Tents framed the entrance to Meyerhoff Symphony Hall for "The Magic of Life Gala," the biannual fundraiser for LifeBridge Health. Inside the tents and the Meyerhoff's lobby, guests were greeted by event chairs Joseph and Annette Cooper, Jon and Susan Levinson and John and Laura Shmerler. With more than 1,000 guests in attendance, that meant lots of hugs and air kisses.
Lucky recipients included: Lowell R. Glazer, Sinai Hospital board chairman; Neil Meltzer, Sinai Hospital president, and wife Ellen Meltzer, private tutor; Henry Rosenberg, Rosemore Inc. chairman, and wife Dot Rosenberg; retired W.B. Doner & Co. chairman/CEO Herb Fried and wife,Nikki Fried; Wil Sirota, LifeBridge board member; Alexis Vandernat, Long & Foster real estate agent; Louis Thalheimer, Lord Baltimore Capital CEO, and wife Juliet Eurich, Alvin & Fanny B. Thalheimer Foundation executive director; Nan Rosenthal, Baltimore-based public relations consultant; Dr. Larry Becker, semiretired orthopedic surgeon, and wife Alma Becker; and Michele Lax, the Pearlstone Conference Center president, and husband Barry Garber, Sinai Hospital board member.
The gussied-up guests browsed a series of food stations and bars in a pre-show reception before the evening's highlight — a performance by 2007 "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks.
Event committee member Carole Sibel — there with husband Bean Sibel, Baltimore County Revenue Authority chairman — offered a little inside scoop.
"Everybody's also really excited about Sarge. He's supposed to be hilarious," she said, referring to the comedian who would be the evening's opening act. Meanwhile, Sarge was chatting with guests in the Meyerhoff lobby, several of whom had been present at a private donor party the night before, where he had also performed. One couple approached, the woman telling Sarge, "You were great last night." The performer shot back, "Don't say that in front of your husband!"
Meanwhile, Warren Green, LifeBridge Health CEO, his wife, Sharon Green, and Ronnie Footlick, LifeBridge Health board chairwoman, had yet another reason for excitement — the $3,007,500 raised by the gala.
"It's spectacular. I think it will make this is the most successful gala of its kind in the history of Baltimore," said Green.
"I am busting my buttons with pride," added a beaming Footlick.
Sloane Brown can be contacted at sloane@sloanebrown.com.