Starkey Foundation 17th Annual Awards Gala – Red Carpet at Rivercentre, St. Paul (16 July 2017)

The weather may have been partly cloudy and overcast, but the stars were still shining bright on the ground at the The Starkey Hearing Foundation 17th Annual Awards Gala, its largest gala to date and in support of accelerating the pace and scope of Starkey Hearing Foundation missions, and locally helping to support grants for area nonprofits.

This year’s honorees included Ben Affleck, director, actor, writer, producer, and founder of Eastern Congo Initiative; Esther Lungu, First Lady of Zambia; the Wilf Family Foundations; FedEx; and Scott Borchetta and Sandi Spika Borchetta of Big Machine Records and Music Has Value.

We’ll have full coverage for the gala itself shortly, which was hosted by emcee Sinbad and included musical performances from Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler with his Nashville-based The Loving Mary Band; country singer/songwriter Darius Rucker; legendary CCR frontman John Fogerty; Zambian pop singer and philanthropist Portia Clark; 13-year-old singer/ukulele winner of America’s Got Talent Grace VanderWaal; and Australian vocal group ARIA, but wanted to first showcase the red carpet arrivals and the numerous celebrity attendees that showed their support.

Among the additional guests were:

Television personality Caitlyn Jenner; Daymond John (Shark Tank); Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker; comedian Norm Crosby; Steven Bauer (Ray Donovan; Scarface); Quinton Aaron (The Blind Side); deaf actress Trishelle Edmond (Master of None); and actors Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), Chris McDonald, Verne Troyer (Mini-Me), Frankie Muniz, (Malcolm in the Middle) and Chris and Kyle Massey;American Idol winner/country artist Trent Harmon; drummer Danny Seraphine of Chicago; musician Rohan Marley;acclaimed songwriter Paul Williams.

Boxers Evander Holyfield and Andre Berto; NFL’s Larry Fitzgerald Jr., Kyle Rudolph, Chad Greenway, Stephon Diggs, Sam Bradford, Harrison Smith, Xavier Rhodes, Alex Boone, Michael Floyd, Greg Jennings, Andre Roberts, Carl Eller, Chuck Foreman, Chris Doleman, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Moe Williams, Will Witherspoon, Tommie Harris, Derrick Coleman, Robert Smith; NBA’s Karl Anthony Towns, Cole Aldrich, Joe Young, Dikembe Mutombo, Ralph Sampson; MLB’s Barry Zito, Roberto Clemente Jr.; and soccer star Tony Sanneh.

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