The National Audubon Society to honor Louis Bacon and George Archibald at the organization’s first gala to jointly award the Audubon Medal and the inaugural Dan W. Lufkin Prize for Environmental Leadership.

The Event will be hosted by Tom Brokaw with a special performance by Bette Midler

WHO:                   Tom Brokaw, Glenn Close & David Shaw, Ed Norton, Allison Rockefeller, Susan Sarandon, Marianne & John K. Castle, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, Eva & Glenn Dubin, Elaine & Ken Langone, Gabrielle Bacon, Bette Midler, Cynthia & Dan W. Lufkin, Sonia & Paul Tudor Jones II, Laura Turner Seydel, Rutherford Seydel,  Jeff Trandahl, Lucy & Mike Danziger, Heather Henson, Sharon Handler & John Loeb, Zack Bacon, Rhett Turner, Abigail Lufkin, Alison Lufkin Faber, Elise Lufkin Galpin, Margaret Lufkin Bishop, Pat Noonan, Nathaniel Pryor Reed, Lillian & Norman Peck, John Peterson Myers, Ph.D., Regina Phelps, Elaine & Ralph Crocker, Sukey & Michael Novogratz, Daphne & Ernest Scalamandre, Liza & John Nugent, Ron Liebowitz, David Yarnold

WHAT:                 The National Audubon Society, one the world’s oldest and best-known conservation organization, will honor two exceptional conservationists for their environmental leadership and lifetime commitment to the environment at the National Audubon Society Gala Dinner at the Plaza Hotel Ballroom on January 17^th, 2013. Tom Brokaw will serve as the event’s Master of Ceremonies and will help present Louis Bacon with the Audubon Medal, and George Archibald with the inaugural Dan W. Lufkin Prize for Environmental Leadership. The Lufkin Prize of $100,000 is the largest award in environmental recognition. Following the award ceremony there will be a special performance by Bette Midler.

The National Audubon Society mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity. For more than a century, the Audubon Society has built a legacy of conservation success by mobilizing the strength of its network of members, 465 Audubon Chapters, 50 Audubon Centers, state offices and dedicated professional staff to connect people with nature and the power to protect it. Audubon is building on its legacy to become a transformative force for conservation in the 21^st century, bringing together a powerful combination of science, education and policy expertise in efforts ranging from protection and restoration of local habitats to the implementation of policies that safeguard birds, other wildlife and the resources that sustain us all—in the U.S. and across the Americas.  The Audubon Society is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information or to become a member, please visit http://www.audubon.org/

WHERE:                The Plaza Hotel | 768 Fifth Avenue at 58^th Street | NYC

WHEN:                   Thursday, January 17^th, 2013  

RSVP:                     Cristin Klein | klein@sunshinesachs.com | 212-691-2800