Mai Tai Madness

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Guests in the Perennial Garden at The New York Botanical Garden's annual spring gala, The Conservatory Ball.

They held the fourth annual Mai Tai Madness party at Doubles -- the private club – a party for the club’s young, social crowd and it was a great success, prompting some members to exclaim it was the best one ever. The success of the evening was largely due to the planning of the clubs’ Associate Committee members who co-hosted the party: Mark Gilbertson, Heather Sargent, Alatia Bradley, Claudia Overstrom, Mary Van Pelt, and Annabelle Fowlkes.

Many dressed “Bali Hai Casual” as the invitation suggested and many others were in their best summer cocktail dresses or navy blue blazers and repp ties. Both worked because the club’s Guiding light, Wendy Carduner had leis and South Seas straw hats waiting for everyone as they passed through the portals into a Polynesian lounge, complete with swaying palm trees and cool disco music. At one table, guests that included Georgina Schaeffer, Philip Thomas, Fernanda Gilligan, Edward Barsamian and Melissa Fisher dressed like characters in “The Gossip Girls.”


	The two birthday cakes that were presented to Melanie Seymour Holland.

Among those sipping Mai Tais (what else?) or something else were Laurie Dhue, Mike Douglas, Tatiana Papanicolaou and Thorne Perkin, Cornelia Ercklentz, Andrea Donahue, Alex Overstrom and Sloan McClure, Victoria Lindgren, Laurie Ballentine, Wyn Pennington, Kristina Stewart Ward, Paige and Jeff Hardy, Laura Hill, Martha Glass, Mark Langrish, Kristen and Charlie Krusen, Caroline Rowley, Peter deNeufville, Lara Glazier, Francie Nagy and Anthony Thompson, and Elena Kornbluth.

Chef Steven Mellina prepared a delicious Southeast Asian dinner of Thai Shrimp and Asian Noodle Salad, Cashew Chicken with Baby Bok Choy and Basmati Rice, topped off with Pineapple Cake with Carmel Sauce and Coconut Gelato for dessert.

That pleased the likes of Stephanie Loeffler, Christopher Spitzmiller, Avery Broadbent, Marie Regina and Peter Sotos, Devorah Rose, Bryan Colwell, Blakely Griggs, Mark Bryant, Alexandra Pappas, Edward LaPuma, Carrie Cloud, Todd Fischer, Constance Hunter, Jared Goss, Melissa Berkelhammer, Derek Fogel, Amanda Benchley, Jeff Caldwell, Amy Dwek, Jim Doswell, Samantha Topper, Lucy Lung, Chris Angelback, Catherine Keith, Jack Gage, Kate and Andrew Earls, Laura Hill, Kelly Mallon, Roger Webster, and Jennifer Power.

A highlight of the evening was when two birthday cakes were presented to Melanie Seymour Holland who was seated at the center table with her some of her nearest and dearest including her husband David Holland, Leslie and Andrew Heaney, Alexis Waller, Nina Richter, Alison Hessert, John Sullivan, and Izumi Kajimoto. The whole club burst into song to wish this friend Many Happy Returns of the Madness. And next year, when Bali Hai calls you, answer.

Kristina Stewart Ward and Mark Gilbertson

Melanie Seymour Holland and Amy Dwek

Francie Nagy and Mike Douglas

Cornelia Ercklentz and Edward Barsamian

Mark Langrish and Elena Kornbluth

Wyn Pennington and Alexis Waller

Kevin Smith and Wendy Carduner

Christopher Spitzmiller, Victoria Lindgren, and Anthony Thompson

Paige and Jeff Hardy

Alex Overstrom and Sloan McClure

Claudia Overstrom

Constance Hunter and Peter deNeufville

Melissa Berkelhammer and Devorah Rose

Kristen and Charlie Krusen

Caroline Rowley and Avery Broadbent

Laurie Dhue

Kate Earls and Laura Hill

James Doswell, Lucy Long, Caroline Salas, and Jack Gage

Carrie Cloud and Blakely Griggs

Alyssa Tierney and Chris Angelback

Amanda Benchley and Derek Fogel

Martha Glass and Jared Goss

The New York Botanical Garden held its annual spring gala, The Conservatory Ball, at the Garden last June 5th. This ball punctuates the New York Spring Social Season. Right after it, and sometimes, immediately thereafter, many New Yorkers go into their summer mode and are off to the seaside or mountaintops.

This is a very glamorous evening, enhanced on the grandest of scales by being held there. This is why the event has long been cast as one of the top ten social events of the year. If you’ve never been to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, don’t wait much longer because it’s an awesomely beautiful environment.

The Spring Gala really has something magical about it because of this unique setting. The guests already know this in advance (many are big supporters of the Botanical) and they celebrate it.

