Hatted hopefuls bling it on for “Jewels of Devon” Ladies Day contest
The gathering: Ladies paid $65 in advance, $80 at the door for light bites, live music, “Devontinis” and bubbly, and goody bags that included tickets to a long list of raffle prizes donated by Country Fair vendors. Just over 130 ticketholders picked up paddles to compete in the contest. A bit of a headache in recent years, party crashers were kept out by a barricade of picnic tables and volunteers checking wristbands.
The theme: “Jewels of Devon.” Open to loose and creative interpretation, e.g. “pearls of wisdom” from a horse trainer, the Sapphire Grand Prix, the Gold Ring (next to the main Dixon Oval), and tried-and-true Devon gems like lemon sticks and show ribbons.
The judges: The perennial leader of the pack was TV fashionista/author Carson Kressley, a standout in his lemon-festooned shirt. He cracked jokes, posed for a zillion photos, and later signed copies of his new book, Does This Book Make My Butt Look Big? (A seriously swell style guide for newbies, if we say so ourselves.) An accomplished rider who owns a horse farm near Allentown, Carson often competes (and wins) at Devon.
The fine print: Lots of local folks kicked in, among them: sponsors Malvern Federal Savings Bank, Bryn Mawr Hospital Comprehensive Breast Center, Baldwin School, Palm Bay International, Polka Dots in Paoli, Springton Tennis Club and Krinsky camps. Raffle prize donors included J. McLaughlin, Louella, the Owens, the Rosatos, Macy’s, Wink, and Cachet salon.
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Devon Horse Show gallops in with artful First Night
The Art Gallery at Devon ushered in the 2017 horse, dog (!) and hat show season with cocktails, conversation and fine art.
The first: First Night’s 225 guests got first dibs on the gallery’s 502 original works of painting and sculpture. Those not sold will remain on exhibit throughout the show.
The night: Guests perused and schmoozed in the gallery, chatting up artists and Devon devotées including 2017 Country Fair co-chairs Beth Wright and Lisa Estabrook. Plenty of partygoers enjoyed a stroll through the horse show grounds without the big crowds and some stocked up on Devon souvenirs.
The big reveal: A painting by Genevieve Snyder was unveiled as Devon’s official 2017 Poster Painting.
The bottom line: The 14th Annual First Night at Devon raised $28,000 for the Devon Horse Show Foundation, which helps improve and preserve the show grounds. Art sales benefit Bryn Mawr Hospital.
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Perelman Jewish Day School marks 60 years, looking backward and forward
More than 400 friends saluted schools’ founders and past presidents, among them Judy and David Wachs and Fannie and Abe Birenbaum.
The tribute: Parents, grandparents, alumni, faculty and friends marked the milestone on May 24 at Penn Valley’s Har Zion Temple, where the school was founded. The evening concluded with dozens of alumni gathering to sing “Happy Birthday” to the school in Hebrew.
The theme: “60 and Forward.” Perelman parents Rebecca and Ben Kirshner and Sharon Musher and Daniel Eisenstadt represented the next generation.
The gift: A record 70 percent of Perelman parents contributed to the more than $3.36 million raised, including nearly $1 million for EITC/OSTC scholarships.
Remembered: Linda Grife, a beloved member of Perelman’s administrative team who passed away several months ago. Thanks to a $100,000 matching gift from Perelman parents Debra and David Magerman, $225,000 was raised for the Linda Grife Memorial Scholarship Fund.
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Main Line marvels at local haunts depicted in Wayne Art Center’s 11th Plein Air Festival
Artists and patrons met at the Collector’s Soirée and Sale May 13, the climax of a six-day alfresco-painting frenzy.
The art: Thirty-two nationally-recognized painters had just six days to create a total of 250 landscapes en plein air – pastoral, urban, and suburban scenes, many of iconic spots like Ardrossan and Valley Forge Park.
The challenge: Blank canvases were stamped at the May 7 opening dinner to ensure that paintings would be created in their entirety – from rough sketch to varnish – in the ensuing week. Six nights later, the framed works were mounted and judged. Juror Dan Demers named 22 winning works, doling out $15,000 in prizes.
Fun facts: Artist set up their easels at first light. The week was so intensely creative that some painters told us they barely had time to shower and change clothes. Several patrons and committee members hosted artists in their homes.
The show: Paintings not snatched up at the Collector’s Soirée remain on exhibit at the art center through June 24.
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Shipley’s 43rd Secret Gardens Tour was straight out of a fairytale: lush grounds surrounding stunning homes.
The gardens: The Main Line was in full bloom and sunbaked May 17 when 300 Shipley School friends toured eight hidden gardens tucked away in Gladwyne, Bryn Mawr and Haverford. On display: Ponds, fountains, and an encyclopedic array of flower and trees, even a model train.
The secret: Inspired by their homes’ styles and personal hobbies, owners turned their yards into living storybooks. Angela Hudson used her home’s leftover stone to build an accent wall with waterfall. Train-lover Victor Barsky had a train track frame an oversized pond. Vivian Piasecki’s Italianate home was reflected indoors and out, with gardens evocative of Tuscan hillsides.
The fairytale ending: A final stop transported tourists to a coastal Italian villa. Flowers accentuated the geometric pool, pond and sculpture. The garden flowed seamlessly inside, where floral accents adorned the grand music and dining rooms.
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Junior League welcomes new faces at May celebration
Awards were doled out and gavels passed at the Junior League of Philadelphia’s spring dinner at Merion Cricket Club on May 24.
