6.1.11: Sunny days | New York Social Diary

Sunny days

The scene at the Heckscher Playground at the annual Playground Party.

It was a sunny day in more ways than one at the Heckscher Playground inside Central Park. Over 1,000 children, moms, dads and grandparents enjoyed the annual Playground Party hosted by the Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy’s Playground Partners. Guests were greeted by a stilt walker, juggler and bubbles.

The Party Chairmen were Kathryn Beach, Hannah Buchan, Jessica Oliver, and Nina Whitman. The Grandparents Committee Chairman was Eleanora Kennedy. Playground Partners Committee Chairman Kamie Lightburn and Women’s Committee President Gillian Miniter were there with their families.

Annesley, Sydney, and Virginia Apple

Adelina Wong Ettelson and Tian Ettelson

Anna and Ava Safir with Eleanora Kennedy

Brick, Suzanne, and Jack Johnson

Karen LeFrak, Ivan LeFrak, Susan Mortimer, and Caroline LeFrak

Diana DiMenna and daughters

The event was a family-friendly fundraiser with music by the Brady Rymer Band and Hope Harris and the Cousins Jamboree, Magic Al, Eloise at The Plaza, Eleni’s cup cake and cookie decorating, Funky Monkey Snacks, a bouncing Belvedere Castle, rock climbing walls, painting, hula hooping, marionettes and storytelling, fishing pools, official Central Park and NYPD vehicles to explore, relay races and more. There was a delicious buffet featuring many sweets and treats.

A good time was had by all including Central Park Conservancy President Doug Blonsky, Anne Harrison, Yesim Phillip, Nancy Missett, Betsy Messerschmitt, Karen LeFrak, Nancy Paduano, Diana DiMenna, Nyssa Kourakos, Michelle Smith and Andy Oshrin, Virginia Apple, Sheri Babbio, Vicki Foley, Alexia Hamm Ryan, Jill Ross and Suzanne Johnson.

Lila, Carter and Amy Beal

Camille, Shannon, and Elise Henderson

Kamie Lightburn, Nina Whitman, Jessica Oliver, and Kathryn Beach

Poppy, Blair, and Georgina Clarke

Phoebe, Kamie, Rich, and Carter Lightburn

Suzanne Johnson, Gillian Miniter, Doug Blonsky, and Anne Harrison

Coralie Charriol Paul and her daughter

Cynthia and Mary Van Pelt

Thomas, Yesim, and Samantha Philip

Sheri and Lucas Babbio

Whitney Topping, Quincy Topping, Robert Topping, Nancy Missett

Sophia Orshrin and Michelle Smith

Best of all, $350,000 was raised to support Central Park Playground Partners, a group of families dedicated to keeping Central Park’s 21 playgrounds safe, clean and well maintained. Click here to learn more.

Face painting

Swinging

Fishing

Crafts

Hula hooping

Vehicle exploring

Stilt walking

Cup cake decorating

This past Wednesday, Women for Women International held its third Annual Luncheon and Panel Discussion on the Future of Afghanistan in the ballroom at 583 Park Avenue in New York City, raising more than $585,000 for its work with women survivors of war. Over 350 guests gathered to hear from a panel of experts discuss and debate the future of the war-torn country. Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Isobel Coleman moderated war journalist and “Restrepo” director Sebastian Junger, Women for Women International founder and CEO Zainab Salbi, and Afghan member of Parliament, Sayed Gailani, in town from Kabul.

The guests in the ballroom at 583 Park Avenue

Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife, and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability.

The organization opened its Kabul office in 2002, and set to work in the provinces of Balkh, Kabul, Kapisa, Nangarhar, and Parwan. The organization has since served more than 31,000 Afghan women, providing them with education, rights and vocational skills training.

Dale Berger, Mary Menell Zients, Linda Kaye, Carol Eisen, Christine Fisher, and Diana Rockefeller

Joyce Niebart, Kathy Weinberg, Dale Berger, Bonnie Apfelbaum, Evy Frankel, and Gari Dansky

Co-chairs Jewelle Bickford and Fiona Druckenmiller hosted Vice Chairs Alexandria Stewart Altman, Lucy Billingsley, Anna Bulgari, Christine Fisher, Sandra Meyer, Barbara Perlmutter, Diana Rowan Rockefeller, Nancy Rubin, and Chair Mary Menell Zients. Other guests included Michael Altman, Dale Berger, Andrea Bernstein, Cathie Black, Alexandra Chantecaille, Judy Dimon, Kim Greenberg, Craig Leavitt, Deborah Lloyd, Holly Peterson, Elizabeth Peek, Veronique Pittman, Nadja Romain, Kara Ross, Shelley Rubin, Cynthia Ryan, Leila Straus, Adrienne Vittadini, Clark Winter and Elizabeth Clark Zoia.

