Cooks Tour to Benefit Patients at UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

By Susan Van Dusen

The tour of homes is scheduled for 1-4 p.m. April 18 in the Orle neighborhood of Little Rock’s Chenal Valley. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door and may be purchased online at www.cancer.uams.edu/cookstour; in the Cancer Institute Auxiliary Gift Shop, open 9:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; or by calling (501) 686-8286.

The event will feature tours of the homes of Lynette and Paul Bowersock; Lindsay and Dr. Chad Wilkerson; Danea and Graham Smith; and Doris and Oscar Washington. In each home, executive chefs from some of Little Rock’s finest restaurants will prepare dishes for tour participants to sample.

The chefs for this year’s tour are: Mark Abernathy of Loca Luna and Red Door; John Beachboard and Scott McGehee of ZAZA Fine Salad and Wood Oven Pizza Co.; Evette Brady and Tim Morton of 1620 Restaurant; and Lee Richardson of Ashley’s.

The Cancer Institute Auxiliary’s Distinguished Honoree Award, given annually in conjunction with Cooks Tour, will be presented at the Patrons’ Cocktail Buffet at 6:30 p.m. April 16 at the home of Mary Kay and Jim East. The event will feature food catered by Cheers in the Heights and musical entertainment by The Rodney Block Project. Glazer’s is providing beverages for both the tour and cocktail buffet.

Honored this year will be Robert Fincher, M.D., director of breast imaging and medical director of the UAMS Breast Center. Tickets are $100 and include tickets to the April 18 tour of homes.

During his career, Fincher has interpreted more than 150,000 mammograms and performed more than 15,000 breast ultrasounds, 8,000 needle localizations and 5,000 core biopsies. He pioneered virtually every breast imaging procedure in Arkansas, including both the mammogram-guided (also called stereotactic) and ultrasound-guided core biopsy.

Cooks Tour was founded with a two-fold purpose: to raise funds to support research, patient care and education at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and to increase public awareness of cancer prevention. Monies raised by Cooks Tour will be used to fund projects benefiting cancer patients in Arkansas. Presenting sponsors are Chenal Properties Inc. and the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Foundation.

Cooks Tour sponsors include Chenal Properties, UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Foundation, AFCO Steel, Iberiabank, Regions Bank, OneBanc, and Marge and Tom Schueck.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a 540,000-square-foot hospital; six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.