Carousel Fund's big event raises $200,000

The 22nd annual Carousel Fund Casino Night on Saturday night was a “huge success” that raised more than $200,000 to help local children with catastrophic illnesses, according to Arnie Cohen, founder and present of the organization.

The annual fund-raider, held at the Petaluma Veterans Memorial Building, featured musical headliner Frankie Avalon and baseball Hall of Fame pitchers Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers.

“Frankie was tremendous,” said Cohen. “He’s a classic showman. He had a wonderful repertoire of historical music that people seemed to wrap their arms around.”

The interior of the veterans building had a beach party theme, with posters and DVD screens showing the 1960s teen movies with Avalon and Annette Funicello.

Avalon was presented with a key to the city by Mayor Pamela Torliatt at the conclusion of his performance at the end of the evening.

“The attendance was up by 20 percent over last year to more than 1,200, sponsorships were up 30 percent and donations were plentiful as usual,” Cohen said. “Several people told me that they feel Petaluma has made the turn in terms of the economy,” he added.

“The $200,000-plus we raised is a huge amount of money that will go a long

way toward our mission of helping families. It was a magical evening. And all of the funds raised here in Petaluma will stay in Petaluma.”

One of the big-ticket items during the live auction was a baseball bat autographed by 30 Hall of Fame baseball players. It fetched $5,000, and the winning bidder also won the opportunity to have breakfast with Rollie Fingers at the Sheraton Hotel on Sunday morning.

One local woman one the opportunity to stand next to Avalon while he sang his hit “Venus.” Another won a breakfast with Avalon at the Sheraton Hotel on Sunday morning.

“The bidding in the live auction was very lively,” said Cohen.

Other popular items included vacation packages, sports memorabilia and jewelry.

Cohen said the Carousel Fund also worked with the Petaluma Downtown Association to develop a scholarship fund from Saturday night’s fund-raiser. “The fund will be used to help downtown merchants who have a spouse or loved one with a catastrophic or life-threatening illness,” Cohen said, “or a catastrophic event.

“We wanted to start this fund because our downtown merchants are hurting and many are closing. The downtown association to date has given almost $200,000 to charities, nonprofits and schools in Petaluma.”

The event also raised money for Quest, a foundation that was started for Petaluma students who want to become emergency medical technicians or paramedics. The foundation was started after Petaluma resident Kevin Whitney died in a swimming pool accident in Santa Barbara.

"The Carousel Fund is very grateful to the hundreds of volunteers, businesses and corporations that care about the Carousel Fund families who often struggle to keep their children alive due to a life-threatening illness," said Cohen. "Without their support and devotion, the Carousel Fund would not exist."

(Contact Chris Samson at chris.samson@arguscourier.com)