Between all the family gatherings and food, the holidays are a great time for parties, especially ones to benefit local charities that need the most help this time of year.
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Maria Fresa, Luciano and Cathleen Fresa, and Sal DiCarlo at the Peconic Bay
Impressionists opening. Photo by Katrina Lovett |
Friday evening the Suffolk County Historical Society in Riverhead held the opening of
Caroline M. Bell and the Peconic Bay Impressionists. The museum provided room for the show featuring artwork from several North Fork artists. We couldn't help drawing comparisons between the artwork focusing on local subjects, like a 1930's Greenport, and its modern counterpart.
Terry Wallace was there to sign copies of his book, as well as
Walter Jackson,
Matt Egan, and
Wally Broege.
Other displays in the museum helped round out the local roots with Native American displays and artwork and paintings from early New York families. It was a great opportunity to learn and view a bit of local history. The Peconic Bay Impressionists show will be up through April 30th.
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Sandy Turner, Philippa Weismann, and Adrienne Kitaeff at the CMEE Winter Jungle
FUNdraiser. Photo by Katrina Lovett |
The Children's Museum of the East End (CMEE) brought the jungle to Bridgehampton Saturday evening with their Winter Jungle FUNdraiser event. Penguins and monkey sculptures by artist
Mia Fonssagrives-Solow greeted guests in the lobby. The hands on exhibits wind through every room of the museum, and the children present were excited for the chance to take a holiday picture with
Ben Latham, the Museum's resident Polar Bear.
Balloon sculpting and a sing-along or two rounded out the afternoon with something for pretty much every taste. Some had trouble choosing as we spotted a lot of running back and forth as they tried not to miss anything. The parents and other adult guests including
Jorie Latham,
Ava Locks Davis,
Eva Petersen,
Lisa Rattray, and
Cindy Sulzberger looked on and munched on the healthy spread of snacks and vegetables that were set out in the lobby. Perfect for the young and young at heart, we recommend stopping by to let out some of that energy while the kids are home on vacation.
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Teresa Travis, Pam Jackson, and Michele Steudte at the Southampton Historical
Museum Hearthside Cheer party. Photo by Katrina Lovett |
Next we visited the
Southampton Historical Museum for their Hearthside Cheer party. Christmas from around the world seemed to be the theme of the evening as displays and Christmas trees outlined the different cultural celebrations of the season. Guests filled every room, including the gift shop and entrance hall, making navigation a bit of a challenge. There was a tray of tasty oyster hors d'oeuvres that met an untimely end after a collision. There seemed to be plenty to spare though as we especially enjoyed the crab salad. We spotted
Linda Schaller,
Tom Edmonds,
Marge Sullivan, and Hamptons.com's own
Teresa Travis and
Michele Steudte in the crowd. We also stopped to chat with
Eric Woodward about his show at the museum during the summer.
The hot party in Bridgehampton this weekend was the celebration for the recently wed
Anne Randolph Hearst and hip lit author
Jay McInerney at Hearst's magnificent mansion designed by
Peter Cook complete with a few leftover marble mantles from the fabled San Simeon castle built by
William Randolph Hearst.
Former Blues Brothers
Dan Aykroyd made good on his promise to heat up the music and had the tent behind the mansion rocking with friends flocking to the dance floor including
Rick and
Kathy Hilton,
Candace Bushnell,
Nina Griscom,
Patty Raynes,
Kerry Kennedy,
Frances Hayward,
Steven and
Kimberly Rockefeller,
Victoria and
Randy Hearst,
Christie Brinkley,
Karen Duffy and hubby
John Lamoros,
Earl and
Carol Mack,
Nicole Miller,
Dominique Browning and about a hundred more of the Blue Book set.
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Dick Westhoff and Christopher Arcuri at the Bachelor & Bachelorette Auction "Toys
for Tots" fundraiser. Photo by Katrina Lovett |
At the end of the night we headed back to Riverhead for the Bachelor & Bachelorette Auction "Toys for Tots" fundraiser. The eligible bachelors up for bidding seemed to outnumber the bachelorettes. Not that we mind...we had our eyes on the handsome men in uniform, including
Sgt Persaud,
HM2 Williams,
Sgt Lopez, and
Dick Westhoff.
Providing the perfect opportunity to pick up that 'plus one' for the company Christmas party, we're sure there was fierce competition brewing when we stopped by. Guests brought toys as well as their appetites as the table quickly filled, and
Polish Hall put out one of their signature buffets. The music was hopping, setting the upbeat mood for dinner and the auction and raffle as well as a chance to try out a few dance moves with your new date. Toys for Tots is one of our favorite annual holiday charities, and we hope this auction brings as much fun for the kids as it did the evening's guests.
On Sunday evening the indefatigable
Posy Feick, with her leg in a cast from ankle to hip, managed to pull together a South of the Border fiesta to toast her fellow Torontonians, The Canadian Brass, following their Lincoln Center concert. A sumptuous spread of Mexican and Central American delights and flowing Prosecco put the gathering into a lively festive mood. Posy who spends more time in Venice these days than in the Hamptons loves all things Italian. A truly sublime pleasure was seeing, after many years,
Billie Allen Henderson whose late husband
Luther Henderson collaborated so brilliantly over the years with
Duke Ellington.
Swirling through the sumptuously decorated home filled with contemporary modern and contemporary paintings and sculpture were
George and
Shirley Brickenden (celebrating their 61st Anniversary!),
Elizabeth Glazier,
Gene Watts,
Michelle Barrett,
Byron Gustaffson,
Paul Bongiorno,
Joe Burgstaller,
Jeroen Berwaerts, and
Richard and
Angela Colter with their son,
Brock.
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Linda Stocknoff and David Parsons at the Parsons Dance Company opening. Photo
by John Wegorzewski |
The cultural scene is now in high gear with all the major dance companies, operas, orchestras dazzling audiences with a host of premieres and special concerts. High on the list each year is Parsons Dance Company who not surprisingly played to a packed house at
Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center this summer. Noyac's
Linda Stocknoff and avid supporter and long time board member hosted a pre-performance dinner for a group of Parsons' biggest fans and flag wavers at the intimate Suenos, the
downstairs hideaway in Chelsea.
Applauding the performance which featured several premiers by the internationally acclaimed troupe were
Ed and
Cheryl Katz,
Richard Kielar,
Kay and
Richard Sherman,
Richard Schulman,
CBS TV's
Tony Guida,
Neil and
Patti Katzman,
Cheryl Reik, and from the dance company's board President
Stephanie French and Vice President
Barbara Rohdie. No one cheered more loudly then
Vickie and
Steven Morris who celebrated their wedding anniversary by commissioning the brilliant collaboration between the brilliant choreographer
David Parsons and
Milton Nascimento, the Brazilian musical giant, "Nascimento Novo".
Nicole, an award-winning journalist, is Executive Editor & Publisher of Hamptons.com where she focuses on celebrity interviews, fine living and design, social events, fashion and beauty. She lives on the North Fork with her husband, their two daughters, and Bernese Mountain dog, Cooper. 
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