The Graybeards Celebrate 24 Years

By Katie McFadden

It was a good night at El Caribe for the Graybeards. Members of the local charitable organization had a well-deserved night of celebrating at their 24th Annual Dinner Dance on Saturday, January 31, and honored some much deserving people.

It was a great night to celebrate some great accomplishments in the community at The Graybeards’ biggest fundraising event of the year. More than 400 people attended the sold-out event. This year, the organization honored Joe Courtney with the Don (D.H.) Hart Memorial Award and the Timothy P Klein Memorial Foundation with the Tom Ryan Memorial Award. Graybeards President Dan Leary presented each with their special honors and Courtney and members of the Klein family gave speeches in return.

In some more good news, Eugene Brennan was able to present the funds raised from Stockings for a Cause over the holidays, to the honoree herself, Stephanie McCormick and her family. McCormick, a schoolteacher in Georgia, lost her husband, U.S. Navy Reserve Commander Robert McCormick, to service-related cancer in 2022, leaving her as a single mother of three, including a teen daughter who has been battling leukemia since 2024. From the donations connected from Stockings for a Cause, Brennan was able to shock McCormick with a check for $75,000, the Stocking effort’s largest collection yet.

McCormick was then asked to pick the winning ticket for the highly anticipated 50/50 raffle. A six-figure prize went to the Weber family. After the formalities, the guests danced the rest of the night away and celebrated with good food, strong drinks and great camaraderie.

For more info about The Graybeards, see: https://thegraybeards.com

Photos by Jessica Woods.