Cathie Black and Alison Harvey

Andree Simon, Lucy Burns, and Lucy Billingsley

Christine Fisher and Kathy Angele

Carolyn Clark Tenney, Andree Simon, and Alexandria Altman

Susan Dusenberry, Nancy Cooley, and Falisha Mamdani

Dale Berger and Linda Kaye

Carolyn Clark Tenney, Ariane De Gunzberg, Suzanne Galli, and Alexandria Altman

Gina Baker Chambers and Debbie Harmon

Isobel Coleman and Sebastian Junger

Sayed Ishaq Gailani

Ginger Brown and Angela Chen

Fiona Druckenmiller and Jewelle Bickford

Valerie Meakin and Victoria Meakin

Laura Burrows and Patsy Garno

Debbie First and Barbara Perlmutter

Jewelle Bickford and Lucy Billingsley

Zainab Salbi

Michele Merson and Nancy Clark

Last Wednesday in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria, One To World held its 2011 Fulbright Awards Dinner.

Brilliant young Fulbright grantees from around the world presented awards to Roelfien Kuijpers, Managing Director and Global Head of DB Advisors, Deutsche Bank; Gary G. Mueller, Fulbright Scholar to Germany 1988-89, Managing Director, Eagle capital Management, and Founder, ISI Emerging Markets; Sherry Lee Mueller, President, National Council for International Visitors; and Jacob Haar, Fulbright Scholar to Yemen 2002-3, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Minlam Asset Management.


	George Mueller and Snow Xia

	Jacob and Rohini Haar

At the heart of the evening was the Fulbright vision of peace through international understanding. Harriet Mayor Fulbright attended and served as Honorary Chair in tribute to the legacy of her late husband, Senator J. William Fulbright.

“One To World programs bring together Americans and international students from over 100 countries to experience each other’s lives in profound ways,” said Deborah Clifford, Executive Director. “We unlock doors to create meaningful exchange across cultures.”

Also on hand were Peter Kellner, venture capitalist and Co-Founder of Endeavor; Whitney Tilson, Founder and Managing Partner of T2 Partners; David Heleniak, TITLE, Morgan Stanley; Alberto Vitale, retired CEO, Random House, Fulbrighter to the US from Italy; Ambassador Donald Easum; Ravenel and Beth Curry, Founders of Eagle Capital Management; R. Boykin Curry, Eagle Capital Management; Consul General Philippe Lalliot, France; Anthony Viscusi, retired CEO, Vasomedical Inc., Fulbrighter to France; George Kellner, Founder and CEO of Kellner DiLeo & Co.

Presenting awards were Fulbright Scholars from Morocco, Austria, and Kenya. Alma Zadic, a Fulbrighter from Austria whose family fled the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina when she was young, said “Since I have been in New York, through One to World I have met amazing Fulbrighters from Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, Egypt and many other countries. Their stories about what is happening in their countries are important. They connect us to the country and the people in ways the news never can. Fulbrighters all over the world will be the change in their countries. They give us hope. I thank One To World for this unique experience.”

Co-Chairs Wenke Thoman Sterns, Marc Ganz, David Heleniak, and Dr. David Steinberg provided event leadership. The dinner raised nearly $500,000 for One To World programs in the year ahead.

One To World was founded in 1977 and is officially designated by the U.S. Department of State as the Coordinator of Enrichment Programs for Fulbright grantees in the New York area. The mission of the organization is to create global citizens and inspire a peaceful world through one-of-a-kind programs in classrooms and communities. One To World programs bring together Americans and international students from over 100 countries every day throughout the year to experience each other’s lives in profound ways.

Adam Johnson and Mark Rebstock

Adam Weinberg, Michael McCarry, and Peter Simpson

Honoree Gary Mueller, Executive Director Deborah Clifford, and Honoree Jacob Haar

Ibrahim Tahri and Jessica Coffey

Alberto Vitale and David Heleniak

Claudette Mayer and Erika Massaquoi

Neil and Ursula Masterson

Gisele and Robert Lapiner

Christopher Cardinal, Natalie Walsh, and Naimh Dolan

Mariam Azarm, Shelia Atchison, and Barbara Simon

Christina and John Horner

Katya Musacchio. Gokhan Coskun, Harriet Fulbright, and Brittany Lynk

Marc Ganz, Gregor Semieniuk, and Seriana van den Berg

Paul Holmes and Jocelyn Noveck

Michael Sperling, Honoree Roelfien Kuijpers, Copie Harris, and Arthur Kuijpers

Kiono Thomas and Bill Sterns

Ray Simon and Joseph Salim

Cynthia and Dan Clifford

Yann Coatenlam, Executive Director Deborah Clifford, and Consul General Philippe Lalliot

Jeff Lee, Honoree Sherry Mueller, Sharry Dam, and Ambassador Donald Easum

Wenke Thoman Sterns with Gary and Karen Mueller

Rose Kiwanuka and Mike Delvecchio

Honoree Roelfien and Arthur Kuijpers

On Thursday, May 26, 2011, The Junior Committee of The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children hosted their annual Spring Benefit, Empire State of Mind at the Empire Room on the ground floor of the Empire State Building. Empire State of Mind was the NYSPCC Junior Committee’s most successful Spring Benefit to date, raising over $19,000 to support the Society’s work with NYC’s children.

Guests included Abigail Sullivan (Junior Committee President), Alexander Papanicolaou (Junior Committee Vice President), Nicole Basabe, Mary Pulido (Executive Director, NYSPCC), Thorne and Tatiana Perkin, Anait Bian, David Stack (President, NYSPCC), Frank Sommerfield, and Karl Wellner (Vice President, NYSPCC). Vivanista.com was Media Sponsor.