They were doing the time warp at the Hippo nightclub a couple of weeks ago, at the Moveable Feast's annual shindig. The place was transformed into a 1930s-style club, dubbed "Havana Moon." Swanky decorations and Doc Scantlin and his Imperial Palms Orchestra, complete with chanteuse and showgirls, made you feel as if you'd stepped onto the set of a Fred and Ginger movie. And then there was the crowd of more than 340 swells, which included the likes of Dan Proctor, Steve Schwartzman, Vic Basile, Rhea Feikin, Phil Cooper, Carole and Bean Sibel, Chuck Bowers, Nan Rosenthal, Michael Driscoll, Lawrence Doane, Curt Decker, Mary Dempsey, Jim Spellissy, John Yuhanick and Jack Kardos.
The big hit of the evening was very much a "woman" of this turn of the century. D.C.'s popular drag comedian "Ester Goldberg" (aka Michael Airington) whipped the crowd into shape the way only a good mother can do as the evening's auctioneer. The soiree raised some $57,000 for Moveable Feast's programs for homebound HIV / AIDS patients and their families. It's enough to make a mom proud.
The folks over at St. Agnes HealthCare also took a step back in time, though not quite so far back. They decided to forgo their usual black-tie gala in favor of a looser hoopla. So they renamed their annual fund-raiser "Move and Groove With St. Agnes HealthCare -- Dancing to the Sounds of the '50s to the '80s."
Jeff Pecore, the hospital's attorney, says the idea was to get a bigger cross section of people and to make the evening more fun. Sounds like the idea worked. Jeff says 700 folks showed up at the Martin's West hullabaloo, many in '50s, '60s and '70s attire. And, he says, many stayed on the dance floor right up until the evening's end. Jeff oughta know. He was a guitarist in the band H & The Beatle Maniacs. So were a couple of other St. Agnes staffers: internists Al Reisinger (lead guitar) and Lynn Alonso (singer). Jeff says the nine other band members don't actually work for St. Agnes but have strong ties to the hospital.
"All of us grew up in Catonsville," Jeff explains. "St. Agnes is the hospital where all our families have gone through the years. So it was nice to do something for it."
Speaking of something nice, the party raised about $45,000 for St. Agnes.
Similar warm fuzzies were expressed for another local hospital at its first annual black tie gala. Some 600 folks gathered at the Hyatt Regency for "A Gala Evening With the Duke Ellington Orchestra" in honor of Bon Secours Baltimore Health System. Bon Secours' Phyllis Reese says the night was fantastic.
"It brought memories back to many people. Many who came had been born at the hospital," she says, "so we were primed for nostalgia."
Some faces Phyllis spotted in the crowd: Donald and Peggy Hutchinson, Stephanie McCutcheon, Phil and Eileen Toohey, Percy and Fay Allen, Dr. Ravi Krishnan, Dr. Usha Jain, Arnold and Vergie Williams, Dan Kohlhater and Sister Alice M. Talone.
Phyllis says everyone got a bit emotional when emcee WBAL-TV news anchor Sade Baderinwa talked about how much the hospital has done to improve its neighborhood in Southwest Baltimore, renovating more than 100 houses in the area, and providing health care and emotional support to residents dealing with drug addiction and AIDS.
The gala grossed some $200,000 for Bon Secours.
Meanwhile, Hands Across the Americas held its second annual fund-raiser, "The Hope Gala 2002," recently. And a resounding success it was, raising some $40,000 for the group to aid children living in extreme poverty in the Americas. Some 170 local folks, like party chairs Santiago and Marta Padilla, Lorenzo and Marta Di Casagrande, Ron and Isabel Rattell, Ivan and Laura Gracia, Sheldon and Arlene Bearman, Luis and Nellie Rivera, Michael and Christine Pierre and Jose and Betty Albornoz, turned out at Chestnut Ridge Country Club. The organization's Jennifer Diamond says one of the evening's most memorable moments came during dinner, when some Peruvian children performed their country's folk dances.
