IN THE NEWS

The vino was flowing at the Clinton Vineyards last weekend, though perhaps not as much as the outpouring of compassion and generosity by everyone there. With hundreds of guests and a host of volunteers and vendors helping to raise $8,000, the first Wine and Restaurant Tasting for the Ryan McElroy Children's Cancer Foundation was a huge success last Saturday. It drew residents from both sides of the river in support of an organization growing at a rate that speaks volumes to the dedication of its staff.

"The (foundation's) board of directors and the volunteers work so hard to put these things together," said Chip McElroy, owner of World Gym in Pawling and founder of the organization, started seven years ago to honor the passing of his son Ryan who succumbed to bone cancer in 1998, just shy of his fifth birthday. The foundation raises money to help fund treatments for local children devastated by cancer and services to help their families. Last year the foundation raised close to $160,000, and just last month brought in $15,000 from its annual golf tournament. All proceeds, 100 percent, go toward helping the families. "I never thought that eight years ago we'd be at this point. To be honest, that's largely due to the work of the executive director (Sheriff Adrian Butch" Anderson) and (Undersheriff) Kirk Imperati, and our entire board," McElroy concluded. Asked about his reaction to the rapid growth of the foundation, Anderson, who was also at the tasting, said he and the rest of the board followed a simple formula for success. "There's a lot of good people in the world. And the good outnumber the bad," said Anderson. "If you show them what you're doing with the money and show them you're helping people, they'll join you. "It's just a great organization. We're all after the same cause, to help children." Clinton Vineyards has been operating for 30 years just west of the Taconic State Parkway, north of Millbrook, where proprietor Ben Feder and his wife Phyllis specialize in white wines and champagnes. As Phyllis Feder explained, the genesis of the event came about in the winter, when she and her husband were approached by the foundation.

"Ten minutes into the conversation we could see these were fabulous people and we wanted to be a part of it," said Feder. "The volunteers of this group . I've never met people like it before. "You can just see they're passionate about what they do. We've been very proud to be involved . and we'd like to be involved in the future." Stephen Reverri, one of the foundation's board of directors, credited his wife Erin with concocting the wine idea. Afterwards it was just a matter of doing the legwork to make it happen. "We went around to a bunch of vineyards to see who would work with us. Once we sat down with Ben (Feder), they got it, they understood it," said Reverri. Perhaps most remarkable was the multitude of sponsors, restaurants and other wineries that participated in the event, selling and providing samples of their merchandise and either sharing percentages of their profits with the foundation or in some cases donating all their proceeds. One merchant generously opting for the latter was Robert Gropper of My Brother Bobby's Salsa of Poughkeepsie, as he manned his booth, set up between one from Adams Fairacre Farms and another from the Amish Market of Hyde Park.

"I was invited by other people in the business," explained Gropper. "When you're asked to do something and you're told it involves kids, absolutely you do it." Chris O'Brien, proprietor of the Wappingers Falls Mojo Grill, who was also there serving chilled melon soup, shared similar reasons for getting involved. "I love the cause and this is something I wanted to get behind," he said. "It's nice to stay local too rather than just giving a check to a national organization," he said, adding that he respected the guarantee of every dollar donated going toward the children. A common thread that bound other guests, each of whom paid a $75 donation to enter, was some personal experience with cancer, such as Bill and Marie Gross from Orange County, who said their family has a history with leukemia.

"We heard (Ryan McElroy's) story and thought it was a great cause," said Marie Gross. Other vendors either present at the event or helping support it included Parrino's Greenhouse and Garden Center and Vinnie's Deli of Pawling as well as many others too numerous to mention. According to Chip McElroy, the demand on the foundation has been growing, with about 10 calls coming in for help each month, but he feels the foundation's strong enough to keep up. Presently the foundation is helping a boy with cancer at Westchester Medical Center, by funding experimental treatments that he says have been successful so far. "We get about 10 calls a month, but I could definitely see within the next year doubling that number," said McElroy.

By Weston Berg