BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS

TV HOST COGNAC WELLERLANE POSES FOR A PHOTO-OP AT THE PINK PEARL GALA CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF NORTH FORK BREAST HEALTH COALITION

It was a pleasure for me to interview these special courageous breast cancer survivors!

Each lady told me their compelling story!

During this year’s gala, the North Fork Breast Health Coalition will honor Dr. Alison Stopeck, Associate Director for Clinical and Translational Research, Stony Brook Medicine Department of Hematology and Oncology; and Dr. Iris Zhi, a medical oncologist who specializes in breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and sees patients in the MSK Commack facility. Both doctors treat Stage IV thrivers from the NFBHC service area. As leaders in metastatic cancer research, Stopeck and Zhi have previously been awarded “Keri Lynn Stromski Stage IV Breast Cancer Research and Support Fund” grants from NFBHC to help fund their Stage IV research laboratories.

The North Fork Breast Health Coalition is working to encourage and assist in the prevention, early intervention, and cure of breast cancer through advocacy, awareness, networking, and research. The funds we raise go directly to programs such as "Lend a Helping Hand", which provides grants to patients on the North Fork who are being treated for breast cancer.

for more information please visit https://www.northforkbreasthealth.org/

KEEP READING COGNAC'S CORNER FOR THE VERY BEST IN RED CARPET EVENTS IN MANHATTAN, LONG ISLAND AND THE HAMPTONS.

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THE ELLEN HERMANSON SPRING
WARM UP DANCE PARTY 

Supporters once again gathered at the THE ELLEN HERMANSON SPRING WARM UP DANCE PARTY 

TV HOST COGNAC WELLERLANE POSES FOR A PHOTO-OP AT THE ELLEN HERMANSON SPRING WARM UP DANCE PARTY

Supporters once again gathered at the THE ELLEN HERMANSON SPRING WARM UP DANCE PARTY at Bridgehampton Community House 2368 Montauk HighwayBridgehampton, NY on April 22, 2023 from 6:30 PM - 10:00 PM

This was there 28th Annual Ellen's Run Kickoff.

The event celebrated two honorees, HERO, STORYTELLER & SURVIVOR

Angela LaGreca, and ELLEN’S RUN ICON Eliot Rodman Smith.

ANGELA LA GRECA

Angela LaGreca is a four-time Emmy Award winning producer and writer, having worked at NBC at the TODAY show and The Meredith Vieira Show, as well as at ABC-TV at The View for many years. Out east she served as the VP of Features/Events at Dan’s Papers where she wrote about breast cancer (her journey, current treatments at Stony Brook, as well as a feature on The Ellen Hermanson Foundation) and was the Creative Director at LTV Studios. She has served as an emcee and auctioneer for many of The Ellen Hermanson Foundation’s events/benefits and is always happy to be supporting women on the East End and to help raise awareness about breast cancer.

Angela is currently a Writer/Producer for the Chris Cuomo show on NewsNation. She lives in Manhattan and has a home in East Hampton.

ELIOT RODMAN SMITH

Eliot Rodman Smith was just 10 years old in 1997 when he attended his first Ellen's Run – the inaugural 5K memorial, which took place in East Hampton. It has since become a tradition, and over the years Eliot has contributed his time and talents at the Ellen's Run water station in addition to numerous other Foundation events. He is looking forward to being in Southampton again this August where – along with the help of additional Shinnecock Nation volunteers – he will be working at the water station for the 28th year in a row.

Eliot graduated from Southampton High School in 2013 and since then has remained involved in the community, dedicating his time and energy to a variety of community service projects. The local community knows Eliot well thanks to his involvement in various organizations, including the South Fork Bakery and the Southampton Senior Care Center. Eliot values community service greatly. He has been involved with fundraising for the NAACP, caring for animals at the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation and teaching community members with disabilities life skills including cooking and conversation through the Explorers Group. In his free time, he volunteers at the Rogers Memorial Library reshelving books and at the Southampton VFW serving Vietnam veterans. Eliot enjoys helping others, which has been and continues to be reflected by all of the work and service that he has done throughout his lifetime.

THE EVENT FEATURED DELICIOUS BITES, DRINKS, AND MORE!

DANCING WITH DJ DOUBLE S PRODUCTIONS,LIVE AUCTION AND SILENT AUCTION WITH EMCEE & AUCTIONEER Andrina Wekontash Smith.

