SANTA ROSA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 13, 2004–The Annual Kendall-Jackson Fencing Tournament and Auction Dinner, celebrating its third year, raised $383,000 for the Sonoma Academy Scholarship Fund. Foil fencers from around the world, including Athens Olympic gold medalists, traveled to Sonoma County to participate in the competition. Various Sonoma County and Napa Valley vintners joined in the fencing mania by attending the tournament and donating their wines to the successful charity auction.
International Fencers and Sonoma County Vintners Join Together for Educational Cause
Held October 2, the Kendall-Jackson Fencing Tournament and Auction Dinner is hosted each year by Kendall-Jackson proprietors Barbara Banke and Jess Jackson. The event celebrates the culmination of a week of training and competition organized by Fencing Maestro Michael Pacheco of Sonoma Fencing Academy in Petaluma. Fencers from Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, and Ukraine joined their American counterparts in the competition. This year the event was co-sponsored by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Robb Report/Worth Magazines.
Guests dined at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center in Santa Rosa as they watched the championship fencing. Noted auctioneer Fritz Hatton, dressed as Zorro along with the requisite sword, fenced his way through the live auction between bouts. At times, Hatton was joined on the fencing piste (strip) by Jess Jackson and Chalk Hill proprietor Fred Furth. Jackson doubled the stakes on various lots while Furth rode an Aprilia scooter donated by Pixar’s John Lasseter.
The Kendall-Jackson Fencing Tournament championship bout created excitement with Israeli World Class fencer Tomer Or beating Olympic Gold medalist Simone Vanni with a score of 15-9. Or, from Haifi, Israel, is the six-time Israeli National Champion. Vanni won Olympic gold in Athens this past summer as part of the Italian team in the foil competition.
Barbara Banke was pleased with the outcome of the event, which benefits the Sonoma Academy Scholarship Fund. “The celebration of international fencers with beautiful wines certainly is a winning combination,” commented Banke. “The financial success of this event surpassed our expectations.”
The Kendall-Jackson International Fencing Tournament and Auction Dinner is a benefit for Sonoma Academy, a college preparatory high school in Santa Rosa, California that draws students from Sonoma, Napa and Marin Counties. All proceeds benefit Sonoma Academy, a 501(c)(3) organization and are directed to its Scholarship Fund, which provides need-based aid to 40 percent of Sonoma Academy students.
Sonoma Academy Head of School Janet Durgin commented, “Thanks to founders like Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke, Sonoma Academy is accessible to all students through need-based scholarships. This generosity and vision ensures a dynamic and culturally vibrant educational opportunity in Sonoma County.”
Read about the Kendall-Jackson Fencing Tournament in the Fencing.Net Forums