STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Wood River Baseball Association has paired up with the Warfield Distillery and Brewery on a unique fundraiser.

Award-winning Chef Jay Veregge is creating a four-course dining experience with two tables of up to 12 diners up for bid. The meal he plans to prepare is not available on the regular menu.

Bidding for each table starts at $1,000, with the bidding running through April 30. The date for the dinner will be set by the winner or winners and the Warfield.  Interested parties can bid online at www.woodriverbaseball.com or contact Kati Freytag with Wood River Baseball at katimoves@gmail.com

Or, go to https://www.restaurantji.com/id/ketchum/warfield-distillery-and-brewery-/

Proceeds from the dinner will help fund the Wood River Baseball Association’s 2022 season, including travel to tournaments to play elite teams around Idaho, Utah and Nevada.

“I want to see Wood River Baseball be successful because I love to see our youth raised properly with confidence and integrity,” said Veregge, who received the James Beard Award when he was executive chef at the Hotel Donatello’s Portobello and Tadich Grill in San Francisco. “I believe in the Wood River program and that we are moving in the right direction and I want to help support that.”

The Wood River Baseball Association has been serving Wood River Valley youth ages 9 through 19 for decades. The association is run by volunteers with the idea of teaching players not just the love of baseball but how to be better citizens and how to grow through teamwork to learn to compete on a higher level.

Players must try out for a spot on one of the six teams, which sport such names as Mustangs, Colts, Rough Riders and Desperados, and participate in the community.

The association is also raising funds to purchase an infield grooming machine to keep local baseball fields in tip-top shape. They have raised about half of the $8,000 needed to do that.