Andrina Wekontash Smith is Shinnecock storyteller, writer, performer, and educator whose work explores the complexity of racial and indigenous identity. Currently, she is working on a series with ABC Signature, produced under Kerry Washington's Simpson Street banner. She has also recently written the script for an immersive VR collaboration between TIME Studios and the Martin Luther King Foundation, which examines the persistent racial disparities in policing, housing, and voting in society today. The VR experience won the Audience Award SXSW 2023.

In 2021, Andrina a NAMA fellow and recipient Netflix accelerator grant. Her collaboration with the Facebook app, "The Darker Red Road," received over three million views and was well-received. Additionally, her piece, "Women of Herstory," which she also wrote for the app, was highly praised. As a sketch performer, director, and performance artist, Andrina has received residencies at both Guild Hall and The Watermill Center.

Her written work and essays have been featured in publications such as Edible's East End, Native Max Magazine, and WildSam's East End Edition. Overall, Andrina's work seeks to bring attention to the nuances of identity and to elevate the voices of underrepresented communities.

Ellen Hermanson was an articulate, courageous and indomitable warrior in the war against breast cancer. Her personal battle with the disease began in February 1989, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer while still nursing her six-month-old daughter. Ellen fought against her disease medically by undergoing surgery and aggressive chemotherapy.

With the support of our generous community of donors, The Ellen Hermanson Foundation awarded $360,000 in grants for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2022.

Recipients include Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, The Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center, OLA (Organización Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island), The Retreat, and the Shinnecock Health Center. Programs are administered in partnership with Southampton Hospital Foundation and Phillips Family Cancer Center. The grants benefit the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and Ellen’s Well, a program that provides psychosocial support to breast and gynecological cancer patients.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VIST https://www.ellenhermanson.org/

FOR MORE CHARITY EVENTS PLEASE VISIT COGNACSCORNERMAGAZINE.COM

COGNAC WELLERLANE

TV HOST/ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST

The NCAN Celebration of Life Gala 

TV HOST ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST COGNAC WELLERLANE POSES FOR A PHOTO-OP AT THE ANNUAL PINK PEARL GALA TO BENEFIT THE NORTH FORK BREAST HEALTH COALITION

NORTH FORK BREAST HEALTH COALITION ONCE AGAIN HELD THEIR ANNUAL PINK PEARL GALA AT EAST WIND IN WADING RIVER, NY ON APRIL 8, 2022.

All raffle proceeds benefited the NFBHC Keri Lynn Stromski Stage IV Fund.

I WAS HAPPY TO INTERVIEW THE HONOREES AT THE EVENT.

Morgan Stromski the daughter of Honoree Keri Lynn Stromski sat down with me for an exclusive interview about her devoted and dedicated mother who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer and lived for six years donating her time and efforts to those who were also stricken with Breast Cancer.

Morgan and her family received the award that was presented to her mother Honoree Keri Lynn Stromski. All raffle proceeds benefit the NFBHC Keri Lynn Stromski Stage IV Fund.

Keri Lynn Stromski of Jamesport, who valiantly fought Stage IV breast cancer received the inaugural Medal of Valor posthumously.

The Peconic River Sportsman’s Club was honored with the community spirit award for its work in raising money for Long Island breast cancer coalitions. The award was accepted by Ed Walden and Joe Hocker.

The North Fork Breast Health Coalition is working to encourage and assist in the prevention, early intervention, and cure of breast cancer through advocacy, awareness, networking, and research. The funds they raise go directly to programs such as "Lend a Helping Hand", which provides grants to patients on the North Fork who are being treated for breast cancer.

The North Fork Breast Health Coalition is a group of concerned citizens working in conjunction with other community resources. As a not-for-profit organization, they have no paid employees, but rather return all funds raised for services to those diagnosed with breast cancer on the North Fork. They are committed to finding an answer to the high incidence of breast cancer in their area. Their primary goal is to increase community awareness of the many issues involved in the battle against this disease which kills more than 180,000 women a year in this country.

OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

​

Melanie McEvoy, President

Bernadette Tuthill, Vice-President

Annie Baulch, Secretary

Denise Vasilakos, Treasurer

BeeJay Ferucci, At Large Director

Luisa Gatz, At Large Director

Lori McBride, At Large Director

Colleen Pennica, At Large Director

Susan Ruffini, At Large Director

Kelly Trick, At Large Director

Vanie Tuthill, At Large Director

Dawn Vogel, At Large Director

Janice Young, At Large Director

COALITION FOUNDERS

Ann Cotten-DeGrasse

Antonio DeGrasse

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT https://www.northforkbreasthealth.org/

KEEP READING COGNACS CORNER MAGAZINE FOR THE VERY BEST IN RED CARPET EVENTS IN MANHATTAN, LONG ISLAND AND THE HAMPTONS.

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COGNAC WELLERLANE

BACK IN BLACK SUMMER BENEFIT

Saturday, August 28, 2021 FOR THE ELLEN HERMANSON FOUNDATION

TV HOST COGNAC WELLERLANE POSES FOR A PHOTO-OP AT BACK IN BLACK SUMMER BENEFIT

Saturday, August 28, 2021 FOR THE ELLEN HERMANSON FOUNDATION

Supporters and guests gathered to attend the BACK IN BLACK SUMMER BENEFIT on

Saturday, August 28, 2021 at6:30 PM 10:00 PM OUTSIDE at Hampton Racquet in East Hampton, NY.

Anne Gomberg, The Executive Director of The Ellen Hermanson Foundation revealed "We wanted to zero in on the foundation and its success and went on to explain that, “We just had Ellen’s Run, which is our signature event, and it was our 26th year. We were so glad to be able to come back out and feel the warmth and support of our community. It was really an amazing day. I think everybody is ready to come back and be together safely while following the needed protocols. That is what we are going to continue to do at our gala! It’s going to be outdoors at the Hampton Racquet. We will be honoring John Graham who is the executive director of Hampton Racquet because he has been a supporter of ours for years. Every Spring he calls us up and asks us, ‘how can I support you this year.’ Over the years they have done tennis events for us to help us raise money and raise awareness. He and his sister Monica , who is the co-owner have really supported us we would like to honor the community members who come out and show their support by opening up their businesses for us to be able to raise money and awareness.”

Then she added, “We are also honoring Tovah Feldshuh because she is committed to using her talents also to help us build awareness. She supports us every year, she comes to our events, she uses her voice and her platform to help build awareness about the needs for access to breast care on the east end where people don’t always notice but there are a number of people who live here year round who struggle. They also may be underinsured or uninsured. Our mission is to serve everybody, no one is turned away from the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center for lack of insurance or inability to pay for treatment.”

Ms. Gomberg provided some important statistics. She said that, “One in eight women are effected by breast cancer. That means everybody is really effected because knows somebody, everyone has an aunt a sister or a neighbor , cousin, co-worker who has breast cancer. It effects everybody in our community and effects families because women are the pillars of their families and if a woman is ill, the whole family suffers. That’s why our’ Ellen’s Well’ program provides free phycho-social services to breast cancer patients and that extends to their families as well. In 2019 we did over 12,000 screenings were provided at the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center and its satellites in Hampton Bays and East Hampton. Last year because of the pandemic that number dipped so our goal in 2021 is to continue to get the word out that you need to get your screenings, you can’t skip screenings because of the pandemic. Women are getting sicker because they are being diagnosed at a later stage and that’s never a good thing."

I was also honored to interview Honoree Actress Tovah Feldshuh.

Terri Sue "Tovah" Feldshuh (born December 27, 1952) is an American actress, singer, and playwright. She has been a Broadway star for more than four decades, earning four Tony Award nominations. She has also received two Emmy Award nominations for Holocaust and Law & Order, and appeared in such films as A Walk on the Moon, She's Funny That Way, and Kissing Jessica Stein. In 2015–2016, she played the role of Deanna Monroe on AMC's television adaptation of The Walking Dead.

Feldshuh appeared on the stage under the name "Terri Fairchild" before deciding to incorporate her Hebrew name and her original surname as her professional name, Tovah Feldshuh. She said of her name changes: "I fell in love with a Christian boy, Michael Fairchild, who didn't want to kiss a Terri Sue. He said: 'Terri Sue doesn't fit you at all. What's that other name of yours? Tovah? Now that's a name!"[5] In 1994, she joked that she could have changed her name to "Goody Two-shoes", since tovah is Hebrew for "good", while Feldshuh translates from German as "field shoe".[6]

