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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
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Pretty in Pink

It takes a real man to wear pink,especially at a hockey game.

Honda Center Chief Executive Tim Ryan says he’s gotten his share of stares for sporting a pink tie at major events at the arena, home to the Anaheim Ducks.

“The pink tie raises a few eyebrows,” Ryan said. “Most guys aren’t just going to wear a pink tie by choice.”

It isn’t just a fashion statement for the outdoorsy executive. He’s one of seven Pink Tie Guys chosen each year by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s Orange County chapter.

The Pink Tie Guys are well-connected, high-profile businessmen who each spend a year raising awareness for breast cancer. Seven are chosen because one in seven OC women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes.

Besides Ryan, this year’s Pink Tie Guys are: Barry Arbuckle, chief executive of hospital operator MemorialCare Medical Centers; Wylie Aitken, founding partner of law firm Aitken, Aitken & Cohn; Michael Drake, University of California, Irvine, chancellor; Max Gardner, president of apartment communities for The Irvine Company; Gregory Mech, managing director of the Western division of Merrill Lynch & Co.; and Steven Pal, vice president of global marketing for Allergan Inc.

Former Orange County Register chief executive and publisher Chris Anderson and his wife Aletha came up with the Pink Tie Guys three years ago.

“We were trying to figure out a way to get men a little more involved,” Anderson said.

Raising money for breast cancer research has been a female-driven effort with noticeable names such as Reese Witherspoon and the cast of “Desperate Housewives” championing the cause.

“Men need to be aware of this,” Anderson said. “The incidence of breast cancer seems to be way too high.”


Ties from Saks

Aletha Anderson came up with the idea for pink ties, which are donated by Saks Fifth Avenue.






At 2007 Pink Tie Ball: Laurie Krause (left), Don Crevier, Bob Topp, Dorothy Topp

Wearing a pink tie spreads awareness with no heavy lifting on the part of the business leader, Chris Anderson said. It doesn’t come with the responsibilities of serving on a board. That’s a plus for the Pink Tie Guys who already have a lot on their plates.

The Pink Tie Guys aren’t expected to give money either.

“It’s pretty straightforward,” Anderson said. “They get a tie and are encouraged to wear it.”

Former Pink Tie Guy Ed Arnold, newscaster for KOCE-TV’s “Real Orange,” wears his pink tie on the air.

“During Race for the Cure, I try to wear one on each of the shows,” he said.

Race for the Cure is an annual fundraising campaign that culminates in a 5K run/walk in cities around the nation.

Breast cancer is more than just an abstract cause for Arnold. He has a close friend who is battling breast cancer.

Pink Tie Guys often seek out more pastel accessories. Arbuckle recently went shopping online and bought himself a pricey pink bowtie from a London store to wear to the upcoming Pink Tie Ball.

“I tend to wear a lot of loud ties anyway,” Arbuckle said.


Hoping to Raise $500,000

At April’s ball at Soka University, Komen hopes to raise $500,000. Its first ball last year raised $400,000.

Pink Tie Guy Arnold is the master of ceremonies for the black tie event that includes a catered cocktail reception, three-course dinner, dancing and entertainment. Seventy-five percent of money raised will support local programs focused on breast health for medically underserved populations and 25% will fund national breast cancer research.

Komen directs $1.3 million in grants to various groups that work with ethnic communities, including Hispanic, Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese. Much of the money, in the form of grants, goes to teaching the importance of early detection and self-exams.

“We work with a variety of clinics to help pay for diagnostics,” said Lisa Wolter, executive director of Komen OC.

Komen OC’s yearly revenue is about $3.8 million, of which 75% stays local. About $400,000 is reserved to help women pay for a mammogram if they don’t have healthcare insurance.

The group is one of the top 10 Komen affiliates when it comes to raising money.

In California, an estimated 20,080 new cases of breast cancer are expected this year.

Nationally, the incidences of breast cancer have gone down. In 2004, there were 215,990 people diagnosed with breast cancer. Today the estimated number of cases is 182,460.

OC breast cancer rates have gone down as well. In 2000, the rate was 87 cases per 100,000 women. In 2005, it was 79 cases per 100,000.

“We don’t have a way to prevent breast cancer,” Wolter said, but the five-year survival rate has moved from 74% in 1982 to 98% today.

In California, more than 270,000 women, or three out of 100 women older than 40, are breast cancer survivors, according to the Cancer Registry.

There are 2.4 million breast cancer survivors nationally.

“Breast cancer survivors are now the largest group of cancer survivors in the U.S.,” Wolter said.

Modern treatment includes an array of new drug therapies, lumpectomies and radiation.

Former Pink Tie Guy Donnie Crevier, owner of Crevier BMW, said his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and had both of her breasts removed. She died 12 years ago of lung cancer.

Some Pink Tie Guys get involved with Komen OC because of personal stories like that. Others are recruited by Anderson and Komen representatives.

Allergan’s Pal decided to get involved in the local affiliate after hearing one of its representatives speak at an Allergan quarterly meeting. The company’s breast implant division invited the speaker from Komen.

“She was motivating and inspiring,” Pal said.

Next thing he knew, he was a Pink Tie Guy.

“If we can’t support them, I don’t know who should,” he said. “It makes a lot of sense for us to be involved.”

Pal said his company has been sponsoring a Race for the Cure team for years.


Pink Prospects

Next year new Pink Tie Guys will be chosen. Anderson, who helps find Pink Tie Guy prospects, has a list of people he’d like to invite. He also tries to keep the men informed so they know what they are raising awareness for.

He hosted an educational breakfast for the Pink Tie Guys at the Center Club in Costa Mesa.

Anderson hopes that one day the Pink Tie Guys will be so well known and so appealing that guys will be calling him and saying: “sign me up.”

For now, his 2008 recruits are working to promote that image, one pink tie at a time.

“It spurs a conversation,” Honda Center’s Ryan said. “If one woman’s life is saved because I wore a pink tie, then it’s worth it.”

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