Happy Valentine’s Day from Fenway Health! The Fenway Gala and its predecessor events, The Men’s Event and The Dinner Party, have such a deep and romantic legacy. Today, we’d like to share one of those lovely stories of romance at the Gala in honor of Valentine’s Day.
David Brown and Benjamin Perkins first met briefly in Provincetown in the late 90s. Benjamin recalls that moment fondly. However, as they were both unavailable at the time, the conversation was nothing more than that – a pleasant conversation with a little unspoken spark. Five years later, the two men casually connected again at a Fenway Health fundraiser hosted at Dennis Duffy’s studio. This time, it was David who clearly took note of Benjamin, who was a Fenway Health employee at the time and one of the speakers at the event. David lit up as he recalled the story. Unfortunately, again it wasn’t meant to be and Benjamin moved out of town for a few years.
When Benjamin returned to Boston in 2008, the pair met up for a third time. This time, David was serving as Co-Chair for the Men’s Event along with John Basile and James Lopata. Benjamin, to re-engage back into the Boston Community, decided to join the Planning Committee. The event itself was a great success, but the greater story is how helping plan the Men’s Event – and the attending the gala itself – served as the long awaited and greatly anticipated spark that finally brought romance to David and Benjamin – and they’ve been together ever since.
Their first date was January 17, 2009 at Delfino’s in Roslindale. The following year, Benjamin served as the Co-Chair for the Men’s Event along with Rich Gardner and John Prince, and David served on the Planning Committee. They we married on August 9, 2012.
The Men’s Event – and now, The Fenway Gala – continues to be a very special experience for the happy couple. They are looking forward to attending again this year to celebrate the spark that finally brought them their happily ever after!
Congratulations David and Benjamin, and Happy Valentine’s Day!
If you and your partner have a romantic story involving any of the legacy Fenway events, we’d love to hear it here! Tag us on social media or email us at [email protected]. We’re looking forward to sharing more great romantic stories as part of this year’s event.
#RomanceAtTheGala #FenwayValentines2023