1,600 party for a cause at Ruvo gala

About 1,600 of the city’s movers and shakers partied at the Keep Memory Alive Power of Love gala inside a lavishly appointed MGM Grand Garden on Saturday night.

And we’re not just speaking of the Raiderettes.

But the Oakland — and soon to be Las Vegas — Raiders’ famous dance team did perform Saturday night during the 22nd annual fete, which raises operating funds for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

The event started in 1992 with a dinner at Spago at Forum Shops at Caesars honoring Lou Ruvo, father of longtime Las Vegas hospitality exec Larry Ruvo. Lou Ruvo had died that year of Alzheimer’s disease.

Led by a $5,000 donation from John Paul DeJoria, founder of Paul Mitchell hair products, the night raised $35,000. That was the seed money for what is now the downtown Las Vegas clinic named for the elder Ruvo.

“Look how far we’ve come,” Larry Ruvo said from the stage, gazing across a sea of well-heeled attendees. “We are expanding programs, expanding our reach.”

Dr. Toby Cosgrove, the Ruvo Center’s executive adviser and one of its longest-standing executives, said, “I met Larry at a half-built facility and sealed the deal in the parking lot. We’ve now had 27,000 patient visits last year, 70 clinical trials, and humanity’s best hope against diseases of an aging brain.”