FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Massachusetts Liquor and Beverage Association

Massachusetts Licensed Beverage Association

Irish Vintners Association Boston MA

CONTACT: Jim Farrell, PR First, 781-681-6616, jfarrell@prfirst.com

Massachusetts Licensed Beverage Association honors philanthropist A. Raymond Tye at Quincy meeting; organization contributes $1,000 to Tye’s Medical Fund

QUINCY AND BURLINGTON, MA, ISSUED OCTOBER 11, 2006… The Massachusetts Beverage Association (MassLBA) and Irish Vintners Association (IVA), representing more than 5,000 on-premise beverage alcohol licensees across the Commonwealth, honored area philanthropist A. Raymond Tye at their second annual Member Appreciation Night held October 11 at the Granite Links Golf Club, Quincy.

Terry Connaughton, the organization’s new Executive Director, said that the event was intended to showcase Tye’s many contributions to the alcohol and beverage industry. Additionally, the MLBA/IVA showed its appreciation for Tye’s contributions with a check in the amount of $1,000 toward the Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation.

The organization (www.raytyemedicalaidfoundation.org) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise funds to help provide medical assistance for those in need. A statement on the organization’s web page from the founder says, “From heart surgeries to separating conjoined twins, we arrange the doctors, the hospitals, and the staff for the healing and recovery process. But we need your donations to help these individuals with their medical treatments!”

Connaughton, in presenting the check from MassLBA/IVA to Raymond Tye, said, “Those of us in the restaurant and liquor industry salute both your business expertise and what you have done for the industry, as well as your strong sense of humanitarianism in helping the less fortunate. We hope that in some small way this check will help further that mission.”

Raymond Tye is remembered as the individual who built United Liquors, one of the region’s key liquor distributors. Tye sold the business to the Martignetti family earlier this year and coincidentally “passed papers" on the transaction on Oct 11, the day of the event.

The Granite Links event was sponsored in-part by the law firm Gibson & Behman, a national firm with corporate headquarters in Burlington, MA. Gibson & Behman serves as general counsel to the Massachusetts Licensed Beverage Association. Other sponsors included Hallsmith-Sysco Foodservice, Amity Insurance, and Anheuser-Busch and others.

The Irish Vintners Association under the auspices of Massachusetts Licensed Beverage Association is an organization that is dedicated to promoting the protection and profitability of the state’s on-premise beverage alcohol licensees. In the area of protection, MassLBA offers legislative advocacy for their members at the national, state and local level in addition to offering educational programs that are designed to improve member knowledge and understanding of their role in serving alcohol responsibly. In the area of profitability, MassLBA offers money-saving programs as well as a library of business resources that are intended to reduce cost and increase the bottom line profits for their members. The Irish Vintners Association can trace its history to Ireland and back hundreds of years.  The organization’s founder, Patrick Cross, owner of The Thirsty Scholar in Somerville was on hand to honor Mr. Tye.

Restaurant and tavern owners interested in additional membership information should call 781-229-0984 or visit www.masslba.org for further details. MLBA maintains offices at One Mountain Road, Burlington, MA.