by Phyllis & Barry Gordon

On Saturday evening, October 10th, over 130 wonderful sponsors, donors and guests came together for an evening of Laughter and Love.

While joining together on Zoom was in no way what we had envisioned when we began our planning for the April, 2020 RCG Comedy Night, our torpedoed plans in March due to COVID forced us to regroup. We canceled our venue, Traditions of Wallingford (folks there were so gracious), put away the centerpieces we were in the process of building, stopped baking the cookies we’d planned for a little extra dessert, and rescheduled our comedian for October – hoping, at least, we could still go live.

And wonderfully, ALL of our sponsors, when given an ‘out’ in March, stayed with us, showing us, once again, how incredibly fortunate we are and how generous and loving THEY are.

As the early days of summer wore on, we knew in our hearts that a live event in October would never materialize. Disappointed but not deterred, we figured out what we needed to do to carry off a Zoom event and, with the help of some dear friends and our flexible comedian, Johnny Lampert…the show did go on!

Beginning at 7:30 p.m. sharp, a lovingly-made video (thank you, Audrey Locorotondo) thanking our Sponsors and donors and featuring the philanthropic life of Ryan, put to the music of Queen’s “We Are the Champions”, played (over and over!) while our guests logged in.

We have to say…it was really wonderful and heartwarming to see our family and friends (and some of their family and friends) together, under one ZOOM!

At 8:00 the ‘curtain’ rose, and we gave a (fairly) brief and grateful-filled speech, while also letting everyone know why a Comedy Night was such a fitting tribute to Ryan.

By 8:10 or so, we introduced our comedian…and Johnny began a very funny, sometimes racy routine that had everyone laughing. It seemed that in some ways, Zoom offered an intimacy that a live show might not have. Perhaps it was because people were in their homes – and relaxed – and Johnny proved quite astute at noticing some interesting tidbits about our guests.

Johnny had planned on a 45 minute show…and seemed to enjoy us enough to play for an hour – and then stuck around for a bit more while we carried on our Tea-Cup raffle!  We are grateful for his talents, his time and his generosity.

Our event ended, as usual, with the drawing of our (40+!) raffle prizes, the vast majority of which, thankfully, were procured by Wynn & Elise Schoolnik prior to the state shuttering.  For the first time ever, there was no cost for the raffle event – this was one way we could thank all of our pre-COVID guests for hanging in with us, and our newer guests for joining us.

While 2020 has been an incredible challenge for all, the high point for us was the RCG Comedy Night.

And, most importantly, we are thrilled to be able to provide the charities RCG supports over $24,300!  Thank you, one and all, who participated.  We are sure that Ryan was laughing with us, and applauding all of our participants for helping to keep his legacy alive.

 

From the bottom of our hearts, we give a special thanks to…

OUR WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS…

Audrey Locorotondo

Elise & Wynn Schoolnik 

Lisa Rappoport

Matthew Rappoport

Sandy Balayan

Sindy Malin

 

THOSE WHO SO GENEROUSLY PROVIDED THEIR SERVICES AND/OR EXPERTISE…

Cynthia Clegg,  www.middlesexcountycf.org

Jane Feinstein Mahoney, JEM Design  jemdesign58@gmail.com 

Larry MacAdams, L.P. MacAdams  www.lpmacadams.com

Thayer Talbott, CFMC  www.middlesexcountycf.org

 

AND TO OUR MAJOR SPONSORS…(PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING OUR BUSINESS DONORS)

‘FRIENDS’ SPONSOR

Lynne Rappoport 

 

‘SEINFELD’ SPONSORS

Lee & Kevin Wise

Lisa & Bill Rappoport

 

‘HOME IMPROVEMENT’ SPONSORS

The Chaney Family Foundation

Safe Home Security www.safehomesecurity.com (Dave Roman)

 

‘FAMILY GUY’ SPONSORS

Donna & Bob Namnoum

Terri & Bruce Alpert

 

‘THE OFFICE’ SPONSORS

Diana (Valentine the Clown) & Tom Sheard

Julie Rappoport, Daniel Rappoport, Matthew Rappoport & Beno Varela

Sherwood Inspection Services www.sherwoodinspection.com (Dave Sherwood)

 

‘FULL HOUSE’ SPONSORS

Allie & Alex Madlener

American Eagle Federal Credit Union 

richard.m.aefcu.com  (Rich Marinelli)

Arakelian Rugs www.arakelianrugs.com  (John Balayan)

Community Foundation of Middlesex County www.middlesexcountycf.org/

Christo’s Pizza & Restaurant www.christospizzawlfd.com  (Chris)

David Fried, DMD  www.frieddentistry.com/  (Dave Fried)

Del Greco Electric  (203) 265-0253  (Tony Del Greco)

