Frank Ski’s wine auction with Young Jeezy, Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson
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Frank Ski’s wine auction with Young Jeezy, Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson
12:58 pm December 14, 2009, by
Frank Ski got some big names to his sixth annual wine auction and fundraiser party at his palatial Atlanta home, including Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young. Rap star Young Jeezy and basketball legend Julius "Dr. J" Erving came to the party for a second year. Outkast's Big Boi stopped by as well near the end of the auction.
Sharpton left by the time I got there but I did speak briefly with Jackson, who is trying to get Pres. Obama to divert some of the extra stimulus money to create more jobs. He has also tried to get Obama to focus on some of the hardest hit urban areas. And while in Atlanta, he is lobbying to make state foreclosure laws more consumer friendly. “We’re bailing out Afghanistan,” he told the crowd. “Let’s bail out Atlanta!” He’s going to be holding a rally at 3 p.m. today at the Atlanta branch of the Federal Reserve in Midtown to get the Fed to pressure banks to actually use more of the TARP money to lend out to consumers and businesses and not just pocket for profit.
Local media types included Suchita Vadlamani and Mark Hayes from Fox 5's "Good Day Atlanta" and Q100's Bert Weiss and his wife Stacey.
Ski’s kids foundation this past year took a group of local students to Italy, hosted a Youth Bowl and held a Local Legends luncheon for female high school students, who got scholarships to help with college. His fundraiser raised about $150,000 this year, down a bit from last year’s $166,000 but Ski said he’s happy, given the economy.
For the first time, Ski and his wife Tanya created a host committee (featurng folks like Andrew Young, Ludacris and Diddy) to encourage new people to show up. So in the end, he said he sold fewer tickets but the newbies were plenty well heeled and helped keep the fundraising totals up. He also hired a professional auctioneer for the first time, which sped up the proceedings.
Ludacris, Ski said, grabbed a gig in Nigeria at the last second and couldn’t make it. Diddy, touring with his group Dirty Money, also had a scheduling conflict and couldn’t make it on time.
Above: I look way too serious interviewing Jackson, eh?
Below: Julius “Dr. J” Erving, now an Atlanta resident
Below: Bert and his wife Stacey from Q100 in Frank’s adventure room (the lion rug, which people would trip over in the past, was gone.)
And Big Boi popped in late:
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
