About 150 people celebrated a dream come true for a Phoenix girl at the third annual Make-A-Wish Star Ball. Last summer, the mid-Atlantic chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation arranged for Whitney Newland, who is fighting leukemia, to fly to California to meet the man of her dreams, mega-movie star Leonardo DiCaprio.

At the Greenspring Valley Hunt Club gala, the 8-year-old guest of honor danced and dined the night away, as did many in the grown-up set, which included Bill Tartikoff, chairman of the foundation's board; Debra Greenblatt, president of Wish Friends Inc.; event chair Carol Lee Miller; committee members Annette Paterakis and Christine Pitcher; Tom Obrecht, president of P.F. Obrecht and Son; Mary Ann Gray, director of Mid Atlantic Venture Association; Exinia Howell, nurse recruiter for CCN Inc.; and Bill Boykin, principal at BT Alex. Brown.

The party raised $56,000 to help Make-A-Wish fulfill the wishes of more than 11 other Baltimore-area children fighting life-threatening illnesses.