Dennis Glynn & Co. www.glynncpas.com   (Dennis Glynn)

Elise & Wynn Schoolnik

Karen & Dick Caplan

Kathy & Barry Schacht

Kathy & Dean Bolt

Katie & Dan Brett

Larry Hyatt

Laura & Dudley Orr

LPL Financial  kevin.b.fox@lpl.com  (Kevin Fox)

Laura & Dudley Orr

Mastrianni & Seguljic, LLC www.mastseglaw.com  (Mike Mastrianni)

Prolete Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine www.proletept.com (Keith Steigbigel)

Sally & Alan Smirnoff

Sue & Robb Ledder

Susan Pogue

Suzy & Greg Carroll

Wallingford Buick, GMC lesposito@wallingfordbuickgmc.com  (Larry Esposito)

 

And…Our ‘SAVED BY THE BELL’ SPONSORS

Alida & Dave Cella

Amy Ravitz

Amy & Dave Sclarsky

Ariana Balayan & Jose Vazquez

Arlene O’Tell

Audrey Locorotondo

Barbara Gross

Barbara Rubin

Barbara & Dave Barry

Beverly Morse

Beverly & Hersch Rozen

Brad Jubelirer

Bre-Elle, A Salon www.breellesalon.com/contact.html (Christine Papale)

Carol & Gerald Kardas

Dana Dober

Dave Zemelsky

Denise & Ron Garcia

Edith Winick

Ellen Rosoff

Gail McCormick & Frank Willis

Gloria & Mike Reddy

Honey & Mickey Mastrianni

Janice Mininberg

Jenn & Eric Dubin

Jess & Dean Morgans

John Sgrillo

Judy Solomon

Judy Wolf

Judy & Rich Huntington

Julie & Nick Meucci

Karen & Dick Lebrasseur

Kathy & Fred Page

Laura & Dave Roman

Leah & Doron Rehter

Linda & Kurt Bahrs

Linda Waldman & Hesch Summer

Lisa & Kurt Uihlein

Lori & Rich Silkoff

Lorien & Chris Fiecoat

Marcia Tubin

Marcy & Neil Gollinger

Massage by Kimberly (203- 284-2552) Kimberly Dower

Melissa Mishcon & Charlie Ferris

Meredith & John Sturges

Meriden Hyundai  https://www.meridenhyundai.com/ Todd Moynihan

Michele Wolff & Donald Namnoum

Michelle & Jeff Kochiss

Michelle & John Mulligan

Muffie Locke & Bill Rappoport

Nancy Huber

Nancy Sloane

Nancy & Keith Huber

Pam & Peter Souchins

Phyllis Dober

Rae-ann & Scott Allen

Sheryl Berkowitz

Sindy Malin

Stephanie Hudson

Sue Harrison

Sue Rubin

Sue Silver

Sue & Rich Coppola

Tara & Ira Weiner

Toby & Barry Farman

Tonyette & James Wolfson

Wendy Rutkin

Wendy & Bill Stone

 

And thanks, too, to our Raffle donors…who deserve our support, as well!

99 Restaurant, Anywhere

Archie Moore’s Restaurant, Anywhere

Banana’s Ice Cream, Wallingford

Big Y, Anywhere

BJ’s Wholesalers

Breakfast Nook, North Haven

Bruegger’s Bagels, Wallingford

Cafe Ra, Wallingford

Chili’s Restaurant, Anywhere

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

CT Power & Sport, Wallingford

Dave Fried, DMD, Wallingford

Finger Nail Salon, Fairfield

Fratelli’s Restaurant, Wallingford

Gaetano’s Tavern on Main, Wallingford

Gouveia Vineyards, Wallingford

Half Moon Cafe & Restaurant, Wallingford

Husky Cleaners & Tailors, North Haven

Jake’s Tavern, Wallingford

Jay Peak Resort, Jay VT

Knucklehead’s Restaurant, Wallingford

Laskara Restaurant, Wallingford

Los Mariachi, Wallingford

Massage By Kimberly, Wallingford

Michael’s Trattoria, Wallingford

Mr. D’s Cupcakes & Bakery, Wallingford

Neil’s Donuts, Wallingford

OLA, Wallingford & Orange

On Track Karting, Wallingford

Purest Float, Trumbull

Quarry Ridge Golf Course, Portland

San Souci Restaurant, Meriden

Scrubbing Bubbles Car Wash, Wallingford

Subway, Anywhere

Tata’s Restaurant, Wallingford

Thompson’s Candy, Anywhere

Vinny’s Deli, Wallingford

Wallingford Bowl, Wallingford

Westbrook Lobster, Wallingford

Wood ‘n Tap, Anywhere

Wynn Schoolnik

Yale Cancer Center

Starbuck’s, Meriden