception turned out beyond our expectations.  At least 20 wine companies offering samples.  At least 100 different wines and dozens of specialty spirits (like aquavit and port) to sample and more appetizers than you can imagine.

I did my round doing tiny samples of wine.  Judging the good from the bad.  Turns out as I looked up the good ones I liked (in the booklet they handed out), they were mainly $30 or more per bottle.

There were hundreds of people, not all in formal wear (I suspect the university had discount tickets for some) but many in Tuxedos and suits.  There was also a charity auction (where Pat and I did bid on things that were unusual but more expensive) but altogether a great evening.

Now here is the point… at a certain time, because it was warm in the room, I untied the bow tie and let it rest down my chest.  A young lady approached to say I looked like her vision of Frank Sinatra from the movies.  I told her that if you looked around the room, every man in a Tuxedo that did not have his tie “resting” like mine (being the later evening) … had a clip-on bow tie.  Which was likely true.

It was worth the half-hour of trying to tie the bow tie.