As one of the few African American vineyard owners, it is the intent of Theodora R. Lee, dba Theopolis Vineyards, to establish this fund at UC Davis to assist students that may understand and experience the barriers that, people like Theodora, face in pursuing a career in the wine industry and vineyard management. Also, upon purchasing sheep land in Mendocino, Theodora took courses at UC Davis, including the 4 seasons of growing grapes and management a small vineyard. Those courses have been instrumental in being a small handcrafted vineyard and winery.
The Rhone Rangers is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the advancing the knowledge and understanding of traditional Rhone grape varieties and the wines produced from those grapes. The Rhone Rangers has adopted the French government's list of approved varieties allowed in the Cote du Rhone as the criteria for winery membership. Today, membership consists of over 125 wineries from California, Washington, and Virginia.
David C. Wiley of Serenity Vineyards, in Maine established the Serenity Vineyards Scholarship for students studying viticulture and enology at UC Davis.
Few players in baseball have enjoyed the universal popularity of Rusty Staub, a 23-year veteran of the big leagues. The red-head from Louisiana was one of the first stars of the Houston Colt .45s, and became wildly popular while in Montreal and was nicknamed "Le Grande Orange" by his French speaking fans; he was a clutch post-season performer for the Mets, a run-producing machine for the Tigers, and spent his final few seasons back with the Mets becoming a record-setting pinch-hitter.
