Raising Money, "Living Like Dave"

Hundreds of Dave Hartstein's family, friends, clients, and those simply touched by his life gathered at Sole East on Friday night for a celebration of his life and to raise money for his widow and three children.

Proceeds from a silent auction and raffle will benefit Heather Hartstein and her children, who have been not only burdened with grief but financial hardship since the Montauk chiropractor in June.

For an entrance fee guests enjoyed gourmet food and drink donated by local restaurants. Attendees bid on a silent auction items that included beauty packages, wine baskets, fashion, and a bright red guitar signed by Bruce Springsteen.

Nancy Atlas and Friends played sets of soft-rock covers as the sun set on Sole East, the Hartsteins house just a few properties away. By the trees sat a large monitor, playing a montage of Dave's candid and private moments with friends and his three children.

"He was loved by a lot of people, touched a lot of people, figuratively and literally," said J.R. Kuneth, Dave's best friend of nine years. Kuneth was one of the principal organizers of the event. "No matter who he touched, whether it was in life or in his office, he touched them with compassion… strength, with softness and with delicacy."

Before Dave's death the Hartsteins had participated in an about middle-class families struggling under the weight of the recession. Dave's in East Hampton and Montauk were successful, but became dormant in the winter months. The Hartsteins were facing foreclosure, and when their third child Shane was born with a genetic disease medical bills began to pile up.

"Everybody knows that whatever money they lay down is going to help a lot of people," Lon Parisi, who lives in New York City, said. Parisi did not know the family directly, but attended the event as a friend of a friend. "A lot of people are here for the right cause, they are not looking in the past but looking forward."

Despite a tragedy that left a family fatherless a month before, the mood of the evening was warm and positive, even joyous. The benefit was dubbed "Live Like Dave." For many who knew Dave professionally or indirectly, helping the family and paying respects was not just a good deed, but a necessity.

"When we heard about this, we said we have to go, we have to be there," said Barbara Gerard, who lives in East Hampton with her husband Sam Muggeo. The two were a client of Dave's. "Foreclosure… that's the worst. Not at 35," she said.

Dave's father-in-law, Tom Martin still has trouble making sense of Dave's sudden passing. But he, like others close to Dave, said he finds solace in the positive energy of the community.

"I see a lot of people saying, 'I hope if something like that happens to me, people will step up like this,'" Martin said. "Things like this show that people, not just the moment they hear it, but afterwards, when they have to put hours and time and energy into solving problems, [there is] an enormous amount of generosity."

At the apex of the evening Heather took the mic to thank guests. Choking back tears she introduced the chiropractor she had chosen Keith Duverney to take over her late husband's practice, reminding her community the importance of continue Dave's legacy of treatment, to help the community heal their pain, and their grief.