Full Donor ListOur first event:
On August 9, 2009 we held the inaugural Joel H. Levitt Charity Memorial fishing tournament and post tournament awards BBQ dinner in Margate City, New Jersey.
The fishing tournament started at 9am on Sunday morning, August 9th. Bad weather hampered attendance, however we did still have 31 excited individuals show up for what turned out to be a phenomenally fun day for all. After bearing two straight hours of torrential downpours while getting tossed in the Longport Inlet, the weather slowly lifted and we had a beautiful day, catching in excess of 100 fish overall, including three keeper flounders.
We gave out six overall awards for our tournament, as listed below:
1) Largest overall fish: Won by Brad Cooper with his 25" flounder. Brad won a 32" LCD Television, which he decided to return and donate the proceeds back to our fund. Thank you Brad.
2) Largest Flounder: Won by Anthony Sembella with his 22" catch. While Brad had a larger flounder, his was the largest overall catch of the day and participants could only win one prize per fish. Anthony won a Nikon digital camera. Anthony also was the winner of a pair of Diamond club Phillies tickets earlier in the day onboard the Jessie O' for pulling in the 'next keeper' during one of our instant win competitions.
3) First Catch of the day: Well, technically I won the fist catch of the day with my 18" Flounder keeper. However, since I was ineligible for any prizes, the award was still open for participants. Not five minutes later, my girlfriend Raelle won the prize when she reeled in a medium size non-keeper flounder. Raelle won a portable TV/DVD player.
4) Most Unique Species: This award was judged by the captain of the boat. He awarded it to Mike Taylor for the Spider Crab that Mike delicately reeled onto the boat. Mike won a 1080i DVD player.
5) Largest Sand shark of the day: won by Joe Barber with his (not exceptionally big) shark. Joe left the bbq for his long ride home, prior to receiving his prize. We mailed Joe his IPOD shuffle, deservedly so. Thank you Joe for coming all the way down from Long Island for our event!
After the Jessie O' returned to Captain Andy's dock, the fisherman then met up with an additional 40+ supporters at the Log Cabin Lodge for a large BBQ dinner, awards presentation, and raffle.
Over 12 raffle prizes were awarded to the generous raffle participants. Prizes included a dinner for two at Barclay Prime Restaurant, pne free nights stay at AKA corporate suites, and hundreds of dollars in gift certificates donated by supporting businesses in the Philadelphia and Margate areas.
We thank all participants and supporters for their gracious giving of their time and funds to support our cause. We plan to hold this event annually in Margate. We hope to have even more participants and raise lots more money in future years.
The great man who inspired this:
Joel H. Levitt, my father, was diagnosed with an inoperable malignant astrocytoma brain tumor upon returning from a once in a lifetime Mediterranean cruise vacation with his wife Patsy, in July 2007. Joel fought through a challenging and emotion battle for over nine months. The tumor eventually took his life on April 27, 2008. He is survived by wife Patsy; children Adam, Chad (me), and Sara; son-in-law Brad Cooper; Daughter-in-law Lori (Aita) Levitt; and grandchildren Farren (5) and Joshua (1). The family is anxiously awaiting Joel's third grandchild which my sister Sara is expecting to deliver in December.
What we are all about:
This event is dedicated to sustaining the loving memory of Joel H. Levitt while doing what we can to fight this deadly disease.
THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING FOUNDATION CLUB DONATION MEMBERS, WHO WE WILL FOREVER BE GRACIOUS TO FOR HELPING US IN OUR INITIAL YEAR TO GET THIS CHARITY LAUNCHED:
Bruce Asam
Ellen Asam
Aunt Sydel Azoff
Joe Barber
Monique Barber
Gabe Bonneville
James Chong
Mark Cohen
Al Cooper
Bonnie Cooper
Brad Cooper
Sara Cooper
Sean Dalton
Irwin Eisenberg
Justin Fine
Jeff Fisher
Dan Foley
Kim Frick
John Gleason
Marsha & Richard Glickman
Allan Goodman
Berdine Goodman
David Goodman
Wilma & Izzy Harris
Harris Heller
Marjorie Hepler
Mike House
Jason Jiddigs
Tim & Georgia Kalavruzos
Dustin Kaplan
Steve Kapustin
Wendy Kapustin
Harold Katlin
Raelle Katlin
Alex Kaufman
Christine Kiphorn
Guest Kiphorn
Robert (Bobby) Kogen
Jayme Krauss
Lee Krauss
Harris & Jodi Kruger
Mike Kushin
Mike Kwoka
Mike Lamm
Sam Lassof
Adam Levitt
Chad Levitt
Lori Levitt
Patsy Levitt
Rich & Debbie Levitt
John Lombardi
Phil Marx
Ryan Masterson
Joseph Messinio
Floss Mindlin
Steve Mindlin
Scott & Carra Minkoff
Allison Moore
Matt Mueller
Brian & Jodi Murland
Brian Negel
Dick Nugent
Mary & Richard Nugent
Aprille Pappas
Charles Pappas
Brett Perloff
Chas Peruto
Wendy & Bruce Preston
Chrissie Pron
John and Ann Pron
Ronny Rappaport
Leo & Irene Rodnytzky
Wendy Roller
Jon Rubin
Andrew Samitz
Harriet Samitz
Joel Samitz
Sarah & Jonathan Sauer
Lance Schad
Frances Schleifer
Marlene Schleifer
Anthony Sembello
Mimi Shapiro
Tracy & David Smoger
Lauren & Robert Steinberg
Jane Stock
Josh Strauss
Nancy Strauss
Bill Sturm
Mike & Nancy Taylor
Elizabeth Tedeschi
Ellen Tenney
Mike Totaro
Samantha Totaro
Byron & Ann Turnoff
Richard 'Coach Dick' Vermeil
John Weir
Simone Wine
Steve & Nicole Wirth
Mike the Bartender, Log Cabin
Egg Harbor gentleman who came on boat
South End Pizza
Andrew Tomasko