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| Foil Fencers Face Off to Raise Funds | | October 20, 2004 |  | | By: Carla Zuber | | Current Column | | Search The Column Archive | | Fencers and fencing enthusiasts recently gathered in Sonoma County for the third annual Kendall-Jackson Fencing Tournament where $383,000 was raised for the Sonoma Academy Scholarship Fund.
Foil fencers from around the world travelled to the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center in Santa Rosa to participate in the tournament, auction and dinner. Kendall-Jackson proprietors Barbara Banke and Jess Jackson hosted the
annual event which also attracted various Sonoma County and Napa Valley vintners who joined in the fencing mania by attending the event and donating their wines to the highly-successful charity auction. Pictured: Barbara Banke and Tournament Fencing Champion Tomer Or 
The event celebrates the culmination of a week of training and competition organized by fencing maestro Michael Pacheco of the Sonoma Fencing Academy in Petaluma. The international event attracted fencers from Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, and Ukraine as well as the United
States. The event was co-sponsored by Rolls-Royce Motors Cars and Robb Report/Worth Magazine.
Noted auctioneer, 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 Aprila scooter donated by Pixar's John Lasseter.
The tournament championship bout created excitement with Israeli world-class fencer Tomer Or beating Olympic gold medalist Simone Vanni with a score of 15-9.
 The San Francisco Ballet's Encore group recently held a cocktail party at the hot SOMA sushi restaurant Roe. Guests enjoyed the delicious sushi and La Crema wines while catching up with friends. Encore board members stayed busy greeting people, including president Stephanie Russell, Dana Marie Sanchez, Gregg Mattner, Anne-Marie Fowler, Nina Fedoroff, and Paula Elmore. This year's gala co-chairs Ali Morr and Joycelyn Ferguson were chatting with La Crema's Andre Boada as well as Rick and Laura Giron. Pictured: (L to R) Stephanie Russell, Gregg Mattner, Dana Marie Sanchez |
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