It began with a particularly cozy and fun party for one of our favorite causes here on the East End—The Nature Conservancy. This year’s “Beaches and Bays Ball,” chaired by Barbara Hearst, Karen and Jeff Hughes, and Lisa McCarthy, drew a crowd of 300 to East Hampton’s Center for Conservation to honor Luly and Tony Duke for their decision to permanently protect 57 acres on Three Mile Harbor. Among those thoroughly enjoying this festive dinner dance were East Hampton Mayor Paul Rickenbach and his wife, Jean, Congressman Tim Bishop, Joan and Joe Cullman, Amelia Saint-Amand and Fred Krimendahl, Pamela Ferrari and Jarvis Slade, Ginny and Warren Schwerin, Adele and Bill Grant, Ellen and Jim Marcus, Marlene Hess and Jim Zarin, and Jacques Leviant.
Kicking off the Fourth of July weekend was an exceptional party—Ann and Arnold Jurdem’s Barbecue & Dinner Dance. Some 100 friends in a Western mood assembled on their terrace for margaritas, and then moved under a long canopy across the lawn to a big white tent, where life-size statues of John Wayne and Geronimo on horseback waited to greet them. Decorating the walls of the windowed tent were posters of famous western movies and the tables were covered with red-checkered tablecloths with centerpieces of cactus plants surrounded by flickering votive candles. When not chowing down on barbecued spareribs, steak, chicken, hamburgers, black beans, corn, cornbread, salad, chocolate cake, and hot fudge sundaes, all provided by the Jurdems’ cook and two helpers, the guests were dancing non-stop to throbbing disco music far into the night!
Spotted were Southampton Mayor Joseph and Pat Romanosky, Carole and Freddy Guest, Mai and Ridgely Harrison, Joyce and Bob Sterling, Faith Lovejoy, Denise Rich, Mika Sterling, Cornelia and Marty Bregman, Jo and Paul Hallingby, Barbaralee Diamonstein and Carl Spielvogel, Catherine Cahill and Bill Bernard, Laura and Johnny McCloy, Ambassador Enriquillo and Audrey del Rosario, and Sarah and Chips Page.
Each year one of our favorite events is the Southampton Fresh Air Home’s Annual American Picnic, which for many years has been held at Barbara and Jim McEntees’ magnificent beachfront home on Meadow Lane. Even though they have now sold their house, the new owners, Danielle and David Ganek, graciously carried on the tradition and this year’s July 4th party which was wonderful fun and a great success.
Another special event is the annual Animal Rescue Fund’s mid-July dinner dance in East Hampton, which felt just like a private party, but was actually a benefit for the residents of ARF’s animal shelter, some of which attended the party in search of new owners. In keeping with the current expansion of ARF’s East Hampton shelter, there was a construction theme to the party and the dress—Construction Couture & Work Duds—particularly seemed to please the male guests!
The magnificent table decorations, delicious dinner, close-knit friends, and Peter Duchin’s continuous dance music combined to make this a most entertaining and fun party! Just a few of those enjoying it all were General Contractors (Chairpersons) Kathy and Billy Rayner, Jane and Robin Maynard, Dina Merrill and Ted Hartley, Jan Cowles and her son, Charlie, Judy and Ed Ney, Pat and Yves Robert, Sue and Chuck Bullock, Eleanore and Michael Kennedy, Frances Hayward, Maurice Sonnenberg, Jackie and Anya Robertson, Ralph Fields, Pat Dunnington, Virginia Coleman, Joan McGivern, Retta Taylor, Edwina Sandys and Richard Kaplan, Jim Oxnam, and Steve O’Neal and Louise Westergaard, who just won a Tony Award for Say Goodnight, Gracie, the one-woman show about Gracie Allen.
Liz Fondaras’s Bastille Day luncheon in East Hampton is one that we, and all her other friends, particularly look forward to. Held for years at Liz’s magnificent house on the dunes, the party moved this year, seemingly without skipping a beat, to her elegant new home in the village. The sprawling lawn surrounding her pool easily accommodated dozens of tables with colorful umbrellas and the mouthwatering buffet with a multitude of choices for every palette, including irresistible brownies for dessert.
A few of those admiring Liz’s new house and enjoying the buffet and festive atmosphere were Mimi Romanoff, John Radziwill, Ernesto Alvarez, Michel Langlais, Lynn Chase, Pat Wood, Betty Comden, Idoline Scheerer, Einleen Finletter, Lee Granger, Judy Auchincloss, Marat Gruson, Jill Blanchard, Nikki Gioia Mitchell, Bernie Aidenoff, Gloria Jones, Amanda Haynes-Dale, Stephane Bartlett, Kay Meehan, and dozens more who knew just how to appreciate a perfect Bastille Day!
Award-winning literary agent Judith Ehrlich and her financial adviser husband, Harold, always draw an interesting and eclectic group from the worlds of finance, publishing, and the arts to their July cocktail party in Sagaponack. This year’s party was no exception. The Ehrlichs also always manage to pick a beautiful night so everyone can relax on their terrace and enjoy not only the diverse group of guests but the views of their vibrant flowers and miles of surrounding farmland.