A highlight at Book Bash 2002 was when honorary author chair Alice McDermott read a passage from her latest book, "Child of My Heart." Event committee member Caryn Sagal says about 650 people roamed the Shops at Kenilworth, sampling goodies from about 20 local restaurants and chatting with the many authors who were there. Book Bash raised around $63,000 for Literacy Works.
And then there was the "high" point during the live auction at Baltimore Country Club's Mission of Mercy Gala 2002. Party chairwoman Harriet Perrelli says it happened when guest Father George Restrepo scratched his head and inadvertently raised the ante for a dinner cooked at home by a chef to $1,500. Harriet says it came as quite a relief to Father George when dinner went to someone else, for $1,700. After that, she noted, he sat on his hands. Good thing lots of the other 154 guests didn't. The party raised more than $70,000 for Mission of Mercy programs, which provide free medical and dental care to the poor in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Social Calendar
Nov. 25: Star Chefs of Baltimore. Benefits March of Dimes Maryland Chapter. Wine, cash bar, food stations from more than 25 local restaurants, live music. Hyatt Regency Baltimore, 300 Light St. 6 p.m. Tickets $100 at the door. Call 410-752-7990.
Nov. 30: Oldies but Goodies Dance. Benefits Great Blacks in Wax Museum. BYOB, potluck, D.J., dancing, karaoke, museum tours. Great Blacks in Wax Museum, 1601 E. North Ave. 9 p.m. Tickets $20 in advance and at the door. Call 410-563-7809, Ext. 105, or 410-563-3404.
Maryland Art Place
It was an evening to indulge the senses, with things to see, taste and hear at "I [HEART] MAP!" -- the annual benefit for Maryland Art Place.
During the cocktail hour, some 275 art lovers took in all the sights -- dozens of creations by Maryland artists displayed on MAP's walls. Most everything was available to the night's highest bidder, in either the silent auction or a rousing live auction. Later, a dinner buffet offered a range of gustatory choices -- a variety of sliced meats, pastas and salads. Finally, the evening's sensory agenda moved from edible to audible as a D. J. revved up the crowd and got them rocking on the dance floor.
Among those enjoying the sensational evening: Suzi Cordish, Maryland Art Place board chair; Karen Bokram, board president; Samuel Polakoff, Brookes Amiot, Jack Hoffberger, David Nevins and Allison Parker, board members; Julie Ann Cavnor, executive director; Betty Cooke and Bill Steinmetz, Fredye and Adam Gross, Martha Macks-Kahn and Peter Kahn, Mary Ann Mears and Bob Embry, Terry Morganthaler and Patrick Kerins, Edward and Kate Norris and Donna Schaefer and Dean Alexander, event honorees; Debra Rubino, Goucher College vice president of communications; Mary McNally, Deutsche Bank sales agent; Lee Kappelman, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra corporate and foundation support director; Costas Grimaldis, C. Grimaldis Gallery owner; Susan Sutton, Johns Hopkins Medicine principal gifts director; George Holback, Cho Benn Holback + Associates principal; Barbara Shapiro, community volunteer; Michael Ross, Center Stage managing director; Daryl Sidle, Baxter Baker Sidle & Conn partner; Carter Arnot, Baltimore School for the Arts associate development director; Brian Lawrence, Style magazine editor; Jodi Hume, GWWO Architects senior associate; Howard Jachman, Insurance Incorporated vice president; Dr. Pam Griffin-Smith, Loyola College Counseling Center associate director; Shellie Curry, Fishman Curry Architects principal; Dr. Amy Caplan, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center anesthesiologist; and Rex Rudd, Rudd Construction Co. president.
The evening raised about $95,000 for Maryland Art Place.
To Our Readers
Wedding announcements and the Just Married column will not appear today. Both features will return next week.