EVENT
Memphis Heart Gala “Heart of Rock and Soul”
MEMPHIS HEART GALA
F
M A R C H 2 0 11
Drs. Brooke and Dwight Dishman
Jared and Stacy Montegut
RSVP
16
ebruary is a fitting month for matters of the heart, and not only in a flowery Valentine’s Day way. February is American Heart Month, and the 2011 Memphis Heart Gala provided locals with one fantastic date night. This year’s gala, benefiting the American Heart Association, was held in the heart of downtown at The Peabody hotel and was presented by Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, FedEx, the Memphis Heart Clinic, Oracle, the Baptist Heart Institute and Air Evac Lifeteam. The event was chaired by Dr. Robert and Dianne Laster and emceed by George Klein. Themed the “Heart of Rock and Soul,” the fund-raiser honored music legend Ben Cauley. Cauley is “a survivor in every sense of the word,” said Cynthia Brewer, of the American Heart Association. He was a founding member of the enduring Stax recording sensation the Bar-Kays, and he is the only passenger who lived to tell the haunting tale of the 1967 flight that killed Otis Redding and seven others, including the airplane’s pilot. And, more recently, he survived a massive stroke that might have felled him. But on the stage at this event, he brought his trumpet to his lips and brought the house down. Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, run rampant in people throughout the country, but Memphis fares particularly poorly in statistical comparisons. In support of the cause, a number of stunning women donned red for the Heart Gala, including Anneliese Szatkowski, wife of Dr. Arie Szatkowski, who wore a column gown worthy of the red carpet. Rachel Siddall dazzled in a one-shouldered, below-the-knee satin sheath. Cauley, too, honored the occasion with a red fedora. Students of the Stax Music Academy, where a Ben Cauley Honorary Scholarship was recently endowed, gave the bash a dose of that homegrown Memphis sound, and soul revue Party Planet saw to it that all 520 guests—a sold-out crowd—danced their hearts out.
See all the party photos at rsvpmagazine.com Password: RSVP
Leslie and Alper Cetingok
Story by Kelly Cox Photos by Don Perry
Jennifer and Stacey Brown
Bridgett and Will Routt
Michelle Huggins and Paul Westfield
Brittany and Brenton Montgomery
Kevin Kane, George Klein and Steve Conley
Dr. Arie and Anneliese Szatkowski