Nov. 7--It all gets down to whom you know.
That's how the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition snagged former "ER" star Gloria Reuben for its We Can fundraiser Thursday at the Pond House Cafe in West Hartford.
The short version of the story is that community health worker Danielle Warren-Davis crossed paths with the "ER" star in Washington when both were advocating for AIDS awareness. Striking up a conversation was extra easy because Warren-Davis graduated from Weaver High School with Reuben's former "ER" co-star Eriq LaSalle. So when the coalition's We Can (Women End the Course of AIDS Now) group was looking for a speaker for its annual program, Warren-Davis cleared the way to sign up Reuben for the event.
CARC's executive director, John Merz, looking extra svelte, thanks to a daily spinning and running regime, was star-struck when Reuben arrived in her limo and headed inside. Since her "ER" days, Reuben, who played physician's assistant Jeanie Boulet, has gone on to perform with Tina Turner's concert tour and now appears on TNT's "Raising the Bar."
The event was sold out, and many familiar faces showed up, including State Sen. Jonathan Harris, D- 5th District, and his bride, Lucy Morin, and entrepreneur Joel Fried, who has not been seen out and about in these parts lately, in part because of his new business idea -- beef jerky.
"We are getting all the FDA approvals now and will be producing it in Canton," said Fried, kidding that he is the only vegetarian he knows who is interested in beef jerky. "I started a software company in an hour, but they are telling me it will be three or four months before we can get this going."
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