The sixth annual Black Tie & Burgers gala on Saturday, September 27, was a resounding success! The event, held at a private home in San Marino, drew 300 guests and helped raise more than $250,000 for our year-round programs. The gala featured a live auction and raise the paddle opportunity, live music by jazz combo Night Shift, and delicious food from The Spot Gourmet and Pie’n Burger. Flowers were sponsored by Craig and Sandy Russell; the event’s emcee and auctioneer was Simon Waters, and wine was provided by Craig Stewart and Trinchero Family Estates. A corps of Disney VoluntEARS was also on hand to help out.
The highlight of the evening were addresses by Club alumni (and current board member) Jorge Montanez and the Club’s current Youth of the Year, Ivonne Gonzalez, a freshman at Pasadena High School.
Event sponsors were Capital Group, the Clayton Family, Edison International, LittleMachineShop.com, Tori and Mike McCullough, Michelle and Jorge Montanez, Nestle USA, Debra and Brian Spaulding, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment, Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo-The Private Bank, Community Bank, Berne Evans III, Great Minds in STEM, Hahn & Hahn LLP, A.J. Longo & Associates, the Chapman Family Foundation, Bruce Conway, Leslie Cross, Georgianna Erskine, Rachel and Raul Estrada, Rick Lieber, Robert Lieber, the Pyle Family, Gretchen M. Seager, Stonegate Mortgage, Mary and Bill Urquhart, Richard B. Wood, John and Kathleen Barrett, Bryn Burke, Janice Corey, Carmen Farmer, John Heffernan, Adelaide Hixon, Joanne and Gene Masuda, Dorothy and John Matthiessen, D. Harry Montgomery, Melina and Phil Montoya, Jr., Peggy and Joel Pena, Choice Pest Control; Schnieders Capital Management, and Rosemary Simmons. Outlook Newspapers was the media sponsor.
