15th Annual Mashomack International Polo Challenge

On Saturday a week ago, June 16th, The Mashomack Polo Club hosted its 15th Annual Mashomack International Polo Challenge in Pine Plains. This is a great day in the heart of Millbrook hunt country. They began at noon with a lively Champagne reception, followed by an elegantly tented, field-side luncheon. The culmination of the day's festivities was an exciting polo match between teams representing the United States, Great Britain, Italy and France, all riding valiantly to secure the coveted trophy for their team and country. This year they had the great honor of hosting His Highness The Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur and welcoming the Royal Family, with Maharaj Narendra Singh playing for the dashing Team India.  Following the match was a highly publicized awards ceremony.

The Mashomack Polo Challenge Tailgate

Team India

Team Carlyle

The Teams

Bruce Colley, Parker Thorne, Ransher Singh Rathore, Carlo Berti, Maharaj Narendra Singh of Jaipur, Karen Klopp,Saqib Mawa-zkha, and Col. Navjeet Singh Sandhu

Carlo Baccheschi Berti of Castello de Vicerello with Nick Beinstock, Parker Thorne, Don Langois, and Guille Aguero

Team Quest – Nick Bienstock, Oakley Thorne, Tatin Zubiaurre, and Philip MacTaggart with Chris and Grace Meigher

The Winning team – Team Carlyle Frederic Levy, President Nespresso, Giovanni Berretta, MD Carlyle Hotel, John Klopp, Julio Ezburra, James McBride, and Bruce Colley

Royal Jaipur team with Vikram Chatwal

Amy Broch and Jennifer Wilson

Talbot Logan and Bill Miller

Parker Thorne is awarded The Best Pony by Heather Croner of Sotheby's Real Estate Millbrook, together with Col. Navjeet Singh Sandhu

John Klopp and Oakley Thorne

Bruce and Teresa Colley

Bartle Bull with Diana and Peter Chapman

Andrea Walton and John Massie

Lois and Eugene Colley

Fabian Rameriez and Laura Lehman

Alex Farman Farmiana and daughter

Debbie Costa

Frederic Levy and Michelle McFaul

Catherine Malandrino with Teressa Colley, Susan Meyer, and Scott Annan

Emel Dilek

Olga Vaughan, President, La Martina USA

Lindsay and David Bullock

Lettica and Giovanni Beretta

MC Roberts, Eric Oken, and Alexandra Kasmin

Tom Flexner, Frederic Levy, and Adam Klopp

Laurance and Michael Levin with Sylvia Langois

Frederic Fekkai and Parker Thorne

Princess Diya of Jaipur

Charlotte and Octavio Serena with family and friends

Anne Besamat, Teresa Colley, and Wendy Finerman

Princesss Diya of Jaipur, Maharani of Jaipur, Teressa Colley, and Harsha Singh

Chicago — The Joffrey Women's Board held a luncheon at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Thursday, June 14, 2012 to celebrate the Women's Board's 10th Anniversary. It was an important event and the Women's Board has been very fortunate to have been led by five dedicated women, namely Maureen Smith, Helen Melchior, Kathleen Klaeser, Christine Ott and the current president, Melissa Babcock. All were in attendance for this Anniversary Celebration. The Women's Board is known for its exciting parties and this June event was not an exception. Historic ballet costumes were on display during the reception and Joffrey Trainees modeled some of the extraordinary ones during lunch. As the 200 plus guests entered the Ritz Ballroom, they viewed not only the vintage costumes but dining tables with overflowing flowers in hues of pink and green in Joffrey gloss hat boxes. The luncheon menu featured a spring pea soup, followed by an elegant grilled chicken salad and ended with a chocolate Pot de Crème. Lisa Leiden, Chair of the Joffrey Costume Committee, said that the costumes pulled from the Joffrey archives for the luncheon were a wonderful cross section and well represented the variety and depth of the Joffrey's collection. The costumes were from productions of the last decade and included The Nutcracker, Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella. During the luncheon Tina Sloan, well known actress of Guiding Light and author of Changing Shoes, dazzled the attendees with her one-woman show based on her book and life experiences including a role in the Academy Award winning film, Black Swan. Thus, Ms. Sloan had a great feeling for the dance and these comments were woven into her presentation. The chairmen of the luncheon were Sophie Bross and Elizabeth Ryan of Chicago and Jennifer Litowitz and Maggie Scheyer of Glencoe. Nena Ivon, the Chicago History Museum's Costume Council President and former Fashion Director of Saks Fifth Avenue's Michigan Avenue outpost, was the Honorary Chair. Assisting the chairs was a large and distinguished group of Women's Board Members. Joining the Joffrey members were Dusty Stemmer and Toni Canada, friends from the Costume Council Board of the Chicago History Museum. Some of the guests included Suzette Bulley, Jamee Field and Liz Adams of Chicago; from the north shore were Mary Jo Basler and Sandra Deromedi of Lake Forest and Astrid Gamsjaeger of Glencoe; from the western suburbs was Yolanda Tyler of River Forest.

