April 18, 2013
The 19th annual Night to Remember Fundraiser for the Prostate Cancer Foundation, hosted by Marvin R. Shanken, chairman of M. Shanken Communications at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York on April 16th, raised $1.2 million. The live auction total of $488,000 was matched by Michael Milken, founder of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
The evening was highlighted by speeches from Rush Limbaugh, who reminded the audience how important cigars are in his life, and Rudy Guiliani, the former mayor of New York, who talked about how Americans’ freedoms are being eroded, including the right to smoke a cigar. Milken updated the crowd on the progress being made in the quest to cure prostate cancer, and some of the advancements that have not only helped in the fight against the disease but are producing progress in the broader quest to cure all cancers.
Some of the auction highlights included four double magnums of “mystery wines.” The four bottles, including magnums of Chateau Latour 1990 and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1975, brought in $175,000. Other top auction items included a barrel of George Dickel Tennessee Whisky, donated by Diageo, for $50,000, and dinner at the Grand Havana Room in New York City with George Padron of Padron Cigars and Chuck Wagner of Caymus Vineyards for $40,000. A luxury box at Yankee Stadium for a Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees game, donated by Sydney Frank Importing Co. produced a winning bid of $20,000. A lot donated by Moet Hennessy USA, a golf trip to TPC Sawgrass and a bottle of Pride Scotch, was won with a bid of $50,000. Sherry-Lehmann donated 12 bottles of classic wines which received a bid of $30,000.
