Who Will Be Houston’s Man of the Year?

What: American Cancer Society‘s Real Men Wear Pink campaign reveal party

Where: M Penner in Uptown Park

PC Moment: Of the 60 prominent Houston gents who have signed on to wear pink every day in October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 17 dapper dans took to the catwalk for the candidate reveal and to start the fundraising rolling. Each man has committed to raising a minimum $2,500 and the guy who raises the most will be crowned Man of the Year.

Leisa Holland-Nelson and her son-in-law, Ben Rose, are chairing the campaign, created not only to raise funds for the American Cancer Society but also to acknowledge that breast cancer affects not only 240,000 women a year but also thousands of men. The duo had set a goal of raising $100,000 but even before the party started, $75,000 had been committed and another $10,000 was secured at the cocktail/fashion fête. So Holland-Nelson and Rose upped the ante with expectations of raising $150,000 for the American Cancer Society’s educational and research programs.

Of the candidates on hand on this evening were Brad Marks, Jason Cage, Benny Gates, Bill Baldwin, Bruce Padilla, Dan D’Armond, David Peck, Joe Davis, Joe Francisco, Danny Klaes, Thomas Roberts, Steve Winter and, perhaps most impressively, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo.

Who: Ellie and Michael Francisco, Cyndy Garza Roberts, Monica and Joe Casiano, Robin Klaes, Shelly Reeves, Vicki Merwin, Ileana and Michael Trevino, Lisa Appleby, Ginger Baldwin, Frank Tsuru, Melissa Edwards, Shelby Kibodeaux, Sandy Barrett and style show production team Tamara Klosz Bonar and Lenny Matuszewski.