within the hedges

Within The Hedges - Happy New Year to all readers! This has been a whirlwind month of non-stop holiday parties both in the Hamptons and Manhattan, and some were even held on the beach!!

Within The Hedges - This past week we Saved the Music, spent time at Polo with Miss USA and Miss Universe, partied at the Star Room and Tavern, shopped til we dropped at Super Saturday 8, and supported the arts at Brazil.

Within The Hedges - Builder Jerry Rosengarten, architect Anthony Musso and eco-broker Catherine Bedard of The Corcoran Group picked the perfect day to debut Southampton Village's first luxury green home on April 22 when Earth Day is celebrated around the world.

Within The Hedges - The landmark Samuel Tilden mansion overlooking Gramercy Park, now home to the prestigious National Arts Club, was the setting for an elegant “Welcome to New York” dinner for Pastors Joel and Victoria Osteen hosted by Sharon Bush, Diane Bernhard, O. Aldon James, Margo Langenberg and Jean Shafiroff of Southampton.

Within The Hedges - This past Saturday was a busy day at Guild Hall of East Hampton, marking both the opening reception for the second part of the 17th Annual Student Arts Festival - the High School Exhibition, as well as the reception and screenings of the winning films from the Sixth Annual Student Film Project.

Within The Hedges - Local Sag Harbor resident and businessman Sean Scanlon threw his "21st Annual Black Tie Benefit Christmas Party" at Spinnaker's in Sag Harbor on Saturday. Tickets were $25 and guests were encouraged to bring canned or dry goods to benefit the Sag Harbor Food Pantry.

Within The Hedges - Walking up to a friend’s home softly blazing with colorful lights and trimmed with evergreens, one cannot feel anything but warmth and the cheer that comes this time of year. Such was the case on Saturday evening when much loved WLIU radio producer Kathie Russo opened her Sag Harbor home for a cause very close to her heart.

Within The Hedges - On Saturday, March 7, the WITH Care organization hosted their “Art With Care” benefit cocktail party showcasing the work of local artists. The event was held at Ziggy's in Bridgehampton from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and included an open bar, passed hors d'oeuvres, William Falkenburg on the piano, and a silent art auction and raffle.

Within The Hedges - An exhibition of James Kennedy’s abstract paintings opened at Sylvester & Co. At Home in Amagansett Square recently. The show runs through May 20 and features a range of Kennedy’s works from his early landscape pieces to his most recent layered paintings. The selected works showcase Kennedy’s progression in the artistic process and illustrate his versatility as an artist.

Within The Hedges - Those crafty folks at the American Heart Association came up with an irresistibly sweet idea to break up the winter blues and pull folks away from their fireplaces recently. They invited some of the area’s top chefs to create a heart healthy dessert to be judged in an open competition at Trata restaurant in Water Mill by the attendees.

Within The Hedges - Sag Harbor residents Beatrice Alda and Jennifer Brooke screened their documentary film “Out Late” to a packed house at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor on Saturday night with proceeds going to benefit advocacy groups on Long Island. Arlene and Alan Alda, joined by Marlo Thomas and Phil Donohoue, were among the crowd that turned out for the local screening.

Within The Hedges - Hamptons Green Drinks organizers announced their upcoming East End event highlighting everything green. The 'Great Green Weekend in The Hamptons' will take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and June 7 at Stonybrook Southampton.

Within The Hedges - Ross School students in grades eight through 12 presented a student-organized Holiday Fashion Show in collaboration with Intermix in East Hampton. Proceeds from the event will go to the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons (ARF) and the Steven J. Ross Scholarship Fund.

Within The Hedges - Step away from the rushing and hustle of the holiday season and take the family over to the Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center and Museum. Built in 2001, the museum is a place where you can go back to a time when Native Americans up and down the East Coast cultivated a thriving culture that dates back 10,000 years.

Within The Hedges - The Parrish Art Museum celebrated the opening of their newest exhibition, “East End Stories: Students Explore Our Creative Heritage” on Saturday, Dec. 13 to a packed house of student artists from across the East End and their parents, families, and friends. The day was the culmination of months of work for students and their art teachers who rose to meet the challenge of creating art that directly related to a piece from the museum's permanent collection.

Within The Hedges - The Bay Street Theatre played host to the First Annual Holiday Sing-A-Long coordinated and produced by pianist Brenda Landrum with a performance by Irish tenor Ciaran Sheehan, and emceed by Bill McCuddy.

Within The Hedges - As adults all over the Hamptons were finishing up a day at the office and getting ready for a long night out, some 150 children under eight started celebrating 2009 early at the Children's Museum of the East End's (CMEE) first ever “Ball Drop.”

Within The Hedges - To get the new year started with a splash, a group of about 40 at Gurney's Inn Resort & Spa in Montauk held their annual Polar Bear Dip under the watchful eye of the Spa's resident registered nurse, Susan Yunker.

Within The Hedges - It may be the beginning of January, and it may have been fairly cold this weekend, but it couldn’t have gotten any hotter inside the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center Saturday night, as blues-rock ensemble Little Feat brought the sold-out East End crowd down South with their original and eclectic sound.

Within The Hedges - The evening, hosted and attended by Hamptons residents, began with the unveiling of a special gallery installation raised significant funds for the newly opened research center and showcased the diverse collections from over 70 dealers featured in Antiques & Arts at the Armory.