11.13.12: Official openings | New York Social Diary

Official openings

More than 600 gathered at The Parrish Museum's new home in Watermill.

This past Friday evening, the Parrish Museum officially opened its new $25 million home in Watermill with a VIP reception and more than 600, including artists, stopped by for the celebration. The 600-foot-long structure, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, sits on 14 acres off Montauk Highway with seven enclosed galleries, an open gallery, an auditorium, cafe, gift shop and space for archives.

The new Parrish ...

One of seven enclosed galleries.

Malcolm Morley

Eric Freeman and Ross Bleckner

Terrie Sulton, Eric Fischl, Christoher French, and April Gornik

Michelle Isabelle-Sterk, Terrie Sultan, and Christopher French

Mildred Brinn and Tim Davis

Lys Marigold, Skye Marigold, Jörn Weisbrodt, Dianne B, Rufus Wainwright, and Clo'e Floira

Jack Cristy and Ruth Appelhof

Debra McCall and Ned Smyth

Ross Bleckner, Alicia Longwell, and Eric Fischl

Jack Youngerman

Alice Hope, Debbie Bancroft, and Alexandra Stanton

April Gornik

Barbara Dayton, Peter Dayton, and Sydney Albertini

Elyn Kronemeyer and Jeff Kronemeyer

Thomas Schultz, Michele O'Keefe, Daniel O'Keefe, and Mary Schultz

Tulla Booth and Ed Segal

Phil Schmerdeck, Jayne Barlow, and Ben Krupinski

Joanne Pateman, Grisel Baltazar, Roz Block, and Sarah Jaffe Turnbull

Philip Isles and Bridget Marks

Cheerina Verde and Sunny Khalsa

Alice Aycock, Klaus Kertess, Billy Sullivan, and Susan Penzner

Bruce Lewin and Kristina Lewin

Konstantine Grcic, Ivonne Frowein, and Hubie Frowein

Denise Gale, Mark Segal, and Christa Maiwald

The Morris Animal Foundation hosted “Leading the Way," its Second Annual Gala on Thursday, October 25th, 2012 at a private club in New York City. The event was designed and produced by Kate Edmonds Events, and chaired by Dr. David Haworth, Robin Reardon Nelson, Kate Donner, and Barbara Regna.

Cocktails were served in the Big Cat Lounge featuring jungle prints, palms, big cat cut-outs, kia royales and beautiful tropical lighting. Tito The Pom was in attendance, charming the guests.

The Big Cat lounge

The ballroom doors opened to a cooling counterpoint, a room designed to celebrate all the ocean and its creatures. A sea of animal print dresses and accessories swirled around the room, adding to the décor. The unusual centrepieces of barnacles, wild coral roses, beach grass and exotic shells set the mood, as did the music from Alex Donner and his Orchestra. The Reverend Douglas Ousley from the Church of the Incarnation gave a great invocation for wildlife followed by a three course dinner, starting with a delicious English Pea Soup.

The gala honored Dr. Janine Brown, a reproductive physiologist at the Conservation & Research Center of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. For more than 25 years, Dr. Brown has led research projects to better understand the reproductive biology of endangered wildlife and is devoted to increasing the body of knowledge that will lead to better management and conservation of endangered species. Her specific research areas include studying the reproductive and behavioral relationships in big cats and rhinoceroses.

Centrepieces of barnacles, wild coral roses, beach grass and exotic shells

Morris Animal Foundation is a nonprofit organization that invests in science that advances veterinary care for companion animals, horses and wildlife. Morris is the global leader in animal health science, and their funding helps more species in more places than any other organization in the world. Dr. Mark L. Morris Sr. believed there was a need for a foundation that solely addressed the health and welfare of animals.

He also knew science has the power to change the world. When he established Morris Animal Foundation in 1948, Dr. Morris envisioned a world in which scientific discoveries would lead to healthy lives for animals. Since its founding, Morris Animal Foundation has invested more than $70 million towards more than 2,000 studies, and these studies have led to significant breakthroughs in diagnostics, treatments, preventions and cures for animals. Some of the breakthroughs funded through the Foundation have become gold standards in veterinary care.

Notable attendees included; Dr. Janine Brown, Sharon Bush, Alex and Kate Donner, Vicki Downey, Lucia Hwong Gordon, Dr. David Haworth, President and CEO of Morris Animal Foundation, Larry Kaiser, Alison Minton, Barbara and Peter Regna, Lawrence and Helen Remmel, Janna Bullock, Alexes Reardon, Charity Poth, Rosalie Brinton, Edward Callaghan, John Wegorzewski, Countess Dagmar de Brantes, Rod O'Connell, Robin Reardon Nelson and Norman Nelson, Jean and Martin Shafiroff.

