The Crowd: Gentlemen?s Smoker raises funds for student scholarshipsPosted by sean brown on November 11th, 2017
The 23rd annual Gentlemen’s Smoker celebrated another summer evening on the gold coast attracting more than 100 natty gents in blazers and Hawaiian shirts, raising ,000 for the Balboa Bay Club’s Student Scholarship Fund benefiting college-bound youth from the Newport-Mesa school district. Hosted by Balboa Bay Club manager Leticia Rice and Balboa Bay Resort GM Sam El-Rabaa, guests paid 0 and more per seat at the round tables fronting the bayfront as filet and lobster was served paired with exquisite wines by Trinitas Cellars under the supervision of executive chef Rachel Haggstrom. Music was provided by the Gary Gould Quartet. Since its inception, the Smoker has been a success thanks to the emcee talent of John Wortmann, BBC Board of Governors chairman and Peter Buffa, former Mayor of Costa Mesa and financial wealth manager. The duo creates a comedic routine, part roast and part toast, interspersed with managing to sell the assortment of auction items that bring in dollars for scholars. This year, Wortmann and Buffa added the element of an “Ask,” reaching out to the donors in the crowd to step up and underwrite scholarships in full. Major donors included Tom Anderson and Carlos Cruz, both ,000 donors. Additional sponsors of note were Mathias Weber, Sean Brown, Jon Newton and Manny Khoshbin. Like it? Share it! |
