Laughter is the Best Medicine!

The 2009 Gala

A night of Mardi Gras benefiting
The Foundation for Good Health

	Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler!! *(Let the Good Times Roll!)* It was a taste of New Orleans in Greenville, complete with a Cajun/Creole menu and Dixieland band! Gala guests got into the spirit of the evening, sporting festive attire, Mardi Gras beads and masks.
Above, Foundation Special Events Committee members Marsha Fincher and Steve Ramsey discuss last minute logistics. At right, Barbara Cullen and Peggy Darby prepare beads for Gala guests while the Dixieland band tunes up in the background.
	Carnival Queens Patti Swanson, Heather Hill, and Mandy Stewart welcomed guests and led the Mardi Gras "parade" into the ballroom.
	Mardi Gras music by the Bois D'Arc Dixieland Band livened up the evening. Above, Dr. Bob Deuell on drums.
Do I really have to wear these????? F.L. and Roz Davis.
	Hunt Regional Healthcare Board Member John Reynolds in Mardi Gras attire.
Gala guests dressed for the occasion - here Michael and Paula Delaney are the "Queen" and "King" of Mardi Gras!
	Mistress of Ceremonies Stacy Foley
Branson funnyman Paul Harris kept Gala guests laughing.

Recipients (or their representatives) of the first Harold Curtis Friend of the Foundation Awards. From left are Teresa McNeil accepting for the Hunt Regional Community Hospital Auxiliary; Fraise Granger, accepting for Zach Wilson, facilities director for Hunt Regional Healthcare; Doug and Barbie Weaver accepting for son Scott Weaver; Janice McWhirter, accepting for the Hunt Regional Medical Center Volunteers; Tubby Adkisson, Foundation board member; Mary Rich Lynch, major benefactor; Barbara Cullen, Missy Beasley and Brian Cullen, the Cullen Foundation; and, Ron Wensel, the Foundation’s first president and current president of the HMHD board of directors. Not pictured is Jack Finney, major benefactor.
	Standing at left is Dr. James J. Petrikas, lead Radiation Oncologist at the cancer center. His wife Mary Ann is seated to his left, as they get acquainted with the Hunt County crowd. Some 300 guests helped the Gala raise around $80,000, with the net proceeds going to Fit Steps for Life, a rehabilitation program for cancer patients and survivors that will be established as part of the Lou and Jack Finney Cancer Center.