Sweetheart Gala feels the love

When planning a major fundraising event like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley annual Sweetheart Gala & Auction, event organizers want as few surprises as possible. However, this year’s event featured the kind of surprise BGCSV supporters never grow weary of – an unexpected and highly generous donation of facilities equipment.

Midway through the Feb. 7 gala, Les Peterson of Peterson Mechanical – honored along with wife Peggy as the fundraiser’s 2015 “sweethearts” – and Russ Sigler, of Sigler Wholesale Distributors, announced their collaborative donation of a brand new air-conditioning system for BGCSV’s Maxwell Clubhouse gym – a donation, according to club officials, of time, materials and service valued at nearly $200,000. The Peterson-Sigler donation helped bring the funds raised that night up to 15 percent of the club’s 2015 program budget, according to event organizers. Now that’s an air-conditioning gift that is, literally and figuratively, very cool. – Jason Walsh