2006 Mitchell Classic Raises Record $700,000 for Blood Cancer Research

2006 Mitchell Classic Raises Record $700,000 for Blood Cancer Research

The –Sweet 16” Bobby Mitchell/Toyota Hall of Fame Classic sponsored by the Washington Area Auto Dealers was sweet, indeed, raising over $700,000 another record for the benefit of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. That brings the total raised to fight these deadly blood diseases close to $5 million since the inception of the event, with $3.2 million coming in the past six years, since WANADA became a principal sponsor.

Hosted by Lansdowne Resort over the weekend of July 8 & 9, the main attractions were 41 NFL and NBA Hall of Fame sports legends, the largest such gathering anywhere. These celebrities donate 100% of their time and commitment to network and golf with patrons of the Classic. The more than 600 guests at Saturday nightês banquet were again treated to the high energy repartee of emcee Paul Berry. Helping kick off the tournament at the annual media day this year was former Redskin Rick –Doc” Walker and Smokinê Al Koken of SportsTalk 980.

Much of the credit for the success of the event goes to the leadership of event co-chairmen Tamara Darvish of DARCARS and Todd Heavner of Enterprise Rent-a-Car, as well as the countless volunteers and the strong support of Washington area automobile dealers.

Darvish pointed with pride to the tremendous strides made by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. –Thanks to their great work, 86% of children with the most common form of leukemia will survive today,” she noted. –But the sad fact is that Leukemia is still the number one cancer killer among youngsters below the age of 15. So tonight, we want to focus on those other 14% of kids.”

To drive home this fact, the banquet featured a video tribute to five –heroes.” Youngsters who had been honorees in previous Bobby Mitchell Classics and had not survived their illness. Parents, bearing large photos of their children, were introduced to thunderous and emotional applause.

Equally dramatic was Darvishês announcement that this yearês tournament honoree,Brendan Lackey, an 11 year-old athlete from Leesburg, Virginia, who was diagnosed with leukemia last year, could not be in attendance because he had relapsed just a week before and was back in treatment.

However, Brendan, an avid Redskins fan, did make it to the tournament on Sunday, where he was presented with a football signed by all 41 Hall of Famers. The ball was donated by John Darvishês wife, Judy, who had the highest bid in the banquetês live auction segment, which also featured an Italy tour for four, Pebble Beach golf outing, roundtrip airline tickets, and a 5-day cruise aboard a 130-foot luxury yacht. A wide range of silent auction items numbering approximately 190 raised $46,396 which was supplemented by a live auction which raised $83,000 and a limited raffle ticket drawing for a 2006 Toyota RAV-4 which raised another $94,000.

Bobby Mitchell and his wife, Gwen, starred in a video tribute to WANADA and other major tournament sponsors, including Toyota, EnterpriseRent-a-Car, Washington Area Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge Dealers, DARCARS and Easterns Automotive. Other top sponsors were Costco, M&T Bank, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Wachovia Dealer Services and Pepsi Cola Inc.

At the tournament on Sunday, Minnesota Vikings Hall of Famer, Paul Krause, and his team of Bob Hager, Andy Heye, Sean McCarthy and Ed Moore representing Toyota emerged in first place with a score of 56. San Francisco 49ers, Dave Wilcox, and his team from BG Products and Services, followed in second place with a score of 56, and L.A. Rams, Deacon Jones, and his team from PricewaterhouseCoopers took third place with a score of 57. –Best ball” scoring notwithstanding, the tournament competition was brisk as the low scores indicate.

More tournament details on this yearês Classic will be available at www.bobbymitchell.com, and many more photos of this yearês Classic can be viewed and downloaded at www.wanadagolf.photoresponse.com.

A complete listing of the Hall of Famers who attended the 2006 Bobby Mitchell Classic is enclosed with this Bulletin for everyoneês information.