Co-chair Elizabeth Ryan with Charlotte and Alexandra Ryan

Elizabeth Ryan and Tina Sloan

The Joffrey Luncheon is an annual event with past fetes entitled Cindy's Having a Ball and Lunch at Maxim's Celebrating The Merry Widow. The funds garnered at the Luncheon will support the Joffrey's programs and performances, including the Costume Project whose mission is to preserve and catalogue these fabulous garments. The expected net is expected to be approximately $50,000.00. The Joffrey Ballet is hailed as "America's Company of Firsts". Among this list is the honor of being the first dance company to perform at the White House. For more than a half-century, The Joffrey's commitment is taking world-class, artistically vibrant works to a broad and varied audience that support the company's unprecedented capacity for achieving important 'firsts'. The Joffrey formerly of New York and Los Angeles, now lives permanently in its brilliant new facility, The Joffrey Tower in Chicago. The company tours extensively, has a highly effective education program and collaborates with a myriad of other visual and performing arts organizations.

Sophie Bross with her Dolly Geary

Jenn Lake and Annie Bloch

Joffrey Women’s Board President Melissa Babcock with Lunch Chairs Elizabeth Ryan and Sophie Bross

Ann Waters and Maureen Smith

Dolly Geary and Tina Sloan

Joffrey staff in Joffrey Scarves (inspired by Pablo Picasso's original design from the ballet Parade, premiered by The Joffrey in 1973)

Andrea Garber and Eileen Murphy

Tina Sloan and Christopher Clinton Conway

Shauna Montgomery, Shelley Farley, and Rebecca Besser

Tracy Mansur and Larisa Kronfeld

Cathy Busch and Liz Cole

The Floating Hospital (TFH) hosted its Third Annual Garden Party at the Central Park Zoo on Monday evening, June 18. The fund-raiser was co-chaired by Judith Faske and Edward W. Prager, longtime friends of TFH. Founded in 1866, TFH has served as the family doctor to New York City's most vulnerable citizens for 146 years, providing primary medical, dental, and mental health care to homeless and medically underserved NYC children and families. TFH is the single largest provider of health care to homeless families in NYC's five boroughs.

Miriam Villanueva, Evelyn Jones, Samantha Lamont, and Maria Dean

Katrina Smith and Cynthia Davis

The entrance to the Central Park Zoo

TFH President Sean Granahan

Patricia Cuartas and Amy Marciano

TFH Board Members Maude Askin, Carol Jackson, and Evelyn Lord

John Granahan and Lauren Dibileo

TFH Board Member and Party Co-Host, Judith Faske

TFH Board Member and Party Co-Host, Ed Prager

Sue Piper and Jane Paccione

Patsy Yanchik and Kathleen Quinn

Shani and Wakim Andre

Rosalba Del Vecchio and Robert Brittis

Ernie Swain, Sarajane Brittis, and Tom Della Corte

Julian Del Vecchio, Dede Adolph, Perry Brittis, and Geri Corrigan

Terri Barnes and Anthony L. Brittis

Michael Hesslein and Maegan Kovatch

Shelley Grant Hauptman and Joy Simpkins

Patricia K. Zendel

Shana, Sean, and Morgan O'Keefe

Marianna Brittis, Dede Adolph, and Annie Levy

Nina Aledort, TFH Board Chairman Anthony Brownie, Sarajane Brittis, Terri Barnes, and Joy Simpkins

Michael Collins and Josh Lamberg

Ruth Lynford and Bruce Cohen

Icelini Garcia-Sosa, Daniel Zendel, Robert Brittis, Geri Corrigan, Patricia Zendel, Rosalba Del Vecchio, and Julian Del Vecchio

United Nations Federal Credit Union Volunteers: Floyd Crumpton, Nicole Homa, Farah Emilien, James Fenimore, and Teresa Collins

Sarajane Brittis with TFH's Chief Financial Officer Stiles Nyerere

On Thursday evening, June 21, 17 Greenwich Christian and Jewish institutions together with Polyphony Foundation founders Craig and Deborah Cogut, and event chairs David Mullen and Amy Lipton hosted a concert and reception at First Presbyterian Church in Greenwich, CT. The church was packed with 400 music lovers as acclaimed Israeli conductor Karin Ben-Josef delighted the audience with the Polyphony Youth Orchestra's renditions of Bach, Barber, Grieg and Handel.  The student musicians, who range in age from 9-17 wowed the audience with the virtuosity of their playing. Included among the enormously gifted musicians were violinists Feras Machour and Yamen Saadi who both were recently awarded first prize in the prestigious Paul Ben Haim music competition in Israel.

