Ray Negron Surprise Guest at Boys and Girls Club of OB-EN Holiday Luncheon
Ladies dressed for the Holiday Luncheon and Fashion Show to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Oyster Bay-East Norwich arrived early to take advantage of the opportunity to shop at the holiday boutiques before sitting down to lunch at The Metropolitan on Tuesday, Dec. 8.
“Welcome to the Metropolitan Club and Happy Holidays. We are thrilled that we have 170 guests today. Thank you all for coming,” said Lori Bahnik, Boys and Girls Club of OB-EN co-president. She called up to the dais Ewa Litke and Marie Bahnik and thanked them for co-chairing the luncheon and presented them with beautiful bouquets of flowers.
“The Nutcracker ornaments on the tables were prizes for the woman with the closest birthday,” said Ms. Bahnik. They were donated by Ewa and Jim Litke.
“Shop as much as you can. Fifteen percent of all today’s purchases goes to the club,” she added.
Ms. Bahnik said this year’s gala had been a wonderful cruise (at the clubhouse) and that next year, guests should save the date Friday, June 11 for their gala to be held at The Metropolitan. “You have to come to make it a very gala event,” she said. The 2010 gala is called Dancing Under the Stars!
She asked if friends had seen the new playground at the club and credited NYS Senator Carl Marcellino for helping them get it for the children. “The kids love it. They want to go out and play in rain, wind and snow,” she added.
Each guest left with a Christopher Radko ornament donated by Diane and Ray Knight of K-II Home Furnishings of Locust Valley. The table centerpieces were donated by Ewa and Jim Litke. The chocolate snowflakes that were a table gift were donated by Marie and Claude Bahnik.
The elegant Mitchell/Marsh fashion show had outfits from Diane Von Furstenberg, Hugo Boss, Cedrics Fur, Charles Chang Lima, Missoni, Armani Collezioni, Tory Burch, Rivamonti, Etro, Phillip Lim, Ralph Lauren, Hani Y, Theory, Badgley Mischka and Carmen Marc Valvo. It included shoes by Manolo Blahnik, Tory Burch, Prada, Stuart Weitzman, Jimmy Choo, Cole Hann, Sam Edelman, Salvatore Ferragamo and Gucci.
Surprise Guest
As Lori Bahnik called out the winning raffle prize numbers, she stopped to announce a surprise guest, Ray Negron, a supporter of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Mr. Negron currently works with the New York Yankees as a personal consultant to George Steinbrenner. “Mr. Steinbrenner caught me doing graffiti (drawing a Yankee logo on a Yankee Stadium wall) and offered me a job as a bat boy instead,” said Ray. He spent Saturday, Dec. 5 at the Brooks Brothers store in Manhasset Americana encouraging shoppers to spend to support their favorite charity at their 14th annual holiday shopping benefit, Champions for Charity. One of those benefiting was the Boys and Girls Club of Oyster Bay-East Norwich, and meeting members at the event prompted this visit he said.
Mr. Negron is the author of several children’s books. Ray’s first book, The Boy of Steel, was #2 on the NY Times Bestseller List and was instrumental in helping numerous charities, little leagues and the Boys & Girls Club to raise funds for their programs. Ray’s second book, The Greatest Story Never Told: The Babe and Jackie has helped juvenile diabetes and the Dewayne Murcer Foundation for cancer research and education.
Ray’s third book One Last Time: Goodbye to Yankee Stadium was released by HarperCollins Publishers on March 17, 2009, and has already reached # 1 on Amazon’s Best Seller List. The foreword was written by Reggie Jackson. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs, the DeWayne Murcer Foundation for Cancer Research and to charities to help the homeless.
Mr. Negron is also director of Community Relations for Spalding, America’s oldest baseball company, where he has been instrumental in supporting baseball in underprivileged areas with equipment donations and volunteer efforts from some of baseball’s biggest stars.
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