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At the live Auction Bob Sickles hoists up a Taittanger Champagne – Brut Reserve NV Nebuchadnezzar
15 Litre king size bottle holding the equivalent of 20 bottles of delicious French bubbly rated
90 – 92 points by Wine Spectator. Carol auctions it off for $17,000.
Sickles Market’s sold-out Wine and Cheese Tasting Fundraiser to Benefit Holiday Express held on Nov. 4 raised a record $124,000 in a single night!
The event, held in the Sickles Market greenhouse decked out in holiday lights and decorations, was attended by approximately 250 guests who reached deep intotheir jean pockets to support Holiday Express – a local grassroots 501(c)3 non-profit organization of more than 600 volunteers, including more than 70 professional musicians – that delivers music, food, gifts, financial support and friendship to adults and children in need of the gift of human kindness during the holiday season and throughout the year.
“I have to thank my generous sponsors, donors and bidders,” said Bob Sickles, third-generation owner/operator of the Little Silver, N.J.-based Sickles Market and this year’s winner of New Jersey Family Business of the Year. “They are my ‘Rocks of Gibraltar’. I don’t know what was in the air that night, but something very special happened. I am so appreciative of their generous kind, spirit. In a world that was a little darker these past couple of years, they are the lights that lead us forward and point the way to that proverbial end of the tunnel.”
Included in the many surprises that night was Bob Sickles’ presentation of an inscribed wine carafe donated by Tiffany & Co. to Frank McCann of McCann Systems. McCann Systems has donated the AV production and labor to operate it each year for the event.
By far the most popular auction items were the Wine Crawls -- progressive tours of some of the Jersey Shore’s best private wine cellars -- auctioned by local philanthropist Carol Stillwell. While only one wine crawl was expected to be up for bid, an overwhelming interest in the item resulted in the addition of two additional crawls, with one fetching $15,000 and the other two $13,000 each, for a grand total of $41,000.
Much of the food and wine stations were donated and attended by big-hearted local vendors, including dessert specialties by Daisy Chocolates; organic roasted turkey by D’artagnan; a Raw Bar by Lusty Lobster; American artisan cheeses by the Cellars of Jasper Hill; Crab Cakes by McLoone’s Restaurants; specialty pate by Alexian; wines by Rumson Wine & Spirits; many delicious hors d’oeuvres by Sickles Market, and many more donations too numerous to list.
Sponsors were Chris and Lauren Andreach, Brand Aromatics, Anthony and Pamela Diaco, John and Janet Giunco, Judy Angelo Cowan Foundation, Kitschens Hospitality Group, McCann Systems, Niko’s Trapezi Greek Taverna, Carol Stillwell, Torpey Charitable Foundation, Monmouth Medical Center, Monmouth medical Foundation, the Komarfamily, Moser Toboada, Ready for Birth, Rumson Wine & Spirits and Salt Creek Grille.