50 Years of Abbott House
Marina Del Rey, Throgs Neck, NY
Abbott House, an Irvington-based nonprofit, held The Dignity of Family Life Awards Dinner/50th Anniversary Gala on October 24, helping to raise $162,000. The Dignity of Family Life Awards were created in remembrance of the first Abbott House fundraising dinner, when the honoree, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered a speech he titled “The Dignity of Family Life,” in which he noted Abbott House was “serving humanity in a most constructive way.”
Shining a Spotlight
Renaissance Westchester Hotel, White Plains
Hope’s Door brought glitz and glamour for its Shines a Spotlight luncheon on October 11, helping to raise awareness for domestic abuse. The event, with a Broadway matinee theme, included performances by Tony Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning Actress Liz Calloway and Conductor Susan Anderson. “I think [executive director] Carla Horton is a genius when it comes to event planning,” says Alayne Katz, who shared her own personal story of domestic violence as the keynote speaker of the luncheon. “People don’t want a steady diet of misery—you have to present the message in a way that gives them hope and awareness. The luncheon often speaks to people that have very little knowledge of domestic abuse.”
Shining a Spotlight
Renaissance Westchester Hotel, White Plains
Hope’s Door brought glitz and glamour for its Shines a Spotlight luncheon on October 11, helping to raise awareness for domestic abuse. The event, with a Broadway matinee theme, included performances by Tony Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning Actress Liz Calloway and Conductor Susan Anderson. “I think [executive director] Carla Horton is a genius when it comes to event planning,” says Alayne Katz, who shared her own personal story of domestic violence as the keynote speaker of the luncheon. “People don’t want a steady diet of misery—you have to present the message in a way that gives them hope and awareness. The luncheon often speaks to people that have very little knowledge of domestic abuse.”
Barry Jordan, MD, of Burke Rehablitation Hospital in White Plains was honored on October 8 at the 6th Annual Journey of Hope Gala, benefiting the Brain Injury Association of New York State. Pictured are Brad Van Nostrand, Lorraine Bracco, John Quinan, Dr. Marie Cavallo, Dr. Barry Jordan, Judy Avner, Rosemarie diSalvo.
Casey Carter of Bijou Fine Jewelry and Christopher Brescia with a Marilyn Monroe lookalike at the Katonah Museum of Art’s First Look Party, which officially opened its new exhibition, Eye to I…3,000 Years of Portraits, on October 26.
County Executive Rob Astorino and his son Sean with the Vince Lombardi Trophy during the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee Huddle Shuddle’s stop at Sleep Hollow High School on October 22.
More than 500 guests were on hand November 16 for the Annual ArtsWestchester Gala. Pictured are ArtsWestchester CEO Janet Langsam; honoree David Ring of First Niagara; Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett; and Robert Weiner.
Former New York Giant Otis Anderson spoke at Pace University’s 50th anniversary “50 Years, 50 Faces” dinner on October 26. Anderson recalled his experiences from when the Giants practiced on Pace’s Pleasantville campus.
Kids powering solar-powered cars they made during the Westchester Children’s Museum’s October 29 Museum Without Walls program at the Yonkers YWCA
Paola Morsiani, director of the Neuberger Museum of Art, and Gilbert and Doreen Bassin at the Neuberger Museum of Art’s anniversary celebration, “Celebrating 40 Years,” on November 2
Guests, including CNN’s Randi Kaye, Friends of Karen Executive Director Judith Factor, and event honorees Jody and J Durst, helped raise more than $400,000 during Friends of Karen’s An Evening at Tribeca Rooftop on October 1.
Daniel Reingold, Jane Coppotelli, Abigail Reingold, Shari Romano, Steven and Donna Herman, Lloyd Loft, Frank Coppotelli, Paul Romano, Diane Loft at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale’s 96th Annual Gala at the Waldorf Astoria.
Empower Hour
Beach Point Club Mamaroneck
Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic raised more than $1.3 million during its Empower Gala, which celebrated the organization’s 80th anniversary on October 15. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anna Quindlen addressed the 400 supporters at the sold-out event, speaking about growing up in a time when there were no girls in Little League, the US Senate, or the Supreme Court, and how she could never have imagined how different the world would become. But, she concluded in the address, “Women are now able to decide when and where they want to have a baby and it’s important to be able to commit to a child after they’re born as much as before.”
Empower Hour
Beach Point Club Mamaroneck
Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic raised more than $1.3 million during its Empower Gala, which celebrated the organization’s 80th anniversary on October 15. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anna Quindlen addressed the 400 supporters at the sold-out event, speaking about growing up in a time when there were no girls in Little League, the US Senate, or the Supreme Court, and how she could never have imagined how different the world would become. But, she concluded in the address, “Women are now able to decide when and where they want to have a baby and it’s important to be able to commit to a child after they’re born as much as before.”
Copland House President Lawrence Faltz, Artistic and Executive Director Michael Boriskin, Elizabeth Dworkin, and Trustee Susan Geffen were on hand during the September 22 Copland House Gala, “A Cut Above,” held at the Porter House New York.
Leake & Watts board member Joyce Coppin, Hazel Carter, Alsuna Millington, Jacqueline Charity, and Evelyn Kalibala at Leake & Watts’ Annual Awards Gala on October 23; the gala helped raise a record-breaking $125,000.
Joan Mark, New York Times columnist Andrew Sorkin, Vic Leviatin, and Dr. Winsome Gregory were among the more than 200 supporters who attended the 40th anniversary of the WISE program at Woodlands High School and the 20th anniversary of Scarsdale High School’s Senior Options program October 24 at Celebrate WISE-ly, a fundraising event for WISE Services.
Deck the Hill
Ridge Hill, Yonkers
Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, elves—they were all at Westchester’s Ridge Hill on November 16 to celebrate the second annual Holiday Tree Lighting. The festive event kicked off with live performances by English hand-bell choir Emanuel Ringers and the Yuletide Carolers. Recording artist and Westchester native Ali Isabella, who at 17 has already opened for acts such as Reba McEntire, continued the performances with holiday classics. Mrs. Claus then shared some shopping tips with the crowd before Saint Nick himself arrived by sleigh to light the tree.
Deck the Hill
Ridge Hill, Yonkers
Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, elves—they were all at Westchester’s Ridge Hill on November 16 to celebrate the second annual Holiday Tree Lighting. The festive event kicked off with live performances by English hand-bell choir Emanuel Ringers and the Yuletide Carolers. Recording artist and Westchester native Ali Isabella, who at 17 has already opened for acts such as Reba McEntire, continued the performances with holiday classics. Mrs. Claus then shared some shopping tips with the crowd before Saint Nick himself arrived by sleigh to light the tree.
Jerome’s Bouquet
Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville
Two-time Tony and Emmy winner Bebe Neuwirth was in town on October 22 for a screening of her new short film, Jerome’s Bouquet. The film follows the escapades of 88-year-old Jerome Klein, a retired New York florist who can’t stop arranging for his own entertainment—only it’s people’s lives, not flowers. A Q&A with Neuwirth and others involved in the film took place after the screening.
Courtney Smith, Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett, Concetta Stewart, Gary Brown, Ed Weis, Chuck Garcia, and Christian Perez at the November 21 ribbon-cutting for Mercy College School of Business’ 525-square-foot trading floor in the School’s newly renovated Victory Hall.