ECAN Reveals 24 Broadcast Contestants for Charm City Celebrity Game Night

BALTIMORE – The following broadcast teams will match wits during live game shows at ECAN’s (Esophageal Cancer Action Network) Charm City Celebrity Game Night fundraiser, Saturday, Apr. 9, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel:

WJZ-TV-Denise Koch (Anchor, Eyewitness News at 4:30, 6 and 11 p.m.)-Marty Bass (Anchor, Rise and Shine/Morning Edition, and Weathercaster)-Ron Matz (General Assignment Reporter and Guest Personality on The Morning Edition)

ABC2 NEWS
-Jamie Costello (Anchor)-Kelly Swoope (Anchor)
-Wyatt Everhart (Chief Meteorologist)

FOX 45-Patrice Sanders (Morning Anchor)-Tom Rodgers (Morning Co-anchor)-Larry Collins (Morning Reporter)

HEARST (98 ROCK/WBAL-TV)-Justin (98 Rock: Morning)-Amelia (98 Rock: Midday)-Max Weiss (WBAL-TV film critic and managing editor of Baltimore Magazine)

MPT
-John Davis (Creator, Host, Executive Producer, MotorWeek)
-Maggie Linton (MPT Pledge Talent and Host & Executive Producer, Maggie Linton Show SiriusXM Radio at Sirius XM Radio Inc.)
-Charles Robinson III (Correspondent, State Circle and Your Money & Business)

TODAY'S 101.9
-Greg Carpenter (Co-host, The Get Up & Go Morning Show)
-Gina Crash (Co-host, The Get Up & Go Morning Show)-Jimi Roberts (Host, Jimi – weekday afternoons)

MIX 106.5-Reagan Warfield (Host, Mix Mornings with Reagan & Jon)-Maria Dennis (Midday Host)-Jon Boesche (Spokesperson)

WYPR-Tom Hall (Program Host, Maryland Morning)-Aaron Henkin (Producer, Out of the Blocks, and director, new local programming)
-Joel McCord (News Director)

Before a live studio audience made up of hundreds of guests, the teams will join ECAN in the fight to take Esophageal Cancer “down to the buzzer,” playing such games as: Charm City Charades, Guess That Local Figure, TV ID and Born in Maryland.

They will compete for the Jerry Turner Memorial Trophy in memory of the beloved veteran Baltimore news anchor who passed away from Esophageal Cancer in 1987 when he was just 57. Turner’s son, Mac Joiner, and his wife, Angie, serve on the Charm City Celebrity Game Night committee and Turner’s family will join in the festivities.

“We are planning a heartfelt but hilariously quizzical evening in tribute Jerry Turner with the hope that we can shine a light on this deadly disease and save some lives,” said ECAN President and CEO Mindy Mintz Mordecai, a former TV and radio broadcaster herself who founded the national non-profit organization after losing her husband and the father of their two young daughters to Esophageal Cancer in 2008.

WJZ-TV’s Denise Koch, who shared the anchor desk with Turner, is the honorary chair of Charm City Celebrity Game Night. Emmy-Winning Actor and Writer David DeBoy will serve as emcee. Longtime ECAN supporters, Lois and Ken Stern (owners of Maryland Productions) are the event chairs.

The festive casual evening kicks off at 7 p.m. with a VIP reception where guests can mingle with the celebrity contestants while sampling cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and watching the sunset over the Inner Harbor.

The main event will take place from 8 to 11 p.m., with guests serving as the live studio audience for a Baltimore version of Hollywood Game Night. Each broadcast team will be complemented by an additional team member who can win their coveted spot in a raffle at the event.


Adding to the fun, guests can enjoy the Marriott Waterfront’s creative twist on the kind of food and drinks we might crave while watching TV at home. They also can bid in the live auction on rare opportunities and experiences including:

• VIP tickets for 4 to a Wheel of Fortune taping at Sony Studios in Culver City, CA,
• Behind the scenes tour of Public Television’s Emmy-winning MotorWeek, including a test drive and lunch with host John Davis,
• Exclusive, private tour of the West Wing for 4,
• Opportunity for your child to spend the morning with FOX45’s Meteorologist Jonathan Myers and present his/her own live weather report on the air! Orioles Game Day experience with WJZ Sports Anchor Mark Viviano,
• Pimlico’s Black Eyed Susan Day VIP experience with WJZ’s Denise Koch,
• Host a party for 12 in the Presidential Bowling Alley in our Nation’s Capital,
• Sightseeing in Annapolis with ABC2’s Jamie Costello including lunch at the Iron Rooster,
• Private Cooking Lesson with renowned foodie and WBAL-TV anchor Donna Hamilton and Chef Jerry Edwards of Chef’s Expressions and Wine Express,
• Whiskey Tasting and Food Pairing for eight with ABC2’s Wyatt Everhart at Fazzini’s Taverna, and
• Hour of Mixed Martial Arts training with Jon Rallo & 98 Rock Personality Justin Schlegel.

Event proceeds will raise awareness and critically needed funds to combat Esophageal Cancer, which takes the life of one American every 36 minutes.

Diagnoses are up more than 600 percent in the past 35 years and the type of Esophageal Cancer increasing so rapidly in the United States is usually caused by reflux disease – which can cause heartburn and many other common symptoms like persistent coughing, hoarseness or sore throat.

Tickets are $200/person for admission to the main event and VIP reception and $125/person for the main event alone. Corporate sponsorships are available. For tickets, sponsorships or more information, visit www.charmcitycelebritygamenight.org or call 410.358.ECAN (3226).

ABOUT ECANECAN’s mission is to save lives by increasing awareness of the link between reflux disease and cancer, promoting early detection and supporting medical innovation to prevent, detect, treat and cure Esophageal Cancer. The Baltimore-based national non-profit organization is led by a board of directors of top physicians, business leaders and families that have been touched by the disease.

Through ECAN’s efforts, April has been formally designated as Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month across the United States. ECAN also published an innovative Guide for Patients with input from leading doctors across the nation, and it successfully advocated with the National Cancer Institute to include Esophageal Cancer in its groundbreaking genome mapping project known as The Cancer Genome Atlas. For more information, visit www.ECAN.org.