By Town Crier Report

ROSEMARY BYRNE/AMERICAN RED CROSS From left, Red Cross executive director Trish Bubenik, with volunteers Ingrid Pocock and Susan Hoerger, enjoy the 2005 festival.

The Palo Alto Area Red Cross, which serves Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, has dropped its involvement in the annual MacArthur Park Wine Festival this year after eight years of partnership with the Palo Alto restaurant.

The event, usually held in mid-August, featured premium wines, elegant meals and auction items in support of Red Cross programs.

“Our chapter has withdrawn from organizing the event due to steadily declining attendance and sponsorship over each of the last four years so that we can no longer expect a sufficient return to justify the enormous investment of time and resources the event requires,” the chapter said in a statement. “Perhaps more importantly, the nature of the event was wholly unrelated to our mission of helping people to prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.”

“As fun as it was - it was going in the wrong direction,” said spokeswoman Rosemary Byrne. “Besides, we wanted to do something that was more mission-related.”

Chapter supporters said volunteers are selecting a more suitable, mission-related annual fundraising event to be held in 2007. Meanwhile, the chapter’s youth volunteers, known as Youth@PAARC, are planning a multifaceted, family-oriented Family Day for Sept. 30 at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., to celebrate the Palo Alto chapter’s 90th anniversary as a chartered chapter of the American Red Cross.

For more information, call 688-0415 or e-mail info@paarc.org.