REDLANDS>>A sunset flight for two over Redlands and a ‘60s cocktail and dinner party are up for bid at the Kimberly Crest House & Gardens Summer Soiree, 5:30 p.m., Sat., Aug. 26. The fifth annual evening garden dinner party and auction is the Kimberly-Shirk Association’s premier fundraising event for the 6 ¼-acre estate, located next to Prospect Park, at 1325 Prospect Dr., Redlands. Guests enjoy champagne upon arrival, a gourmet dinner with wine, a coffee and dessert bar, and live music by Redlands’ favorite Renee Rojanaro.
Tickets are $125 per person and available at KimberlyCrest.org or by phone, (909) 792-2111.
Among the many other auction items are: two one-week stays in Hawaii (Kauai and Kona), a handcrafted children’s wooden picnic table with toy BBQ and other accessories; oversized, outside Tic Tac Toe and other games; and a cedar cooler.
“Kimberly Crest is a unique Redlands treasure,” Kimberly-Shirk Association President Nancy Spencer said. “The Summer Soiree is the perfect event for the community to come together to support a piece of living history. There is nothing quite like enjoying a glass of wine with friends while watching the sunset as it can only be seen from the historic gardens.”
The Kimberly-Crest Association is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization created to protect and preserve the French-chateau-styled Victorian mansion and Italian Renaissance-styled gardens. The historic property and museum is wholly supported through donations and fundraising events like the Soiree. It receives no city, state, or federal tax funding.
Kimberly Crest House & Gardens is a registered California Historical Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The house and gardens were a gift from Mrs. Mary Kimberly-Shirk, who inherited the estate from her parents, John Alfred and Helen Cheney Kimberly. John Alfred Kimberly, co-founder of the Kimberly-Clark Paper Co., purchased the home in 1905 to escape Wisconsin’s cold winters.