MEMBERSHIP
We Brought Napa to Atlanta ___________________________________________________________ The Altanta Bar Foundation Ends A Magnificant Year with a Wine Tasting .
LOUIS R . COHAN Cohan Law Group lcohan @ cohanlawgroup . com
I want to express my eternal gratitude to all who attended and helped with the fabulous Bringing Napa to Atlanta Wine Tasting . Truly a special night .
Led by Brenton E . Hund ( WarnerMedia ), and Hannibal F . Heredia ( Hedgepeth Heredia LLC ), we pulled off what I hope will be a core annual # AtlantaBarFoundation event going forward . The Foundation is the charitable arm of the Atlanta Bar Association . Judy and Edward T . M . Garland ( Garland Samuel & Loeb PC ) were the most amazing of hosts . Not only did they open their beautiful home to us , but for weeks in advance of the event they worked tirelessly with us to make everything work --- and it did .
The skies cleared , the weather was perfect , and many stars of the Bar arrived . The night started with a champagne party on the patio . We then moved inside for an amazing spread of food from Rumi ' s Kitchen . Then , the program began . We enjoyed gourmet cheeses from Capella Cheese . Owner , Raymond Hook , himself , introduced the cheeses , which were paired perfectly with the wines . John Caldwell , owner of # CaldwellVineyards , and his partner , Mario , treated us to 90 minutes of stories about wine , and the creation of his amazing private vineyards in Napa . Of course , the wines were all top shelf . After the program , we enjoyed macarons , port , tequila , and bourbon .
A good measure of the success of any party is how long people stay . I ’ ll say this , the program ended around 9:30 , and my wife Debbie and I walked into our home at midnight . When we finally left , the Garlands were still entertaining .
Last , but certainly not least , the Atlanta Bar staff , led by our amazing Executive Director & CEO Toni Roberts ( Atlanta Bar ), did what they always do – anything , everything , anywhere , and all at once . It was an “ all hands on deck ” event . The Bar staff arrived at the Garland home around 4 p . m . and were still cleaning when Debbie and I left around 11:30 p . m .
If you missed it this , year , I am sorry . Start saving now . You will not want to miss it again .
As my year as President of your Foundation winds to an end , I am humbled as I was a year ago . We put on five amazing events , the Summer of Fun series ( which was composed of a whiskey tasting , trivia night , and Party under the Stars ), The Legal Runaround , and this Wine Tasting . We raised money , and more important , we , with our partner Lawyer Referral & Information Service , were able to make grants totaling $ 200,000.00 .
The Foundation has now granted $ 1.8 million to worthy organizations . Our Bar and the Foundation Board continue to go above and beyond . I am so proud to have been a part of this , and so thankful you all allowed me to do it .
The official passing of the gavel is in May . Alan G . Poole ( Troutman Pepper ) is our next Atlanta Bar Foundation President . Poole is ready , and will undoubtedly lead us to even greater good . I am in for life . I look forward to working with the Foundation for as long as I am able .
PHOTO CREDIT : VISITNAPAVALLEY . COM www . atlantabar . org THE ATLANTA LAWYER 39