You can’t accuse alcoholics of not being able to clean up, suit up and show up. And nowhere was this more evident than at the 10th annual Promises polo match on Saturday, September 26th held at Will Rogers State Park in Pasadena, California.
Men and women dressed in their polo best—people you’d swear, if you couldn’t see the sleeve tattoos decorating their arms, had never done anything naughtier than sneak extra sugar into their lemonade—watched the match and mixed it up over sandwiches, salads, cupcakes and ice cream.
With temperatures soaring near the triple figures but a welcome breeze occasionally sweeping its way in, guests also bid in the auction. Among the items that went were two tickets to the premiere of the next Hunger Games and a Fender Stratocaster signed by Joe Walsh of the Eagles.
The event, which raises money for Miriam’s House, a recovery home for low-income women and their kids, also sold tables for as much as $50,000 and general tickets for $250. With reps from various rehabs and Sober Livings—including Jaywalker Lodge, Pasadena Recovery Center and Malibu Beach Sober Living, among many others—in the crowd, perennial host Pat O’Brien served as Master of Ceremonies. “I’ve spent time at Miriam’s House and it’s a delight to see how happy and sober the moms were,” O’Brien said. “This cause is so important because Miriam’s House is entirely dependent on the public’s donations.”
O’Brien was also on hand to support his friend, attorney Carey Caruso, who accepted an award for exceptional work in the field of recovery along with interventionist John Southworth and physician Timothy Pylko.
Also mingling among the crowd was comedian Richard Lewis. “I’ve been coming every year that I’ve been in town,” Lewis said. “I heard one mumble that I was the second Jew ever to see a polo match.”
This year was especially significant for Lewis because of the fact that Caruso was being honored. “He’s one of the nicest guys and helped me get sober almost 21 years ago,” Lewis said. Showing up, Lewis joked, was no small feat. “I’m allergic to horses and alcohol. And drugs. And sex and food,” he said. “You want me to go on? I could alphabetize it and we could be here forever.”
Photo courtesy of Mary Patterson Broome
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