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Kenneth Chase |
Board of Directors Kenneth Chase Chairman & Co-Founder, Toast to Humanity  Ken Chase is a classically trained wine merchant with an international reputation
spanning the globe. His formal education in Canada was at Loyola of Montreal
and then the University of Freiburg in Germany. His wine studies focused in France,
Germany and Italy where he lived and studied for eight years. These formative
years in the vineyard gave Ken a yearning to see how the rest of the world made
wine and through different apprenticeship programs he began to study throughout
the classical wine growing regions of Europe.Born and raised in Montreal, Ken is fluent in French, English and German. These three languages made his cultural adaptation very easy. Ken consults world wide on many wine projects and runs his business from his office in Oakville, Ontario Canada. His educational programs on wine are keeping him busy as he travels the world expounding on wine and how simplistic and fun it can be. It is his dream to take the mystery out of wine and share his passion with others. Snapshots of Activities
Bonnie Skop Vice Chairman & Co-Founder, Toast to Humanity  Toast To Humanity was created by Bonnie as a way to combine her passion for the
wine and entertainment industries with her experience in helping charitable organizations
via cause branding promotions and productions.The concept of Toast To Humanity started when Bonnie missed her flight out of Toronto, Canada and met a manager who was talking up their wine consultant for their airline and that she should speak to him about a wine promotion. Upon her arrival home to South Florida, she quickly assembled a team of experts who could help make her concept a reality. Toast To Humanity has now become one of the most unique and ambitious cause branding promotions in the wine industry. Coupled with her Bachelors degree in Telecommunications (Television Studies) from Michigan State University with a minor in Film from the University of California Los Angeles (U.C.L.A) and an extensive background in marketing and advertising, Bonnie’s diverse experience has proven to be essential in the development of Toast To Humanity. Her career has led her into areas of production, promotion, publicity, all areas of advertising fromconceptualization to implementation and the development of cause-branding and event marketing opportunities that enhance her client’s overall integrated marketing campaigns. Bonnie helped to develop new product launches for Brother International, Alamo International, Delta Dream Vacations International and Nantucket Nectars. She was also deeply involved in the development of an international music variety television series and licensed merchandising for Chicago-based sponsorKIDSProductions / sponsorKIDSCharities and handled publicity and promotions for a ten-city international theater production which also benefited children’s charities out of Miami, Florida. Other accounts and productions Bonnie has successfully handled include Stephen J. Cannell Productions, East of Doheny Productions, Cirque Ingenieux, Live From South Florida... It Is Saturday Night, Rock The Castle Concert Series, and Romance Writer’s Promotions. Back to top Charlie Arturaola Wine Educator  Sommelier Charlie Arturaola is a household name in culinary and oenological circles and he is considered one of the nation’s “top 10 palates” by The American SommelierAssociation . The charismatic wine expert approaches his life’s passion with knowledge and enthusiasm and is in demand at food and wine events nationwide.He has been a featured sommelier and educator at many of the country’s greatest wine festivals including – Food & Wine Magazine’s Aspen Food and Wine Classic, The Naples Winter Wine & Food Festival (as founding sommelier), Napa Wine & Food Festival and The Jackson Hole Wine and Food Festival. Charlie is on the tasting team for The Wine Spectator’s Wine Experience and in 2005 Arturaola was named Chevalier by France’s Ordre des Coteaux des Champagnes. As an educator, Arturaola is a “distinguished visiting sommelier” at Johnson & Wales University and since 2007 Charlie has been teaching at Lynn University’s Hospitality program in Boca Raton, Florida. Arturaola has served as an expert wine speaker for Bloomingdale’s and Waterford Glassware, The Masters of Food & Wine in Mendoza , Argentina, the Consorzio del Brunello, Italy, the Denominacao do Vinho Verde, Portugal—as a guest contributor to The Weekend Wine Watch for USA Today and as a columnist for The Art of The Times Magazine. In addition to lecturing around the globe and acting as judge in many wine and beverage competitions, Arturaola is also the president of the Miami-based Grappolo Blu , which offers sommelier services, educational seminars, wine estate appraisals and cellar salvages. Charlie’s global knowledge of wine is so comprehensive that several insurance companies rely on him to appraise wine collections valued over a million dollars. His experience with wine embraces over 20 years as a wine speaker, cellar master, director of wine, sommelier and wine purchaser for hotels, resorts, restaurants, and luxury cruise lines. He has traveled to every wine region in the world, cultivating productive relationships with winemakers and is fluent in five languages—English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Before founding Grappolo Blu , Arturaola served as the wine director for two of South Florida’s top resorts—the legendary Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton and the luxury, boutique Marco Beach Ocean Resort and Fiddlers Creek Country Club on Marco Island. Charlie was one of the founding co-organizers of the Wine Appreciation Weekends at The Boca Resorts for 6 years. Prior to his resort affiliations, he spent ten years as sommelier at Tulipano Ristorante and as manager of Rigoletto Ristorante , both in Miami. Prior to that, he was head wine steward for Cunard Cruise Lines , based in South Hampton, England. Arturaola’s extensive education includes a degree in journalism and broadcasting from The Press Institute in Montevideo, Uruguay and studies in European history at the University of Navarra , Spain. Arturaola belongs to The Society of Wine Educators based in Washington DC, The Vintrust Group in Sausalito, California, sits on the board of Toast to Humanity and his a delegate of The Worldwide Sommelier Association based in Milan, Italy. Back to top Michael Choma Publisher of the South Florida and Naples/Ft. Myers Golfer’s Guides  Sold The Golfer’s Advantage (magazine only) to Frey Media in 1999 and became
the publisher of the South Florida Golfer’s Guide
Michael Launched the Golfer’s Advantage in 1997 which was a publication showcasing golf, entertainment and dining in the South Florida area Played professional golf for two years after attending graduate school on various golf tours throughout the US MBA from Nova Southeastern University with a specialty in Management Information Systems Undergraduate - Two years at the University of South Carolina/two years at Nova Southeastern University Back to top
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David Morrow began his career in entertainment in 1982 working with Grammy Award
winning recording artist B.J. Thomas, eventually becoming his manager. During
this time B.J. recorded two #1 Country Hits, and a #2 Country Hit, the official
theme song for The Statue of Liberty Foundation, and the theme song for the hit
ABC sitcom Growing
Pains. B.J. also toured worldwide, and made guest appearances on numerous
television shows including The
Merv Griffin Show, Good Morning America, and Solid Gold.
The
entrepreneurial bug bit Greg Salmela early in his life— experimenting
with a series of small business initiatives from as young as age ten.
Following high school, Salmela pursued an avid interest in design,
establishing a career as a graphic designer and working in senior
capacity for a number of advertising agencies. However, in 1994 Salmela
re-embraced his entrepreneurial tendencies by acquiring a design firm
called Designmode, followed in 2000 by the acquisition of a second firm
called Anno Domini, ultimately putting both companies under the single
banner of Aegis.