The evening began with cocktails in the Perennial Garden, along with trams tours throughout the Garden of the outdoor sculpture exhibition by Henry Moore. Guests also enjoyed the Darwin exhibition in the Conservatory before moving to dinner and dancing in The Conservatory Tent.

Gregory Long, Nathalie Kaplan, Beth Taylor, Dorian Forshner, Cosby George, Ann Johnson, Maureen Chilton, Susan Burke, Caroline Williamson, Mary Davidson, Friederike Biggs, and Anne Rohrbach

The Ball is one of the Botanical Garden’s most important fundraising parties of the year. More than 700 guests from New York society, dressed in ball gowns and tuxedos, enter the grounds winding through flowering trees, a beautiful herb garden, and thousands of peonies. Held on 250 acres of dazzling beauty and magnificent landscape, The Conservatory Ball has also been cited as "the best dressed and most elegant evening" every year. All true.

The Gala Chairmen were Mrs. Jeremy H. Biggs, Mrs. Richard L. Chilton, Jr., Mrs. Charles B. Johnson, and Mrs. B. Robert Williamson, Jr. The Chairmen’s Committee consists of Mrs. Coleman P. Burke, Mrs. Marvin H. Davidson, Mrs. Timothy M. George, Mai Hallingby Harrison, Mrs. John S. Hilson, Mrs. Carlisle Jones, and Mrs. John R. Robinson.

Its success was no accident. Glorious Food catered and Bob Hardwick kept the dancers dancing. Robert Downs Clark designed the Conservatory Tent. All proceeds raised by the Conservatory Ball will support the core mission of the Botanical Garden, including internationally acclaimed programs in children’s education and botanical research.

Gregory Long, Maureen Chilton, Caroline Williamson, Friederike Biggs, Ann Johnson, and Nathalie Kaplan

Alex Kramer and Danny Baker

Dean Anderson and Memrie M. Lewis

Dorian and Christopher Forshner

Elizabeth Stribling and Guy Robinson

Anne and Clayton Rohrbach

Beth and Beau Taylor

Ann Johnson, Caroline Williamson, and Nathalie Kaplan

Janet Ross

Maureen and Richard Chilton with Friederike and Jeremy Biggs

Gillian Miniter and Jean Shafiroff

Lynden and Leigh Miller

Lee and Cece Black

Mary and Marvin Davidson

Stephen Henderson and Alexis Clark

Robert and Jacquie Garrett

Paul and Daisy Soros

Edward and Nathalie Kaplan

Susan Sleeper, Tina Mahaffy, Beth Taylor, Dorian Forshner, and Hollie Cutting

Sabrina and Carl Forsythe

Dennis Basso, Marjorie Gubelmann, and Scott Currie

Pia Lindstrom and Jack Carley

Deborah and Charles Royce

Jean Pierre Gagne and Justina Gagne

Joanne de Guardiola, Mark Gilbertson, and Somers Farkas

Kim Hicks and Sheila Parham

Beth Taylor and Cosby George

Christian Leone and Karen Larrain

Coleman and Susan Burke

Jay Diamond and Alexandra Lebenthal

Ann and Charles Johnson

Cosby George

Last Wednesday night the National Academy Museum held its Spring 2008 Gala Benefit, "An Evening of Art and Elegance." They honored Philip Pearlstein, NA and artist who received the Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award; Ira Spanierman, founder and managing director of Spanierman Gallery LLC who received an award for his Contribution and Commitment to the Study, Presentation, and Exhibition of Amerian Art; and Annette Blaugrund, former Director of the National Academy, who received the Academy’s Honorary Achievement Award in appreciation for her tenure as Director (1997-2007).

The Gala’s co-chairs were: Gala Chairs: Janet Y. Larose, Linda Arnold, Heide Herz, Elizabeth Farran Tozer, and Lynn Syms. Honorary Gala Chairs were: Susan Shatter, National Academy President; Will Barnet, NA, Rackstraw Downes, NA, John Driscoll Phd, Richard Estes, NA, Robert Kushner, NA, Wolf Kahn, NA, David Kapp, NA, Everett Raymond Kinstler, NA, Betty Krulik, Robert Mangold, NA, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, NA and Joan Snyder, NA.

The National Academy’s home was built as a private house by philanthropist Archer Huntington for himself and his accomplished wife Anna Hyatt Huntington.

Proceeds from the benefit the Academy’s museum and school.

