The Nuckolls Fund and Frank Conti Roast

The event was sold out and people were turned away at the door. Jeff Milham, President of the Nuckolls Fund, gave a report:

· In the funds’ 18 year history, over $500,000 has been distributed in grants

· The endowment is up to $1.25M

· Doug and Kathleen Hagen of BK were recognized

· Several checks were given to the Fund as well as distributed to students

For more information on Nuckolls, visit www.nuckollsfund.org

After Jeff finished the business, Manny Ferris and M.C. Tanteri were the masters of ceremony for the roast. Among the roasters, Sonny Sommerford, Charles Stone, Stephen Lees, Richard Argiss, and Joann Conti. There were several very well done Photoshop pictures of Frank as various characters including Buddha, Burt Reynolds, Napoleon, and Austin Powers. The Napoleon picture was the best. The theme of the roast centered on Frank being the Godfather. Stephen Lees was in the witness protection program. The problem is that Frank genuinely is such a nice guy, he is hard to roast. However, the roasters managed to use humor combined with a few serious notes as well. Apparently, he has been married more than once. One of the funniest lines was from Sonny talking about the book “Cheaper by the Dozen” which is supposed to be about kids—not wives. There were other very funny lines which I cannot do justice:

· Frank takes semi-monthly two-week vacations

· In difficult situations, Richard and Frank refer to their ‘bible’ the Godfather for guidance

However, there were also serious comments. One roaster explained Frank’s philosophy: “Life is not about what you achieve, it is about what you contribute.”

During the roast Frank’s rules of effective leadership were revealed:

1. Set goals and plans to achieve those goals

2. Never stop learning

3. Be a great communicator

4. Be sure that people can follow

5. Be willing to do things other won’t do

Frank took to the podium and talked of his decision to make lighting his career—he was pulled over for speeding on a Saturday in his VW on his way to work. But rather than a speech about his life and his many accomplishments. Frank focused on the Nuckolls fund. “Normally, we only get about six tables during this meeting and half of them are empty towards the end of the meeting. If I can lend my name and let you poke a little fun, and we can sell out the lunch and help raise awareness, then I am honored to lend my name to it.”