Who was there? Well, just to name a few—Geraldine Fabrikant of The New York Times, Alan and Susan Patricof, Gladye and Bob Nederlander, Trudy Kramer, Sydney Offit, Daniel Stern, Betty Friedan, Anita and Byron Wien, Muriel Siebert, Joan Silver, Patti and Steve Kaplan, and Cynthia and Dan Lufkin.
Each year when Eve and Noel Patton return from the far reaches of the world—this year it was Shanghai—they hold a big cocktail party at their Water Mill home with the best Chinese hors d’oeuvres (made by their Chinese cook) and although it’s not billed as “dinner,” most people seem to make it that! On their patio overlooking Mecox Bay, we saw lots of special friends, including Jane and George Bunn, Kathy and Ed Dean, Debra and Steve Tanger, Kathryn and Jim Cowles, Brenda Landry, Barbara and Randall Smith, Knight and Bert Meem, Marion and Phil Piro, Sacha and Jim MacNaughton, Alixandra and Stuart Baker, Valerie Rooks, Rod O’Connor, the Pattons’ terrific children, Brittany and Brandon, and many, many more.
The last weekend in July was one of the month’s busiest. It began on Friday night with Diane and Charlie Holmes’ annual cocktail party on the terrace of their Southampton home high on a hill with views reminiscent of Provence. Then it was on to a particularly fun small dinner given by Gloria Meyers, in whose house nothing is catered! Gloria creates everything herself, including the superbly special dinner of bilibi soup, beef filet, and chocolate mousse with raspberries. She also picked and arranged the magnificent centerpieces of roses in five shades of pink, and set the tables with their beautiful white embroidered tablecloths over long pink skirts.
The mood outside, with guests seated at four tables around Gloria’s softly lit pool and surrounding trees, could only be described as “romantic Mediterranean,” and needless to say, everyone happily stayed on and on!
A few of the assembled friends were Thea Nolan and former Southampton Mayor Bill Hattrick, just six days before their wedding, along with Melanie and John Wambold, Jean and Bill Fitzsimmons, Beth and Steve Treadway, Julie Kammerer, John Anton, June Harrison, Betty and Hugh Knowlton, Carole Nelson and Hamish Macauley, Elliott Stringham, Chet Gan, Maggie and Nicholas Kirkbride, and Ann and Jack Grimm.
The following night was the cozy cocktail party given by John Punnett and his former wife, Carol Stuart-Black, celebrating the marriage of their attractive son, Anthony, and his tall, beautiful bride, Lisa Lozano. Among those toasting the young couple, who were married last month in Portola Valley, California, were Betty and Virgil Sherrill, Benigna and Kim Kirsten, Jackie and John Crocker, Darcy Leeds, Rocky Sack, Anne Miller, Gloria Gurney, Victoria Kirsten, Hildegard and David Jones, and Frances Shelton.
Then it was on to Robin and John Pickett’s for cocktails and a chance to see the spectacular new house they’ve just finished building. Spread out on the lawn of their beautiful property and pouring through the breathtaking rooms inside the house were many connoisseurs of quality architecture and design such as Robin’s mother, Pat Wood, Josie and Julian Robertson, Pat Patterson, Alyne Massey, Judy and Alfred Taubman, Ginny, Freddy, and Chris Melhado, Ann and Don Calder, Susie Bates and Nico Zoullas, Marianna and George Kaufman, Sandra and Bob Rush, Jessie and Rand Araskog, Ritchie Goodwin, Jackie and Todd Goodwin, Pat and Marc de Bary, John Mashek, Letitia and Demi Gates, Chan Mashek, Susan Warner, and Harry Platt, among others.
Afterwards, interior designer Lisa Jackson and her husband, Don, hosted a dinner at their glamorous home in honor of the Hampton Designer Showhouse. Among the many guests dining around the Jackson’s candle-lit pool were Artie Schoen, Clelia and Tom Zacharias, Lisa Selby, Pamela Gross and Jim Finkelstein, Patty Raynes, Mark Gilbertson, Felicia Taylor, Linda Mansfield, Vera Wang, Chappy Morris, and Couri Hay.
July’s final weekend came to a close on Sunday night with a party hosted by Victoria and Frank Wyman in honor of Robert Wilson, whose Water Mill Foundation lures art and music lovers from around the world. Victoria’s six tables were named after some of the operas Robert has staged such as Einstein on the Beach and The Temptation of Saint Anthony, which opens in London in September.
Some of those enjoying this enigmatic artist and a most wonderful dinner of chicken with cognac and a yummy warm black chocolate cake for dessert were George Soros, Bianca Jagger, Jaime Duc de Lugo, Ambassador Peter and Maya Tufo, Wendy Vanderbilt Lehman, Lexa and August Oetker, Anna and Bill Mann, Regina and Rainer Greeven, Ginny and Billy Salomon, Lee Thaw, Joanne Bilby, Kathy and Rick Hilton, Jeffrey Slonim, and Sylvia and John Mazzola with their daughter, Allyson.
Stay tuned!
Kristi Witker is a well-known television broadcaster and writer, whose articles and interviews have been published in magazines and newspapers around the world. She is also author of How to Lose Everything in Politics (Except Massachusetts), a humorous behind-the-scenes account of George McGovern’s Presidential campaign.
