John Wegorzewski, host
Judy Licht, and sponsor Cliff Love |
BODY
POSITIVE
Wind
And Rain Can’t Keep
Folks Away From Charity
By Edward T. Callaghan
 ORE
than 300 guests braved the monsoon-like winds to join Judy Licht and Jerry Della
Femina at their
East Hampton oceanfront home for Garden Gala
XVI, the annual oceanfront sunset soiree benefiting Body Positive.
They arrived with coifs undone,
Manolos in hand, squishy sneakers, and grabbed the first available
cocktail. Luckily, Jerry had trays of Vermeer Dark Chocolate
Martinis!
With the chill off, we ran for our
pals Christian Conley Holthausen and
Francine Bryan-Brown who had the champagne flutes and
Champagne Charles Heidsieck
ready for us.
We toasted Rob
and Linda Romanelli
Leahy, the social engines behind the event, and their
daughters Kate and Jenna Leahy Bates
with hubby Chris who
had flown in 20 or so friends from San Francisco, Los Angeles and
Cleveland. The Leahys,
who make every party a family affair, even had their in-laws Carol
and Ben Bates passing
the canapés, courtesy of over a dozen of the Hamptons’ top
chefs and caterers.
Antinori provided the lovely wines
to compliment the treats and there was enough Absolut to keep a
Russian army singing.
We got the skinny about Cliff
Love and his retirement from ABC after 32 years.
Clearly, the Mickey Mouse gang was very good to him.
Cliff told us he could now devote more time to causes dear
to his heart.
Pop artist Marco with his
"Lady Liberty" gift to Garden Gala
Photos
by George Antilla |
With the ever-stunning Caprice
on his arm, Love chatted up a storm with blue-eyed weather bug
Sam Champion ABC 7, who
was honored with Body Positive’s James
Revson Memorial Award,
named for the late Newsday
columnist who began Garden Gala in his Sag Harbor backyard.
John Haigney, vice president of LINCS, received the Positive
Citizen Award for his many years of service to East End
community programs.
We couldn’t miss publisher Shari
Alexander, whose shocking pink ensemble lit up the room, and
her husband, renowned Metropolitan Opera star John
Bills. We were lucky enough to catch up with the couple just as Sylvia
and Fred Lehrer were detailing the recipe for Sylvia’s
lighter-than-air cheese puffs.
Committee and sponsors also
pitched in by housing in their own homes the scores of out-of-town
guests and volunteers. Interior
design dean John Rogers had
the good taste -- and sense –
to offer lodgings to several of the cute out-of-town
contingent. Program
chair, Kathleen Schwartz and
husband Jim turned
their sprawling Noyac estate into a veritable dormitory.
The wildly successful affair
raised badly need funds for Body Positive, the largest peer based
AIDS service organization in New York solely dedicated to
empowering people who are living with and affected by HIV and
AIDS.
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