This past Saturday night at the Union Club, 450 guests attended the Search and Care’s annual Yorkville Ball. Currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, Search and Care seeks out older people in the community who need help in managing life’s daily activities or accessing essential services, providing them the support and companionship they require to live with security and dignity in the manner they choose.
Guests included Board Chair Peyton Carr; Co-Chairs Julia Fehrenbach Baldwin, Jennifer Cuminale, Arielle Patrick, Louisa Takacs, and Michelle Carr; Junior Chairs Peter Baldwin, Ebbie Koelle, and Yvonne Najor; and Host Committee Members John Barnett, Dennis Bacon, Emily M. Berger, Raelyn Browning, Kendra and Tyler Dietrich, Marc Farrell, George Foulard, Erin Frenkel, Eileen Gazzola, Daedra Gesellschap, Michael Graver, Sam Hodgman, Ryan and Emily Hormberg, Marko and Amanda Kangrga, Akilah King, Kristen Kittur, Heidi Meier, Alessandra Perez-Rubio, Tatiana Ridley, Ashley Smith, Rob Takacs, James Tierney Tang, Catherine Wright, Kristin Youngling, Amanda Zalka, and Megan Zuckerman.
On Saturday, October 29th at the Lotos Club, the Holland Society of New York held its 132nd Dinner Dance. The Holland Society was founded in 1885 as a historical and genealogical society to honor and preserve the history of New Netherland, the Dutch settlement which became New York. The Holland Society annually awards a Medal for Distinguished Achievement for civic, cultural, or social contributions to New York. The Society’s 2022 medalist was Whitney Donhauser, currently the Ronay Menschel Director and President of the Museum of the City of New York. Ms. Donhauser will shortly join the Metropolitan Museum of Art as their Deputy Director and Chief Advancement Officer.
The Society welcomed 84 guests to the Dinner Dance, including the Consul-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York, Ahmed Dadou; Sophie van Doornmalen, Senior Press and Cultural Officer, Cultural Heritage, Dutch Old Masters, Music, Public Diplomacy at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York; Tessa Dikker, Spokesperson and Election Officer at the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations; Deborah Hamer, Director of the New Netherland Institute; Edward Reed, Photographer for the Mayor of the City of New York; and Rob Snyder, Manhattan Borough Historian.
During the cocktail hour in the Library, Ms. Donhauser gave the first public presentation of the Museum of the City of New York’s plans to celebrate their centennial in 2023.
In advance of dinner, the traditional toasts were made. Following the toasts, the Reverend Paul Lent read the invocation. President Adrian Bogart III greeted the guests and thanked the evening’s sponsors: First Manhattan, Heineken, Bols Genever, Heinen Delfts Blauw, and Paperless Post.
After dinner, Holland Society president Colonel Adrian Bogart III (Ret.) presented Whitney Donhauser with the Society’s Gold Medal for Distinguished Contributions to the City of New York. Ms. Donhauser thanked President Bogart, Executive Director Sarah Cooney, and the Holland Society of New York. Following Ms. Donhauser’s acceptance speech, President Bogart shared his plans for the Society’s future, including greater collaboration between organizations that focus on the history of New York. He then introduced the long-running Holland Society tradition of the Parading of the Beaver. Guests were invited to follow the beaver into the Library for dancing, with music by the Peter Duchin Orchestra.
The dancing continued into the night at the Noel Shoe Museum’s Inaugural Shoe Gala celebration with a seated dinner for 150 at the Doubles club. Organized by museum founder Vanessa Noel, the evening was a spectacular celebration for the Noel Shoe Museum. The evening’s dress code called for Festive Footwear and guests happily complied. A selection of vintage and historical shoes from the museum’s permanent collection were on display throughout the bar. The doors opened for dinner at 8pm revealing the room filled with an ocean of balloons and tables adorned with shoe confetti and bags of Mariebelle chocolates.
The Noel Shoe Museum, to be located in New York City, will be the first and only shoe museum in the United States. The Museum will celebrate the creativity and imagination of footwear through exhibitions which showcase the best collaborations in fashion and art with a strong focus on design, designers, history, and the manufacturing of footwear. The museum will explore the culture of mankind through the evolution of the shoe.
