MS Regatta to set sail with launch party

 

By DANNA SUE WALKER World Staff Writer
Published: 7/11/2010  4:33 AM
Last Modified: 7/11/2010  7:11 AM

 

A western theme will add some fun to the Close/MS Regatta Launch Party set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, at the Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa, 11545 E. 43rd St.

The festivities will feature musical entertainment by the ZooGrass Boys, games and more. QuikTrip Inc. will provide the food, and the Boulevard Brewing Co. will provide the beverages.

The event will lead off the Oklahoma Chapter of the National MS Society's 31st annual regatta, which will be held Saturday, Sept. 11, at Windycrest Sailing Club on Lake Keystone.

The regatta is a great chance to experience the unforgettable excitement of a sailboat race and a way for you, your family, company and friends to join the crew in the fight against multiple sclerosis.

Ken Greenwood is honorary regatta chairman. He is the former manager of KRMG and a noted speaker, author and filmmaker.

Items up for bid at the launch party include donations from local vendors, artists and restaurants: themed hotel getaway packages, 13- to 22-foot sailboats, a large variety of nautical items, artwork, signature wines, sporting event tickets, gift baskets, collectibles, certificates to some of Tulsa's finest restaurants, spa treatments and jewelry.

Master auctioneer Jay Litchfield will lead the bidding on all live auction items and packages.

Mary Snider is chairwoman of the 2010 Close/MS Regatta and Launch Party.

Other chairmen include Betty Hobson, Elaine Rainey, Mark Lobo, Jo Ann Chandler, Barbara

Montalbano, Mike Lang, Mary and Ray Adams, Pat Brown, Paula Cortner, Brandi Davidson, Richard Ferguson, Ron Grossman, Nancy Keithline, Blake Kelso, Pam and Karey Low, Marisha Moore, Terry Rainey and Pete Wilson.

The regatta is named in honor and in memory of Jim Close, a longtime chapter supporter, whose wife, Rosemary, had MS. After Jim's death, Windycrest renamed the regatta for him. His family continues to support the Oklahoma Chapter of the MS Society and the Close/MS Regatta.

Sponsors, cruisers and racers are invited to participate. Sponsorships start at $300.

Windycrest members sponsor their own boats, and some of their boats are sponsored by local businesses, participating either as spectators or as crew members of the sponsored sailboat.

Among the major regatta sponsors are three charter sponsors who have supported the event since its inception. They are Anchor Paint Manufacturing, the Kiwanis Club of East Tulsa County and Love Envelopes.

Other major sponsors include Gift in Memory of Rosemary Close, Close Bend Inc., Manhattan Construction Co., The Charles and Marion Weber Foundation, The Mervin Bovaird Foundation, Jess L and Miriam B Stevens Foundation, The Oxley Foundation, Ralph & Frances McGill Foundation, The Sharna & Irvin Frank Foundation, Lorene Cooper Hasbrouck Charitable Trust, BancFirst, Air Power Systems, StatSoft, The Baker Hughes Foundation, Hilti, T.D. Williamson Inc., Samson Cos., The Treehouse, Brumble Construction, Cowen Construction, Moylan Staffing Inc., Helmerich & Payne Inc., Meagher Oil and Gas Properties Inc., West Marine, Kerr Sailmakers, Ray and Mary Adams, Barbara and Ron Grossman, Jamy Fox in loving memory of Darline Hobock, Steve and Andrea Goff and Gene and Betty Hobson.

Also, Charlie and Nancy Keithline, Mike and Tracy Lang, Joe and Faye Shelton, Frances and Bill Rowland, Richard and Maria Ferguson, Dr. Tom and Judy White, Mary and Steve Snider Fund, Marion and Ken Greenwood, Dr. Joe and Nancy McDonald, Drs. Karey and Pam Low, Tina Birch, Terry and Elaine Rainey, Ron Reese, Jim and Sherry Stinson, Meeks Group, Pronto Productions, ML Graphics, Lowe's, QuikTrip Corp., Spears Travel Agency, Ziegler's and Boulevard Brewing Co.

Tickets to the launch party are $10 with RSVP or $15 without RSVP.

The cause of MS remains unknown, and a cure has not been found. Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and stops people from moving.

Every hour in the United States, someone is diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis.

The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted.

Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease.

MS affects more than 21,000 Oklahomans, 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.5 million worldwide.

Since the MS Regatta began in 1979, it has raised more than $1 million to help in the quest to create a world free of MS.

In 2009, the event raised more than $80,000. All proceeds will go to the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

For more information on the Close/MS Regatta or for sponsorships, call Brandi Davidson with the Oklahoma chapter of the National MS Society at 488-0882 or Mary Snider at 242-3192.