Starkey Hearing Foundation18th Annual Awards Gala – Red Carpet at Rivercentre, St. Paul (15 July 2018)

Once again, on a Sunday July afternoon, St. Paul became Tinseltown if only for an evening as the Starkey Hearing Foundation’s So The World May Hear 18th Annual Gala, in support of accelerating the pace and scope of Starkey Hearing Foundation missions, and locally helping to support grants for area nonprofits, took place at the Rivercentre.

This year’s honorees included Shep Gordon- Award-winning producer & philanthropist, longtime entertainment manager, chef, and subject of the Mike Myers documentary, Supermensch; Dr. Timothy P. Shriver– Chairman of Special Olympics and author; Ehsan & Fatema Laya Bayat of The Bayat Foundation which lends assistance to in-need Afghans; and Paul Williams– longtime Starkey supporter, composer, singer, songwriter & philanthropist. Playwright and musical composer Lin-Manuel Miranda was also honored, though unable to attend. 

We’ll have full coverage for the gala itself shortly, which was hosted once again by comedian Sinbad and included musical performances from legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper and his band which included guest appearances from ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder and Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger; Grammy-awarding winning singer and disco queen Gloria Gaynor; winner of Season 12 of America’s Got Talent Darci Lynne Farmer; and international vocal group The Tenors, but wanted to first showcase the red carpet arrivals and the numerous celebrity attendees that showed their support.

Among the additional guests were:

42^nd President of the United States Bill Clinton; comedian and author Billy Crystal; Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker; Quinton Aaron (The Blind Side); singer Portia Clark, Davina Bennett; TV personality Diane McInerney; announcer Alan Kalter; actors Frankie Muniz, (Malcolm in the Middle) and Kyle Massey; and musicians Huey Lewis, Arthur Brown, vocal group ARIA, and Rohan Marley.

Boxers Evander Holyfield and Andre Berto; NBA’s Cole Aldrich, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, Ron Harper, Ralph Sampson; NFL’s Kyle Rudolph, Andrew Sendajo, Ray Lewis, Ahmad Rashad, Greg Jennings, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, , Derrick Coleman, Robert Smith; NHL’s David Backes; MLB’s Justin Morneau; ESPN’s John Brenkus and Paralympian Mallory Weggemann.