If you want to score points with Gov. Scott Walker and his wife, Tonette, but aren't sure how, here's the answer:

Wine and wickets.

On Sept. 22, the governor and first lady will hold a private reception and croquet tournament at the governor's mansion from 5 to 7 p.m. to raise money to help rehab the Maple Bluff facility.

Attendees can donate anywhere from $50 to $1,000 to the mansion's nonprofit foundation. Those who drop a grand get a "private reception, private tour, recognition on the invitation, signage and acknowledgment at the event, and admission and (croquet) tournament entry for two."

Fundraising invitations went out recently to scores of Madison lobbyists, female lawmakers, neighbors of the mansion, GOP campaign contributors, leading business officials and friends of the first couple. Some 1,800 people received an invite.

Those asked to attend the fundraiser range from conservative talk show host Charlie Sykes to Walker campaign chairman Michael Grebe.

The first lady said in her email accompanying the invitation that she hopes the event generates enough "resources to help us restore the Residence to its intended historic charm, beauty, and value."

"I am inviting fellow leading ladies like yourself to please join me in donating a purse filled with some of your favorite things. The purses will then be raffled off at the event," Tonette Walker added. "For example, I'll be donating a Tignanello bag filled with some of my can't-live-without items like my favorite shade of Bobbi Brown lipstick and an Aveda hand cream that I can't get enough of."

One recipient of an invitation was put off by the talk of designer handbags and croquet matches during this time of austere budgets and program cuts.

"I thought you might like to see where our first lady's efforts are going," said the source, who asked that her name not be used. "In the year of reducing programs like the school milk program for poor kids, I'm supposed to fill a purse with 'necessities' and donate to restore a mansion."

Annie Nolan, assistant to the first lady, offered a different take on the event.

The Walkers are upgrading the mansion, Nolan emphasized, without dipping into state coffers.

"The reason this fundraiser is being held is because the governor and first lady are committed to taking care of the Executive Residence without using any taxpayer money," Nolan said in a statement.

That's their motivation.

Everybody knows they care about the executive residence, even down to which paintings hang on the walls. The Walkers got some heat earlier this year when they removed a realistic painting by a Milwaukee artist depicting three children of different races playing on a snowy sidewalk. It was replaced with a painting of the bald eagle that was a state military mascot during the Civil War.

But what's driving those who cough up cash to attend the mansion festivities?

About 70 individuals and couples have already signed up as hosts, meaning they are committed to giving between $250 and $1,000. A little more than half of the hosts have previously donated to Walker's campaign fund. For example, one member of the host committee, Mequon businessman Richard Pieper, gave $12,800 to Walker's campaign before the 2010 election, triggering a state complaint earlier this year that he had exceeded the $10,000 donor limit.

The host committee also includes several lobbyists - including former state Sen. Bob Welch and ex-Public Service Commissioner Scott Neitzel - and a trade group, the Wisconsin Beverage Association.

In a brief interview last week, the Republican governor dismissed any suggestion that attendees and donors will be trying to curry favor with him.

"Not at all," Walker said.

He stressed that the executive residence doesn't belong to his family. Plus, he said, he stays as often at his home in Wauwatosa as he does at the mansion.

In short, Walker said, the fundraiser is all about people coming together to raise private dollars to restore a public facility.

Who knew Capitol lobbyists and Wisconsin business officials cared so much about the governor's digs?

"It sounds like a two-part construction project," said Scot Ross, head of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, a frequent Walker critic. "The special interests pay to remodel Gov. Walker's mansion, and he builds them a private entrance to his office."

In Wisconsin, lobbyists cannot give campaign donations to a candidate except in the five months before a general election. So they would be barred from sending a check to Walker's fund.

But Reid Magney, spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, said it's legal for lobbyists and groups employing lobbyists to give to the nonprofit Wisconsin Executive Residence Foundation. These donations would not be considered campaign dollars, he said.

Magney, incidentally, was not aware of the upcoming event. He was not among the nearly 2,000 VIPs invited to down wine and play wickets.

"I'm just a flack," he said.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @ NoQuarterr.