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Written by Pat Krause
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Friday, 17 July 2009 |
 Sunday, July 12, 2009
RiverCentre
St. Paul, Minnesota
Story and photos by Pat Krause
For more Pat Krause photos of this event, click here.
Sir Elton John, Billy Crystal, Tony Bennett and Gladys Knight performed at the Ninth Annual Starkey Hearing Foundation Awards Gala, "So the World May Hear." This was a star-studded event with many celebrities raising money for many missions.
Bill and Tani Austin with their poster children
Palm Springs residents Bill and Tani Austin hosted this event. Bill Austin is the founder of Starkey Hearing Foundation and owner of Starkey Labs. This gala is the primary fundraiser for their international hearing mission trips. It takes a lot of money to distribute more than 50,000 hearing units during 100 hearing missions in countries all across the world each year. Children who have never heard a human voice and mothers who have never heard their children speak are given a new chance at life. The smiles on their faces make all the dedication and hard work worthwhile.
Since 2000, they have held missions in 86 countries and donated more than 340,000 hearing instruments. Starkey Hearing Foundation is the global leader in giving the gift of hearing. Countless numbers of people have had their lives enriched by the generous, selfless efforts by volunteers, donors and Bill and Tani Austin. Palm Springs residents and owners of Advanced Hearing Systems Joe and Pat Manhart also go on these missions.
Tony Bennett
The event includes a walk on the red carpet, live and silent auctions, dinner and fantastic entertainment to thrill everyone attending, This gala was held at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minn., on Sunday, July 12. Celebrities started walking the red carpet around 3 p.m. Many of the celebrities have ties to the Palm Springs area. Some attending were actors Lou Ferrigno and Robert Culp, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, songwriter Paul Williams, comedian Norm Crosby, singer Tony Bennett, and golf legends Arnold Palmer and Tony Jacklin. Vikings head coach Brad Childress with a couple of the Viking players also attended.
Bill Austin greets Verne
Honorees were five of the 1961 Yankees team — Whitey Ford; Ralph Terry, Bob Turley; Mickey Mantle's son, David Mantle; and Moose Skowron. They walked the red carpet to squeals from the crowd outside. Another highlight on the red carpet was Vern Troyer, Mini-Me, from the "Austin Powers" movies.
Ethan Bortnick
There were many other notables too numerous to mention along with all the sponsors for the event. Congressmen from Minnesota, business leaders and other major donors were just some of the 1,400 people attending this Gala. The entertainment for the evening left nothing to be desired. An 8-year-old boy named Ethan Bortnick is a songwriter, pianist, comedian, singer and imitates a great Louis Armstrong. Guests were awed by this young talent.
Sir Elton John
Billy Crystal was his usual funny self and had the audience in stitches. Singers Gladys Knight and Tony Bennett were in great voice. The main attraction was the performance by Sir Elton John. What a showman and he is a huge supporter of this charity. Sir Elton sang many of his biggest hits and performed for almost an hour.
They raised $5 million last year and reached that goal again this year.
For more Pat Krause photos of this event, click here
For more about the Starkey Hearing Foundation, click here.
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Pat Krause |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 17 July 2009 )
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