8.30.11: Festive in Flip Flops | New York Social Diary

Festive in Flip Flops

Sunset cocktails at the Bridgehampton Tennis and Surf Club.

On a perfect pre-Irene August evening with soft ocean breezes, clear skies filled with a thousand stars and a lemon-wedge moon, 250 guests joined Co-Chairmen Sherri Abruzzese and Gopa Dobson and Gold Sponsors Joe Abruzzese of Discovery Communications and Bill Koenigsberg of Horizon Media and Emcee and “Royal Pains” star Mark Feuerstein for the American Cancer Society (ACS)’s Festive In Flip Flops at the Bridgehampton Tennis and Surf Club. It was a magical evening of sunset cocktails on the deck, scrumptious food by Robbins Wolfe Eventeurs and dancing to live music by The Touch.

Best of all, the event raised over $200,000 to support the ACS’s efforts on Long Island including the North and South Forks!

A pail of flip-flops as the table centerpiece

The event was not only festive but also summertime fashionable. There were more Louboutins than flip flops but the centerpieces were sand pails holding FlipOut sandals' flip flops for guests to slip on when they were ready to ‘get down’ on the dance floor or to stargaze on the beach.

Gopa Dobson wore a Ralph Lauren strapless bright blue chiffon dress; Sherri Abruzzese chose a beautiful white sheath with gold floral appliqués, matching gold earrings; Sharon Bush wore vintage Pucci; Jean Shafiroff was in a one-shoulder, red goddess dress and ACS’s Senior Vice President Mady Schuman wore a Zoran bronze and cooper silk evening pants ensemble. Among the men, Mark’s father Harvey Feuerstein took the prize in a pink suit, turquoise shirt and orange tie. Joe Abruzzese wore a sherbet green sport jacket.

Dan and Juliette Hahn with Joe, Ali, and Melissa Abruzzese

There were very successful silent and live auctions and nobody forgot the main reason why they were there. Festive in Flip Flops was a way to recognize the ACS and support its critical programs and services on Long Island. Sherri Abruzzese told how she became a chairman. She was invited by the Society at the same time her best friend Gail Muszynski contracted the disease. Sherri agreed to Co-Chair if her friend would agree to attend the event.

Last year, the Society helped over 1,100 breast cancer patients with one-on-one support through its “Reach to Recovery” program. Every August, Camp Adventure on Shelter Island hosts 150 children at a free sleep-away camp for young cancer patients and their siblings. Teenaged cancer survivor Matthew Pitera got a standing ovation for his narration of his anti-cancer therapy and his experiences at Camp Adventure. Also, ACS has six active grants at two Long Island research facilities: Stony Brook University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories.

Jason McCarty, Dianna McCarty, Scott Vallary, Ann Liguori, and Sharon Bush

Many of the guests were part of the Cable TV industry: Not only Feuerstein, Abruzzese and Koenigsberg but also silver sponsors Buddy Valastro from “Cake Boss,” Ronnie Rothstein from “Say Yes to the Dress,” sports broadcaster Ann Liguori, and VivaKi’s Jack Klues; B. Smith with her husband Dan Gasby and Turner Broadcasting’s Greg D’Alba and David Levy.

Other guests included Silver Sponsors: Joseph Smith representing Bobby Van’s and Mary and Michael Levine; as well as Jay Dobson, Audrey Feuerstein, Dana Klein, Beth Landman, Ellie and James Libby,Joy Marks, Adam Muszynski, Jamie Pacheco, Rick Passarelli, Alex Pitera, Martin Shafiroff, Carmen Marc Valvo, Shari Vermeulen, and ACS’s Sylvia Diaz.

Festive in Flip Flops will be back next year. Hope you can join in the fun and good work.

Cindy Grauer, Emma McGrattan, Sylvia Diaz, Leslie Anderson, and Debbie Taylor

Jerry and Adrianne Cohen

Ronnie Rothstein, Rick Passarelli, and Joseph Smith

Joe Abruzzese, Myra Weiser, and Dr. Frank Weiser

Harvey and Mark Feuerstein

Bill Koenigsberg, Buddy Valastro, and Joe Abruzzese

Jean and Martin Shafiroff

James and Ellie Libby

Gopa Dobson, John Sitz, and Beth Landman

Erica and John Ohrn with Jay and Gopa Dobson

Sharon Bush and Dana Klein

Martin and Mary Puris

Beth Latorre, Niki Levy, Robin Diamond, and Greg D'Alba

Gail and Adam Muszynski

Mary Ann Browning and Paul Adent

Donald Venezia and Joy Marks

Gopa Dobson, Shari Vermeulen, and Ann Liguori

Eli Zepeda and Carmen Marc Valvo

Crissy and Jason Bern Baum with Pamela Mohr

Sylvia Diaz, Mark Feuerstein, and B. Smith

Matthew Pitera, Jamie Pacheco, and Alex Pitera

Showing off the flip-flops: Shari Vermeulen, Crissy Bernbaum, Sylvia Diaz, and Mady Schuman

Audrey and Harvey Feuerstein

Doris Liebman and Mady Schuman

Sherri Abruzzese and Gail Muszynski

The world's top tennis palyes and chefs served up a kick-off to the US Open at the 12th annual BNP Paribas Taste of Tennis to benefit the New York Junior Tennis League at the W Hotel on Lexington Avenue.

Rafael Nadal

Mardy Fish and Stacey Gardner

Fernando Verdasco

Janko Tipsarevic and Biljana Sesevic

Tamira Paszek

Mario Pagan and Michelle Bernstein

Kerry Heffernan and Liam Heffernan

Gilles Simon

Humberto Leon and Ashley Palma

Marco Porceddu, Ashley Palma, and Humberto Leon

Alexa Burns, Sveth Glieboeh, Devon Ericksen, Susanna Buchwald, and Vanessa Racnavich

Tommy Haas

Nicole Rodriguez and Gigi Hernandez

Marin Cilic

Brad Richards and James Blake

Audra Lowe

Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow=

Heidi El Tabakh

Fernando Navas and Guillermo Eleicegui

Vera Zvonareva

Emma Hearst

Craig Carton

Bojana Jovanovski

David Felit, Emma Hearst, and Sarah Krathen

Susanna Buchwald

Fernando Martinez, Nicole Rodriguez, and Chris Monteleone

Caren Brooks

Summer Wise and Pamela Hudson

Thomas Hogstedt

Last Monday night, The Cinema Society and Altoids, Grey Goose and Ron Burkle hosted a screening of the Weinstein Company's "Our Idiot Brother" on The Lawn of 1 MiMA Tower at 460 West 42 Street at an outdoor screening.

On the lawn of 1 MiMA Tower

Luke Janklow, Cynthia Rowley, Bill Powers, Sahar Sophie Flicker, Jesse Peretz

Luke Janklow, Cynthia Rowley, Bill Powers, Sahar Sophie Flicker, and Jesse Peretz

Guests included AJ Calloway, Steve Guttenberg, Hugh Dancy, Linda Wells, Courtney Love, Richard Belzer, Georgina Chapman, Nicole Miller, Peter Saraf (Producer), David Glasser (COO of Weinstein Co.), Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Tiki Barber, Andrew Saffir, and more.