Golf Classic raises $300K
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, December 9, 2007
Phoenix — Mother Nature didn't cooperate, but a rare rainstorm here didn't dampen enthusiasm at the fifth edition of the Seena Magowitz Golf Classic.
The rains washed out the golf portion of the weekend, but other key activities went on as planned, and the event, which drew over 200 leaders in the home furnishings industry, raised almost $300,000 for pancreatic cancer research. That total made this year's event the most successful to date.
The golf outing and related events were begun by bedding retailer Roger Magowitz to honor his mother, Seena, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2001. Now the weekend of activities has become one of the top U.S. fund-raisers in the fight against pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers.
"This event has provided people with a vehicle to express themselves while also helping to make a difference in learning about a deadly disease we still know little about," said Magowitz, president of Mattress Discounters of Virginia Beach, Va.
The weekend attracted top bedding leaders including Sealy CEO Dave McIlquham, and other Sealy executives. Sealy, a major sponsor of the event. Other major sponsors included Eastman House, represented by Steve Lytell, who heads that bedding brand, and Protect-A-Bed, represented by a group that included principals Clive Goldin, James Bell and Lawrence Hirson.
Other sponsors included Aireloom, Art Van, Back To Bed, Carls Furniture, Century, Comfort Solutions, Continental Ticking, the Ellman Family Foundation, Flexsteel, Gold Bond, HFIA, Hillsdale Furniture, IBC, JoAnne's Bed & Back, Kaymed, Knickerbocker, Leggett & Platt, Mattress Discounters, Mattress Firm, Simmons, Southerland, Stearns & Foster, Tempur-Pedic, Therapedic and Wesley Allen, among others.
Well-known bedding retailers like Barrie Brown, CEO of Mattress Giant, and Kim Knopf, owner of Mattress Warehouse, attended the event.
"An Industry Unites for Pancreatic Cancer" was this year's theme. The long list of sponsors was evidence the theme is resonating throughout the home furnishings industry, Magowitz said.
While the rain washed out the Saturday golf tournament, a symposium of doctors and researchers was held Friday as scheduled, updating attendees on how the medical community is attacking pancreatic cancer. Other events Saturday also went ahead as planned.
Magowitz and Ray Bojanowski, a former bedding retailer and a close friend of Magowitz, announced creation of the Home Furnishings Fund at TGen, one of the world's leading biomedical research institutes, based in Phoenix. The Seena Magowitz Foundation has donated $75,000 to launch the fund, Magowitz said.
The Home Furnishings Fund was established as a tribute to four furniture industry leaders who succumbed to pancreatic cancer: Fred Friedman of Florida retailer Carls Furniture, Bruce Lauritsen of Flexsteel, Sam Chase of FabricTech 2000 and Bob Nightengale of the Home Furnishings Council.
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