Three makeshift crosses mark the location along Highway 154 where Rebecca Vanessa Goss Bley of Solvang and her two children — Lucienne, 2, and Desmond, 4 months — died.
Three makeshift crosses mark the location along Highway 154 where Rebecca Vanessa Goss Bley of Solvang and her two children — Lucienne, 2, and Desmond, 4 months — died in a vehicle collision on Oct. 25. The Santa Barbara Vintners will host a private gathering on Saturday to give the vintners community a place to grieve the loss of three family members. (Peter Hartmann / Noozhawk photo)

The Santa Barbara Vintners will host a private gathering Saturday to give the vintners community a place to grieve the loss of three family members from the Santa Ynez Valley who died Oct. 25 in a collision on Highway 154.

The event will not be open to the general public.

Rebecca Vanessa Goss Bley, 34, wife of Refugio Ranch general manager/vintner Max Gleason, and the couple’s two children — 2-year-old Lucienne Bley Gleason and 4-month-old Desmond Bley Gleason — were killed. 

“As many of you know … the car accident on Highway 154 last week claimed the wife and two children of one of our vintners. Gleason and his extended family have suffered an unfathomable loss,” said Alison Laslett, CEO of the SBV.

Gleason and his parents founded and planted Refugio Ranch Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley in 2006. His sister, Callie, and her husband manage sales for Refugio and its sister property, Roblar Winery & Vineyards in Los Olivos.

Bley was a career musician who led the haze-pop band Beast Patrol, performed with a jazz-noir group, Twin Danger, and worked as a songwriter.

Gleason Bley family at the beach

Max Gleason, left, with wife Rebecca Vanessa Goss Bley, 34, and their children, 2-year-old Lucienne Bley Gleason and 4-month-old Desmond Bley Gleason. Bley and the children died in a car crash on Highway 154 on Oct. 25.  (Facebook photo)

The event will take place at St. Mark’s In-The-Valley Church in Los Olivos.

Several chefs will provide light snacks, and guests are encouraged to bring a bottle of wine or other beverages to share.

Michael Cruse, a Hospice of Santa Barbara expert on grieving, will address managing grief, and local therapists will provide counsel and advice in one-on-one or group settings.

“Tragedy has a way of rippling like water, and many in our concentric circles are suffering. Since there are no words to provide comfort, we have reached out to professionals to help our community with the grieving process, and to learn how to support the Gleasons and each other,” Laslett noted.

There will be a letter-writing station where adults and children may write or color letters to Max and the Gleason family.

Donations for the family will be collected through the Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation, which will hold the funds until the Gleasons name a charitable organization to receive the monies, Laslett said.

Additionally, a food sign-up list will be available for those interested in providing food for the family in coming weeks, she added.

— Laurie Jervis tweets at @lauriejervis and can be reached via winecountrywriter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are her own.

Laurie Jervis can be reached at winecountrywriter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are her own.