Adrienne Rooney and Lee Ann Dillon

Betty Cunningham and Max Dempsey

Annette and Stanley Blaugrund

Alexandra Rosner

Beverly Sacks

Brian T. Allen

Cecily Kahn and David Kapp

Cynthia Lin and William Niemeier

Dorothy and PhilipPearlstein

David and Laura Grey

Idelle Weber with Sy and Lynn Syms

Ira M. Spanierman and Helen Spanierman

Gerald Wachs and Gail Postal

Jan Abrams and Ellen Lanyon

Mario Naves and Ming Fay

Ira Spanierman, Annette Blaugrund, and Philip Pearlstein

John Ross, Clare Romano, and Reeve Schley

Immi Storrs

Lucie Kinsolving

Rackstraw Downes

Wolf Kahn

Mary Boyle and Steven D. Horsch

Robert and Linda Arnold

Michelle and Steven Manolis

Susan Shatter, Philip Pearlstein, and Richard Haas

Will Barnet

Last Saturday night in East Hampton, on Newtown Lane at the Glenn Horowitz Bookstore Mr. Horowitz and Tracey Jackson held a booksigning for Bob Morris and his new book, Assisted Loving; True Tales of Double Dating With My Dad.

You might know Bob Morris as he has a column every couple of Sundays in the Style Section of the New York Times. Droll, are the columns. And witty in a kind of a low-key way. You first think you are reading about something sentimental and common sensical and then you find yourself laughing.

Ross Bleckner and Bob Morris

Warren St. John and Bob Morris

Assisted Loving is called a memoir, and I’m sure it is, but Bob Morris is always writing about himself and his experiences expecting just a little bit more than run of the mill and often finding that run of the mill would have been spectacular compared to what he got.

I haven’t read the book but I know a little bit about it because I know the author a little bit. The father was widowed and very lonely. And no spring chicken by any stretch. The son had never been married but was looking for Mr. Right. Somehow, don’t ask me, father-son teamed up and double-dated.


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How the “dates” handled this, I don’t know; you’ll have to read the book to find out. However, I guarantee you it will be interesting and even make you laugh, even if you think none of this could make you laugh. That’s Morris’ secret as a humorist: you get tricked into laughing and then you can’t help it.

It’s gotta be a family story because Bob is a good son (and a good uncle) and a good comic writer. And a horrible singer, although I think that’s what he loves best. I once saw him do a stand-up singing songs he’d written or lyrics he’d written (or maybe both). His accompanist was Jonathan Burnham, a major editor at Harper Collins who was quite good on the piano. Now that was interesting – an author having an editor playing piano for him while he murders a tune.

But Bob is funny. Even with his lousy singing voice he’s funny. Why? Because he’s kind of a cynic, skeptic who’s really not, even though he sounds it. And you’ll laugh at what he’s talking about because you’ve been there. Or thought you’d never wanna go there.

Bob went there. Double-dated his with old pa. Did Dad find Mrs. Right? I don’t know; you’ll have to buy the book. Did son find Mr. Right? Possibly, just possibly; although the boy is a natural born cynic, and a skeptic; so you never know. Buy the book.

Beth Rudin DeWoody

Glenn Horowitz and Jane Friedman

Michael Haverland and Martha McCully

Ross Bleckner and Eric Freeman

“Bringing Down the House” was the book. “21” was the picture it was based on. The Cinema Society screened it at an evening co-hosted by Calvin Klein Jeans. Stars galore showed up. Such as: Elle Macpherson, Clive Owen, Calvin Klein, Martha Stewart, Helena Christensen, Russell Simmons, Mary Kate Olsen, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Hana Soukupova, Mamie Gummer, Andrew McCarthy, Tom Cavanagh, Tatum O’Neal, Katrina Bowden & Lonny Ross (“30 Rock”), May Andersen, Jamie Burke, Marcus Schenkenberg.

They were riveted by the film, based on the book by Ben Mezrich, a true story of a group of MIT students who went to Las Vegas with a card-counting scheme and won millions.

The screening was at the IFC Center. After this, Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir welcomed the film’s stars Kate Bosworth and Jim Sturgess to a blackjack party and dinner which followed at the Mercer Kitchen.

Jeff Ma, the MIT student the book is based on, was on hand. Many of the guests played blackjack and drank Moet and Belvedere martinis well into the night. Among those taking their shot at the card tables were, B-52’s Fred Schneider, Amy Sacco, Maggie Rizer, Julia Stegner, Mary Alice Stephenson, Frederique Van Der Wal, Mick Rock, Irina Pantaeva, Cristina Cuomo, Charlotte Ronson, Daniel Benedict, Marisa Noel Brown, Eleanor and Jon Ylvisaker, Tiffany Dubin, Zani Gugelmann, Lucy Sykes and Euan Rellie, Alexandra Kerry, Olivia Palermo, Jessica Joffe, Johannes Huebl, Derek Blasberg, Eric Villency, Calvin Klein’s Italo Zucchelli, Kevin Carrigan and Malcolm Carfrae, and the film’s producer Dana Brunetti.