The West Columbia Gorge Humane Society’s annual fundraiser, A Tail to Remember, is moving to a new venue in 2025 and eliminating its online silent auction.
The fundraising event benefitting the nonprofit Washougal animal shelter, will be held from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1, at the Holiday Inn Portland Columbia Riverfront hotel, 909 N. Hayden Island Drive.
In previous years, West Columbia Gorge Humane Society has held the annual fundraiser at The Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, but Humane Society Development Director Peggy DiPrima said the event has grown too big for the Vancouver hotel.
“We love the Heathman, but we outgrew it,” DiPrima said. “The dining room capacity was 200, and (we were) just squishing ourselves in. We want to be able to open it up to more people. We think more people will attend if there’s an opportunity.”
DiPrima said the Holiday Inn can seat 400 guests in the Portland hotel’s event space.
“The logistics at the Holiday Inn are going to be better than at the Heathman,” DiPrima said. “Due to the space constraints, we (held the) reception at one end of the hotel and then, when it was time to go into dinner, we had to walk all the way across the hotel, which was a good three-minute walk. That was cumbersome.”
DiPrima said the new venue will allow the nonprofit to host the reception and dinner in adjoining rooms. Another change to the event is the lack of an online silent auction.
“It was losing momentum as the years progressed,” DiPrima said. “I think that when you do the same thing over and over again, it loses its excitement. We felt like maybe we should take a couple of years off, give it a break, do something different, and then maybe bring it back, either at a different time of year next year or the year after.”
This year’s event will feature a cocktail reception, photo booth, dinner, live auction and what DiPrima called a “super silent” auction. Proceeds will benefit the Washougal nonprofit animal shelter.
The 2025 auctions will feature a salmon fishing trip and a pasta-making and wine-pairing class — as well as a trip to Sunriver, Ore.
“We’ve got such a successful format going that we stick relatively close to the format. We usually use our formula and make it a little more exciting each year,” DiPrima said.
Shelter leaders hope to raise $200,000 from this year’s fundraiser. In 2023, the event raised a record $192,545 then dropped to $171,850 in 2024.
“Last year it took a little dip based on the economy and what was going on in life,” DiPrima said. “This year, our hope is to spring back.”
West Columbia Gorge uses funds raised at the auction to help pay for medical and surgical services, community programs, the shelter’s pet food pantry and emergency community veterinary fund, and day-to-day operations.
“We use those funds to keep our mission in motion,” DiPrima said. “I’m very excited about this year’s event. … I think it’s going to be our best one yet.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit wcghs.org.
