It was a guy's night out for sure. Cocktails in the VIP lounge. Lots of back slapping. Steaks for dinner. Jokes a-plenty. Of course, it was all for the women, and the children.
The 10th black-tie benefit for the shelter Women & Children First, traditionally the party celebrating the newest Woman of the Year, this time around was dubbed Men Behind the Mission and honored four of the most prominent spouses of past honorees. A video produced by M3 outlined how the four men came to support the shelter that last year took in nearly 600 survivors of domestic violence.
Among the humorous high notes on a night whose program was full of hilarious moments and deeply moving ones was a match game played by Lila Ashmore, Daniel Robinson and Dawn Scott, who were asked biographical questions about the four men -- Dr. Ricardo Sotomora, Chip Murphy, Chuck Erwin and George Gleason.
For instance:
• Who patronizes Graffiti's every Monday evening, where he always orders the tortellini with red sauce?
• Who, while shopping inside a Paris lingerie shop, once ran into Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow?
• Who is hooked on Downton Abbey?
• Who named his first dog Laddie?
One of the shelter's auxiliary groups, The Peacekeepers, honored master of ceremonies Craig O'Neill with its Peacekeeper Award. O'Neill, visibly touched by the gesture, was given a framed painting done by one of the young shelter clients.
Second-ever Woman of the Year Cindy Murphy was given a standing ovation, after Cathy Browne noted that Murphy's fundraising efforts for the shelter had, in the last decade or so, meant more than a million dollars.
One of the most moving moments wasn't delivered by O'Neill or any one of the men, but by Arkansas State Police investigator and shelter board member Philip Hydron, who spoke of being a lad for a time in Texas under a "Hulk Hogan" of an abuser. He told the audience that, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in five women have been victims of severe physical violence at the hands of a domestic partner, which "statistically speaking" means some of them were sitting at many of the 50 tables in the ballroom.
Last year the event raised just under $250,000. This year the haul was about $360,000, aided in part by $15,000 matches from the Gleasons and Natalie and Win Rockefeller.
And the answers to the trivia? Chuck, Chip, Ricardo and George.
High Profile on 02/14/2016