LENOX HILL NEIGHBORHOOD
HOUSE
Brooke
Astor Undaunted
By A
Little Winter Storm
Story by Roger Webster
Photos
by Patrick
McMullan
 TAFF
and volunteers of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House holiday bazaar gave
a sigh of relief as Brooke Astor, in a mink coat and brightly
colored silk scarf, and Annette de la Renta, in a chic
leather Cossack sort of look, arrived at Sotheby's through a snow
storm.
Joan Tyner, Gloria Rand and Janet Brown,
honorary co-chairs John Rosselli and Nancy Wekselbaum,
chair Nancy Baker, junior co-chairs Eva Dillon and Andrea
Donahue, and big supporters Julia Wallace, wearing two
jeweled flower brooches on her black Valentino suit, Audrey Gruss
and Martha McLanahan, board chair Sydney Shuman,
and board president Diana Quasha had been slightly
apprehensive when a blizzard hit on the day of their 15th annual
benefit preview party.
But
the event was a smashing success. The sponsors were Vertu, the new
luxury mobile phone company, John Rosselli International,
and Scalamandré, the fabric house that had thrown a
champagne Veuve Clicquot kick-off party
a few weeks earlier.
The
vendors on the famous “Boulevard of Shops,” included Perfect Day
in Paradise, DOY Jewelry, Christian L. Andrews Ltd., Quadrille,
Baroni, Papo d’Anjo, Stubbs & Wootton, Shirlee Steelman and
Barbaree Meaney’s Designer Handbags, Barbara and James Bennett’s
Chic Boutique, Gail Partridge and Betsy Stuart’s ELMS Puzzles,
Zuzka, Audrey International, and Susan Gubelmann.
The
Alex Donner trio played delightful music and Glorious Foods provided
a delicious buffet for the almost five hundred guests including Dr. Roger
Grief, Natan Wekselbaum, Joan Masket, Jimmy Steinmayer, Sean
Driscoll, Grace Hightower, Albert Hadley, Renee and Carl Landegger,
Col. Julian Riskin, Lynette Davis, Joyce Moss, and Stephen
Lovekin.
The
holiday bazaar committee members included Janet Schlesinger,
Bunny Williams, Pamela Davis Van Ingen, Susan Zises Green, Victoria
Greenleaf Kempner, Betsy Pitts, Todd Romano, Tobie Roosevelt,
Mrs. John H. Sargent, Margot Morris Slater, Judith Zabar, Jenny
Brown, Walter Deane, Nadine Dub, Mary Elliott, Judith Flynn, and
Jonathan Gargiulo.
The
silent auction featured exclusive pillows, fashioned from luxurious
Scalamandré fabrics by designers, such as Joanne de Guardiola,
Diana de Brousse, Albert Capraro, Jamie Drake, Jackson/Aaron
Ltd., Nicole Miller, Betsy Boggs, Harry Heissmann and Stephanie
Odegaard. The flea market was a big hit.
Best
of all over $530,000 was raised during the three-day sale to help
the children who receive benefits daily at the 108-year-old
benevolent East Side institution.
Overheard & Seen
 Col. Julian Riskin commented that the
weather reminded him of his time in World War II fighting the Battle
of the Bulge.
Brooke Astor advised twins Shirlee and Babraee
at Designer Handbags: “Evening bags should never have handles;
they should always be clutches.”
Brooke won two doggie beds, in the silent
auction, for her dachshunds Girlsie and Boysie.
Joanne de Guardiola told how she had brought her
twins sledding earlier in the day in Central Park and was wiped out
by a kid on a sled when she wasn't looking.
Julia Wallace is planning a “thank you”
soiree for the Bazaar Committee in 2003.
Joyce Moss phoned home to tell husband George
that she just bought a $19,000 platinum Vertu phone.
One donor cleaned out her closet and brought in 75
Adolfo suits for the Flea Market.
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