She made her Broadway debut in the short-lived 1973 musical Cyrano starring Christopher Plummer. She appeared in the titular role in Yentl both off-Broadway at the Chelsea Theater Center and later on Broadway. Both productions are detailed in the book, Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater, which describes tensions between Feldshuh and director Robert Kalfin over the play's interpretation.[7]

Her other Broadway credits include Saravà, Lend Me a Tenor, and Golda's Balcony - William Gibson's work about the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. Golda's Balcony set a record as the longest-running one-woman play in Broadway history on January 2, 2005.[8]

Feldshuh made her cabaret debut at the Algonquin Hotel Oak Room with her act, Tovah: Crossovah! From Broadway to Cabaret, which was followed by Tovah: Out of Her Mind! She took the latter show on the road to Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Hong Kong, and Sydney. The West End production sold out an eight-week run at the Duke of York's Theatre. The Boston Globe selected her as Best Cabaret Artist of 2000.[9] In 2000, she co-wrote and performed in a one-woman play about actress Tallulah Bankhead titled Tallulah Hallelujah![10]

She returned to Broadway in the Dan Gordon play Irena's Vow in March 2009. She had appeared off-Broadway in this play in September 2008.[11] In 2012, Feldshuh performed as Mama Rose in a revival of Gypsy.

At the September 21, 2013, Broadway performance of Pippin, Andrea Martin's last performance as Berthe (Pippin's grandmother) was announced to be the following day, and Feldshuh would be subsequently taking over the role. In 2014, she starred in Gypsy at the Bristol Riverside Theatre as Mama Rose.[12][13]

In February 2015, she performed a one-woman show that she called Aging Is Optional at 54 Below.

In 1973, Feldshuh appeared on television in a supporting role in Scream, Pretty Peggy. In 1976, she also had a supporting role in Ryan's Hope, and in the following year, she played Katharine Hepburn in The Amazing Howard Hughes. Also in 1977, she appeared on The Bob Newhart Show as Veronica Kidd, in an episode called "The Heartbreak Kidd" (season five, episode 18), which aired February 5. However, Feldshuh came to international prominence as Helena Slomova in the 1978 miniseries Holocaust, based on Gerald Green's novel. Between 1991 and 2007, Feldshuh had a recurring role as defense attorney Danielle Melnick on NBC's Law & Order. (In 2018, Feldshuh was to reprise her role as Melnick, who would by then be a Cook County judge, in Dick Wolf's Chicago Justice, a companion program to his Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med that would be situated primarily in the Cook County, Illinois, court system.)[citation needed]

Feldshuh's feature-film appearances have included Lady in the Water, The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal, A Walk on the Moon, Happy Accidents, Brewster's Millions, The Idolmaker, The Blue Iguana, A Day in October, The Believer, Love Comes Lately, Just My Luck, and Kissing Jessica Stein. She also appeared as Ruthie in the 2004 film The Tollbooth.

Feldshuh appeared in Goyband, co-starring Adam Pascal, Amy Davidson, Cris Judd, Dean Edwards, Tibor Feldman, and Natasha Lyonne. She was also slated to star in the psychological thriller Acts of Mercy. In 2009, Feldshuh recorded the song "Bein Nahar Prat" for Pioneers for a Cure, with the proceeds benefiting Ellen's Run.

In 2012, she appeared as Mossad agent Rivka in the Covert Affairs episode "Wishful Beginnings". In 2014, she appeared in the film She's Funny That Way.

in March 2015, Feldshuh made her debut in a starring role on AMC's highly rated The Walking Dead. Feldshuh had never seen the show before being cast as former politician Deanna Monroe, whose character Feldshuh says she based on Hillary Clinton.[15] She also appeared in the six-part miniseries Flesh and Bone, which debuted in 2015 on Starz.

From 2015 to 2019, Feldshuh had a recurring role on the musical comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as Naomi Bunch, the image-conscious and hypercritical mother of the show's main character, Rebecca Bunch, played by Rachel Bloom.

During our interview Ms. Feldshuh revealed she will be playing Dr. Ruth Westheimer on Broadway in December.

For more information please visit https://www.ellenhermanson.org/

KEEP READING COGNAC'S CORNER MAGAZINE FOR THE VERY BEST IN RED CARPET EVENTS IN MANHATTAN, LONG ISLAND AND THE HAMPTONS.

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The Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation’s 12th Annual Unconditional Love Gala

Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation’s
12th Annual Unconditional Love Gala
Chaired by Philanthropist Jean Shafiroff photo by  Patrick McMullan