Nabeel Abboud Ashkar

Rev. William Evertsberg of The First Presbyterian Church of Greenwich welcomed the audience and introduced the musicians. At the performance's conclusion, benedictions were offered by Rabbi Mitchhell Hurvitz of Temple Sholom, Monsignor Alan Detscher of Saint Catherine's Church and Imam Kareem Adeeb of The American Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies. Polyphony seeks to bring equal opportunity for music education and  other innovative educational programs to Arab Israeli youth, offer Jewish youth opportunities to participate in these programs and create channels for dialogue between Jewish and Arab communities in Israel.

Karin Ben Josef

The Polyphony Foundation is a U.S. based 501(c)3 organization that believes that music has a unique power to transcend cultural and social boundaries, educating both performer and audience in the art of listening and communicating. Polyphony believes creating new channels for engagement between young members of  diverse communities is an essential step towards the creation of a just and peaceful society in Israel. Polyphony was founded in 2011 by four individuals, Craig and Deborah Cogut; renowned concert violinist and co-founder of both The Orpheus Foundation and The Barenboim-Said Conservatory in Nazareth, Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar; and award winning singer, songwriter, actress, producer and activist Cher. This is the orchestra's second annual  U.S. tour and its first  since being awarded the Yoko Ono Lennon Courage Award for the Arts in February at a ceremony at MOMA. Greenwich is the orchestra's first stop on the tour which also  includes performances at several venues in New York City, Detroit, the Hamptons and Aspen.

Craig and Deborah Cogut, co-founders of Polyphony, with their son, and Alex Cogut, Polyphony Youth Coordinator

Brian Kanarek, Gigi and Ralph Strauss, Deborah Cogut, and Ari Kushner

David Mullen, Shuku Hahn, Craig Cogut, and Rabbi Mitch Hurvitz

Kevin Estes and Heather Wright

Amy Lipton and Nancy Alchek

Rabbi David Saiger, Ari Kushner, Amy Lipton, and Brian Kanarek

Esther Bushell, Lee Ann and David Tolzmann, and Linda and Phil McWhorter

Cristina and Chris Cuomo hosted an intimate summer garden party in their beautiful backyard in Southampton, NY on Saturday, July 23rd. The evening celebrated Zacapa Rum and Seven Bar Foundation (a non-profit organization focused on establishing micro-finance initiatives) and their recent micro-finance partnership that will help women artisans living in Guatemala, the country where the ultra-premium Zacapa Rum is hand-crafted. Guests gathered on a beautiful evening and enjoyed specialty Zacapa Rum cocktails and dined on delicious Latin American inspired cuisine while enjoying the sounds of Latin American music and great company.

Notable guests in attendance included: Cristina and Chris Cuomo, Tinsley Mortimer, Randy Schindler,  Ross Bleckner, Alina Cho, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Gigi Ganatra, Alex Duff,  Gigi Howard, and Renata Black (president and founder of Seven Bar Foundation).

Michael Kaplan, Cristina Cuomo, Ross Bleckner, Eric Freeman, Jonah Roberts, and Troy Roberts

Ross Bleckner, Chris Cuomo, Eric Freeman, and Michael Kaplan

Cristina Cuomo, Marcy Waren, and Alina Cho

Gigi Ganatra Duff and Tinsley Mortimer

Gigi Howard, Tabasum Mir, Alex Duff, and Gigi Ganatra Duff

Ali Edwards, Patrick Thomas, and Rachel Thomas

Renata M. Black and Randy Schindler

Kimberly Guilfoyle, Casey Fahey, and Susin Shin

Cristina and Chris Cuomo

Jenia Molnar and Tabasum Mir

Beth Blake, Liz Cohen Hausman, and Marcy Waren

Cristina Cuomo and Rennee Rockefeller

Alex Douzet, Pricilla Dwyer, and Dr. Dwyer

Christina Didonna, Emanuel Didonna, Meredith Waterman, and Cristina Cuomo

Photographs by PatrickMcMullan.com (Seven Bar); Annie Watt (Polyphony).