Palm Beach’s green thumbs were joined by a throng of Parrotheads to kick off their presidential weekend by celebrating The Everglades Foundation’s 25th Anniversary at The Breakers with a Margaritaville-styled gathering highlighted by a classic Buffett on the Beachconcert. Across town and over the bridge, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers began previews for Thursday’s upcoming sale of longtime Palm Beach residents Philip & Mary Hulitar’s wide-range of collectibles.
February 17, 2018 – 7 pm
25th Everglades benefit with Jimmy Buffett + The Coral Reefer Band
The Breakers – Palm Beach
The Everglades Foundation’s 25th Anniversary fundraiser on Saturday night featured cocktails in the courtyard, dinner-from-the-sea, an Everglades update, and the main attraction, North Ender Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band, much to the rapture of dedicated conservationists and countless Parrotheads who packed The Breakers’ Ponce de Leon Ballroom. One of the foundation’s staunchest supporters, Buffett’s “Come Monday” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise” could be heard as far as West 46th Street where Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville is in previews before a March 15 opening at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre. The Chicago Tribune’s theater critic Chris Jones called the musical sing-along, “Mamma Mia for Parrotheads.” Although the Great White Way’s lights shine brighter than South County Road’s streetlamps, revelers enjoyed a standing-room-only outdoor concert with open bars and the sound of waves breaking along the shoreline.
“Jimmy Buffett is a longtime friend and advocate for the nation’s Everglades. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome him to the stage to raise awareness for Everglades restoration,” said Eric Eikenberg, the foundation’s CEO. “It is especially appropriate that Buffett headlines this year’s celebration, having been among the first of the Foundation’s supporters in 1993 when the organization was co-founded by Paul Tudor Jones II and the late conservationist George Barley.
The Everglades Foundation board of directors is headed by Marshall Field V, chairman; Carlos de la Cruz Jr., vice-chairman and treasurer; Ellin Goetz, vice-chairwoman; and Christopher H. Buckley Jr., secretary. Board members include: Mary L. Barley, Diana Barrett, Ph.D. Jimmy Buffett, Barbara Whitney Carr, Thomas N. Davidson Sr., Joseph Z. Duke III, Maurice R. Ferré, M.D., Gerald C. Grant Jr., Rex Hamilton, John A. Hilton, Paul Tudor Jones II, John P. Keller, James A. Kushlan, Ph.D., Kevin Law, David Lawrence Jr., Garrison du Pont Lickle, Nancy Marshall, Kimberly Mendelson, Hon. Jon L. Mills, Esq., Jack Nicklaus, Robert L. Parks, Esq., Nicholas G. Penniman IV, Nathaniel P. Reed, William Riley, Michael W. Sole, and Beau Wrigley.
Along with Honorary Chairman Johnny Morris, the 25th Anniversary chairs are Mary Barley, Karen Bechtel and Will Osborne, Lia and Tony Bohannon, Chilton Trust, Kate and Jim Clark, Claudia and Carlos de la Cruz Jr., Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller, Jamee and Marshall Field V, Regina Pitaro and Mario Gabelli, Brooke and Ed Garden, Ellin Goetz, Mercedes and Steve Gotwald, Laurie and Peter Grauer, Audrey and Martin Gruss, Beryl Lacoste Hamilton and Rex Hamilton, Fenia and Carl Hiaasen, Molly and Hunt James, Sonia and Paul Tudor Jones II, Elaine and Ken Langone, Kathy and Paul Leone, Michelle Henry and Garrison Lickle, Mary Macmillan Morse, Barbara and Jack Nicklaus, Lynne Wheat and Thomas Petterfy, Ashley and Mike Ramos, Alita and Nathaniel Reed, Nancy Goodes/Rick Salomon/ and Laura Landro, Diana Barrett and Bob Vila, Tony and Andrew Wilshire, Bill Davenport and Bruce Wiltsie and Beau Wrigley.
Along with the Everglades Foundation’s efforts and innovative advocacy activities, educational programs, and collaborative partnerships, the organization also supports: Audubon of Florida, Captains for Clean Water, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Everglades Law Center, Florida Bay Forever, Florida Oceanographic Society, Florida Wildlife Federation, International Game Fish Association, National Parks Conservation Association, National Wildlife Federation, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, The Sierra Club Foundation, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partners, and the Tropical Audubon Society.
Among the Parrotheads, Parakeets and Party Macaws
At Dinner
9:30 pm – Buffett on the Beach
Enter, Stage Right : Parrot Nation’s Commander-in-Chief
For further information visit The Everglades Foundation
Thursday – February 22 / 10 am
Estate Auction of Philip & Mary Hulitar at Palm Beach
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers / Contact: palmbeach@lesliehindman.com
1608 South Dixie Hwy – West Palm Beach
Shortly after the late (great!) Mary Hulitar’s Wyeth-designed 980 North Ocean Boulevard house went on the market several months ago for more than $41 million, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers announced a sale of contents from the Hulitar house. I first met Mary when I served as chairman of archives and collections for the Historical Society and she made several donations. When my friend the late Alex Fatio would visit, I would go with Alex to visit Mary who was a friend of hers.
Always genial, Mary had a kindly nature that now sometimes seems to have become a lost characteristic during the last century. Originally designed during the late 1940s in the Modern style for Chicago’s Philip Armour, fashion designer Philip Hulitar and his wife Mary bought the house nearly 50 years ago, transforming it into more of a French Country style. While Philip Hulitar enjoyed a successful career as a fashion designer in New York for many years, he and Mary were probably best known for the several Palm Beach houses they renovated, leaving a unique artful eclectic style. He served as the first chairman of the Palm Beach Landmarks Commission.
The Society of the Four Arts sculpture garden is named in his honor as is the Philip Hulitar Hospice Center in Providence. At Palm Beach, Mary Hulitar donated the Gerstenberg Hospice Center, named after her father. The Hulitars’ collections remind me of time when Palm Beach houses reflected the tastes and travels of their owners, rather than a means for self-conscious display. Needlepointing must have been a cottage industry during every Palm Beach season. The 475 lots being offered include paintings by Stephen Scott Young, Venetian blackamoors, a Chinese Chippendale mirror for every room, and an extensive silver collection. Here is a look.
Photography by Augustus Mayhew.
Augustus Mayhew is the author of Palm Beach-A Greater Grandeur
