The annual Magnum holiday lunch took place on Wednesday December 11, 2024 at Bo Loong restaurant at 3922 St. Clair Ave in Cleveland. For about 20 years we have hosted this annual holiday event where we invite an eclectic group of friends and business associates for a holiday lunch. Techies, media, non-profits, politicians, business, cultural, sports - they were all represented. When asked what the diverse group of 75 guests had in common, some reflection made it clear that they, like us, love Cleveland. Most have had many opportunities to work and live in other cities. But we have all chosen to be here because we believe in the city. As the guests introduced themselves, this became evident and all were impressed by the positive outlooks expressed. Thanks to Nick Orlando of Orlando Baking Company for providing pizzelles for all the guests. Thanks to Anjan Ghose for taking these photos. This page has pictures of many of the attendees giving their elevator speech. Unfortunately we don't have speaking pictures of some of our friends who were there but some are on the next page which has some group shots and more photos.
Dan Hanson
Margaret Wong
Dick Pogue
Magda Gomez - Tri-C
Mayor Georgine Welo - South Euclid
John Lane - Winking Lizard
Emanuel Leaks - 1st Clevelander to play in NBA
Margaret Bernstein - WKYC
Suzana Cesarek - Consul General of Slovenia
Kevin Goodman - BlueBridge Networks
Lou Frangos - Greek Garden Association
Jacqueline Bon - Cleveland Museum of Art
Carl Ewing - African American Cultural Garden
Joe LaMantia - eVentus Corp.
Derick Polk - 7' Ohio State basketball star and Harlem Globetrotter
Gerry Quinn - Quinn Irish Radio
Basil Russo - Italian Sons and Daughters of America
Svetlana Stolyarova - Russian Cultural Garden
Councilman Mike Polensek
Oanh Loi-Powell - CAF and CIHF Boards
Dr. Melissa Burrows - Tri-C
George Kwan - Kwan Family Lion Dance Team
Paul Burik - Bohemian National Hall, Czech Cultural Garden
Lisa Wong - OCAGC President, CAF Co-founder
Pamela Dorazio Dean - Italian American Museum
Greg Bell - Harlem Globetrotter from Shaw HS
Joseph Meissner - Attorney, Friendship Foundation
Chia-Min Chen - City of Cleveland Asian Liaison
Ara Bagdasdarian - Solon Community Living
Dan Monroe - TV20
Aklilu Demessie - Ethiopian Community Leader
Former Councilman Tony Brancatelli
Nada Martinovics - Serbian Choir
Tariq Islam - Bangladesh community leader
Lawrence Boston - JFK HS, Drafted by NBA's Bullets in 78
Samy Tanious - CPA, Egyptian leader
John Lewis - CIHF Founding Board Member
Jim Craciun - Romanian Community
Fran Burik - Carpatho-Rusyn Society
Ingrida Bublys - Honorary Consul of Lithuania
Gia Hoa Ryan - Vietnamese Cultural Garden
Jonathan Cambouris - Greek Cultural Garden
Jose Feliciano - Hispanic Roundtable Chair
Mary Quinn - Mayo Society of Cleveland
Michael Powell - Community Volunteer
Irene Morrow - Past ANM President - and daughter Bobbi
Ying Pu - Erie Chinese Journal
Meredith Seikel - World Traveler
Michael Patterson - Margaret W Wong LLC
John Sabol - Czech Radio
Tom Kaschalk - My Cleveland History
See more pictures (Page 2) from the 2024 Magnum Holiday Lunch
Several of these people are in the Cleveland Speakers Bureau so let us know if you want to reach them for a presentation.
Want to be invited next year? Let's do some positive things together next year. Let us know what you are up to and excited about.
We hope you will sign up for our free weekly eNewsletter which focuses on Ethnic and Cultural events and information. It arrives every Tuesday and you can sign up here.
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