David Haworth and Janine Brown

Barbara and Peter Regna

Pam Laudenslager and Liz Eielson

Rod O'Connell, Vicki Downey, James Robertson, Maureen Robertson, Jim Karoli, Rachel Leonard, and Kate Edmonds Donner

Robin Reardon Nelson, Norman Nelson, and Alexes Reardon

Countess Dagmar de Brantes, and Tony Tichenor

David Haworth, Kate O'Brien, Dr. Wayne Jensen, and Amy Buchheit

Anthony Manfredonia and Herta Kriegner

Ben Kraus and Guy Lawrence

Janna Bullock with Helen and Larry Remmel

Ashleigh Simpson and Damien Debruijn

Heidi Conant and James Hathaway

Lucy Puig, Jose Pincay-Delgado, and Dana Humphrey with Tito

Larry Kaiser, Jean Shafiroff, and Martin Shafiroff

Matthew Allen and Catherine Azmoodeh

Grayson Handy and Kate Edmonds Donner

Sophie Haddad and friends

John Olsen, Pam Laudenslager, and Edward Callaghan

Kate Edmonds Donner, Alex Donner, and Charity Poth

Doug Ousley and Dawn Fern

Renee Adrienne Smith, Cassandra Seidenfeld, and Lucia Hwong Gordon

Ebbie Ashabi and Debbie Mahoney

Alison Minton

Rosalie Brinton and John Wegorzewski

Last week at the Metropolitan Club, over 275 garden enthusiasts attended The Horticultural Society of New York's Annual Fall Luncheon.

Tupper Thomas, co-founder of the Prospect Park Alliance and the former Park Administrator for Prospect Park for thirty years, received the prestigious Barbara A. Margolis Award. The two recipients of The Horticultural Society of New York's Award of Excellence were Millicent Mercer Johnsen and Joanne Oplustil.

Millicent Mercer Johnsen has been an active member of The Horticultural Society of New York since 1989. She has held the highest leadership positions, including Chair of the Board and Chair of the Nominating Committee. An avid gardener and a longstanding guiding light in horticulture, Mrs. Johnsen also served as President of the Garden Club of America.

Joanne Oplustil is the Executive Director of CAMBA, a non-profit organization that incorporates gardens into their affordable housing to enhance the lives of low-income and challenged individuals and families across New York City.

The mission of the Horticultural Society of New York is to sustain the vital connection between people and plants. The Hort’s social service and public programs educate and inspire, growing a broad community that values horticulture for the many benefits it brings to our environment, our neighborhoods, and our lives.

Jamee Gregory, Liz Peek, Audrey Gruss, and Clelia Zacharias

Jean Shafiroff, Nancy Gehman, Patricia Shiah, and Elizabeth Stribling

Melanie Chisholm, Justine Keithline, Mary Van Pelt, and Missey Condie

Clelia Zacharias, Stephanie Foster, and Lis Waterman

Norma Dana, John Danzer, and Tupper Thomas

Sheila Stephenson and Betsy Bacon

Mark Gilbertson, Deborah Royce, and Ron Wendt

Tupper Thomas, Millicent Mercer Johnsen, and Joanne Oplustil

Elaine Arace, Gaylen White, and Huguette Hersch

Audrey Gruss, Susan Gutfreund, and Margo Langenberg

Valerie Gimbel, CeCe Black, and Suzette Smith

Brooke and Drew Harlow

Pia Lindstrom and CeCe Black

Elaine Arace, Michele Lindsay, and Audrey Gruss

Marianne Engle and Amy Conway

Virginia Newman Yocum and Janet Mavec

Barbara Regna and Jamee Gregory

Kamie Lightburn, Stephanie Loeffler, and Paige Hardy

Sara Hobel and Jessica Tcherepnine

Andrea Fahnestock and George Hambrecht

With the Alfred and Norma Lerner Children's Pavilion at Hospital for Special Surgery about to open, friends and supporters gathered at the Bohemian National Hall on Friday evening, Oct. 19, 2012, for a festive by-invitation-only event to celebrate the completion of a campaign that exceeded goals and raised $31.5 million for the Children's Pavilion for capital renovations, programmatic needs and innovations, and endowment.

Hospital for Special Surgery ranked number one in the country for orthopedics and ranked number three for rheumatology in U.S. News & World Report's recent "Best Hospitals" issue. The new Pavilion will provide one-stop care for children with musculoskeletal conditions and their families who come to Special Surgery because of its reputation for providing world-class pediatric care.

Dr. Roger Widmann, Dr. Leon Root, and Richard Menschel

Nearly 250 people attended the celebration, including HSS President and CEO Louis Shapiro; Lara Lerner, a member of the hospital's board of trustees; Dr. Roger Widmann, chief of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery at HSS; Dr. Leon Root, Chief Emeritus of Pediatric Orthopedics at HSS, and his wife Paula; and actor Peter Jacobson and his wife Whitney Scott.

With a founding gift from the Lerner family, Special Surgery created a Children's Pavilion – a pediatric hospital-within-a-hospital – that consolidates pediatric services in an environment designed and built especially for children and their families. "The Lerner Children's Pavilion provides unparalleled care to the thousands of families who seek our expertise for both routine and complex orthopedic and rheumatologic conditions," said Mr. Shapiro.