Cooks Tour Weekend Raises About $45,000 for UAMS Cancer Institute

By David Robinson

Cooks Tour chair Deah Chisenhall and her husband, Clay.

| Cooks Tour chair Deah Chisenhall
and her husband, Clay.

Distinguished Honoree Award recipient Robert Fincher, M.D., (third from left) with his family (from left) Matt and Alissa Coffield; Bonnie Fincher; Courtney Blaisdell; and Libby Fincher Achee.

Distinguished Honoree Award recipient Robert Fincher, M.D., (third from left) with his family (from left) Matt and Alissa Coffield; Bonnie Fincher; Courtney Blaisdell; and Libby Fincher Achee.

Patrons’ Cocktail Buffet hostess Mary Kay East (right) and Ann Lewis.

Patrons’ Cocktail Buffet hostess
Mary Kay East (right) and Ann Lewis.

Volunteers dish up gelato from ZAZA Fine Salad and Wood Oven Pizza Co. for guests.

Volunteers dish up gelato from ZAZA Fine Salad and Wood Oven Pizza Co. for guests.
Lee Richardson, executive chef of Ashley’s, prepares one of his signature dishes for Cooks Tour guests.

Lee Richardson, executive chef of Ashley’s, prepares one of his signature dishes for Cooks Tour guests.

 

April 22, 2010 | Beautiful weather, delicious food and a good cause all made for a successful Cooks Tour weekend benefiting the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

The weekend began with the Patrons’ Cocktail Buffet hosted by Mary Kay and Jim East on April 16. About 275 guests gathered at the Easts’ home to honor Robert Fincher, M.D., director of breast imaging and medical director of the UAMS Breast Center, with the Cancer Institute Auxiliary’s Distinguished Honoree Award. The award is given annually in conjunction with Cooks Tour.

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.

The event featured food catered by Cheers in the Heights and musical entertainment by The Rodney Block Project. Glazer’s Distributors provided beverages.

The annual tour of homes in Chenal Valley followed April 18. The Orlé neighborhood was featured and guests were invited to tour 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 prepared dishes for about 475 tour participants to sample.

The chefs for this year’s tour were: 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.

Cooks Tour, which raised about $45,000 this year, was founded with a two-fold purpose: to raise funds to support 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 were Chenal Properties Inc. and the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Foundation.

Other sponsors were AFCO Steel, Iberiabank, Regions Bank, OneBanc, Glazer’s, Magna IV, and Marge and Tom Schueck.