Alumni, local residents and business people are invited to a celebration starting at 7 p.m. April 9 at Holy-Field Winery, 18807 158th Street in Basehor. In addition to bringing 25 years of alumni and Leavenworth County business people together, the event will include hors d’ouevres, a silent auction, raffle and wine available for purchase. The cost of attending the vent will be $10 per person and checks should be made payable to Southern Leavenworth Leadership Development Class.

As its class project this year, the 2014-15 class members have been assembling an alumni database and have been sending out invites to alumni. Alumni have been sent RSVP cards that organizers are requesting be returned by Friday. As mentioned, the class is creating a database and has sent out invitations based on that information. It’s been continuing to spread the word to alumni as best it can, but if any alumni have not received information yet, they are welcome to email Valarie Grant at promogirl@sunflower.com.

A secondary goal of the event is to raise money through admission fees, donations and silent auction proceeds so that the SLCLD class can continue its mission of developing competencies and skills that will help students become leaders in business, politics and volunteer organizations in the Leavenworth County area and beyond.

The class, which is a joint venture of the Tonganoxie and Basehor chambers of commerce, has graduated many local residents ranging in age from seniors in high school to retired residents.

Class members meet monthly from September to May and are introduced to various leadership activities and field trip opportunities. The 2014-15 class has visited the Leavenworth County Courthouse, Leavenworth County Justice Center, Lansing Correctional Facility, the Tonganoxie and Basehor-Linwood school districts, Lawrence Journal-World, Wow! Channel 6, Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, the Kansas Statehouse and the Brown V. Board of Education National Historic Site. When not visiting local landmarks, the class participated in various leadership-building activities and heard from speakers at Community National Bank’s conference room in Basehor.

For more information about attending the 25th anniversary celebration, visit the classes Facebook page by searching for Southern Leavenworth County Leadership Development. Anyone interested in attending the event may email promogirl@sunflower.com.