A changing of the guard: Founded in 1912, the League welcomed 98 new members and a new board. It also passed the president’s gavel from Elizabeth Farr to Mary Peller.
Also celebrated: Another year of community service and leadership training. Special shoutouts were given to the Junior League Thrift Shop and to the Apple A Day Healthy Living initiative.
The awards: New Member of the Year: Ja’Netta D. Kennedy; Apple of the Day Awardee: Elisabeth Ilca, co-chair, Kids in the Kitchen Committee; Volunteers of the Year: Lauren L. Homel and Nina Lawall; Committee of the Year: Jesy Brackett and Natalie Kay, co-chairs of the Liberty Learning Exchange; Leader of the Year: Kelli Friedrichs Brown, chair of the Education and Volunteer Training Committee; and President’s Cup: Sustainer Chair Mary S. Hinds. Thirty-two members were recognized for donating more than $1,000 ea. in merchandise to the Junior League Thrift Shop in Ardmore.
The healthy grants: The JLP distributed $135,000 to five area nonprofits working to improve food security and health: Face to Face Germantown, People’s Emergency Center, Methodist Services’ Heritage Farm, Community Center at Visitation and MANNA.
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Frolicking for Frolic’s memory at Radnor Hunt Races
Hundreds of locals converged on Radnor Hunt for one of the Main’s Line’s signature see-and-be-seen affairs.
The program: Themed tailgate picnics and hat contests, a mounted color guard presentation, then steeplechase races and carriage and fox hound parades, capped off by the running of the Preakness on a big screen. Day drinking and merriment throughout.
The purse: $210,000 spread over seven races.
Also at stake: Open space and clean water. In 38 years, the races have raised $4 million for the Brandywine Conservancy’s programs. Morans, Strawbridges, Wetherills, Wrights, Hamiltons, Sinklers, Nesbitts et. al. have kicked in oodles over the years. Chipping in the most corporate dollars: longtime presenting sponsor BNY Mellon.
What made this year special: It’s the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art’s 50th year. Cue the special tours and celebrations.
Also special: This year’s picnic tailgate theme, ‘“Frolic” Along the Brandywine,’ honoring the late Frolic Weymouth, lover of art, nature and good times and a founder of the Conservancy and museum.
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Fabulously fashionable night at Neiman’s helps fight cancer
Area fashion cognoscenti – well-heeled and impeccably turned out – enjoyed the Art of Fashion in a tent adjoining Neiman Marcus on May 11. The splashy $1000/ticket affair benefited Abramson Cancer Center’s Philly Fights Cancer initiative.
The fashion: An edgy “ode to MTV” runway show presented by Neiman Marcus Fashion Director Ken Downing. His other runway odes: religious, race, ethnic and age diversity. Hot tip from Ken: Everyone needs a biker jacket for fall. Jewelry designer Dena Kemp hosted the cocktail hour.
In the house and on the runway: Pioneering ’60s model Pat Cleveland, 66 and sensational. Pat was the first mixed-race African American featured in Vogue, Cosmo, etc.
The art: Hip hop-inspired Pop artist King Saladeen painted the runway’s backdrop in under two hours. Among the Philly-based artist’s canvases: fancy cars, clothes, handbags and cement. His creations were hot sellers at the event.
The exciting breast cancer talk: Dr. Angela DeMichele (Perelman Center for Advanced Cancer) spoke about a game-changing new test and treatment designed to cut breast cancer’s high recurrence rates. About a fourth of breast cancers show up later in a different body part, she said. Breast cancer survivors from around the country are invited to partipate in clinical trials and should contact the Center for testing.
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With help from Main Line churches, St. James School turns dreams into bright futures in North Philly
Dressed as doctors, chefs, musicians and ministers, student ambassadors showed supporters their sky’s-the-limit career aspirations at the 3rd Annual Audrey Evans Scholarship Benefit.
A new high: More than 230 St. James School friends raised nearly $300,000 for student scholarships – a new record – at “Our Students, Our Future” at the Union League on May 16. VIP donors were treated to an early-bird guided tour of the League’s Heritage Museum.
The honorees: The Rev. Sean Mullen, board president and school co-founder; Dr. Keith Leaphart, longtime St. James supporter, and St. James board member Hon. Greg Montanaro.
The school: St. James offers tuition-free, rigorous academics along with counseling, tutoring and long-term mentoring to 63 students in grades 5-8 who live in the school’s under-resourced neighborhood.
The Main Line connection: Volunteers and funding come from a long list of local churches: St. Christopher’s in Gladwyne, St. David’s Episcopal Church in Wayne, Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, St. Mary’s in Ardmore, St. George’s Episcopal Church in Ardmore, Good Samaritan in Paoli, St. Peter’s of the Great Valley in Malvern, Christ Church Ithan of Villanova, Church of St. Asaph in Bala Cynwyd, St. John’s in Wynnewood and St. Paul’s in Exton. The Devon-based nonprofit ECHOES Around the World has also partnered with St. James.
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People’s Light embarks on auction adventure, “Treasures & Travels”
The cast and crew of Malvern’s professional theater company set sail on the S.S. People’s Light May 16.
The mates: More than 150 actors, staff, board members and theater patrons gathered in the new theater’s new Farmhouse Pavilion for cocktails and auction bidding by cellphone, then moved to the adjoining ballroom for dinner.
Onboard entertainment: After dinner, guests adjourned to the Haas stage for a sneak peek at The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, playing at People’s Light through June 4. A live auction – including trips to France, Cape Cod and LA to see Jimmy Kimmel Live! (with backstage passes).
The bounty: The annual auction funds Art Discovery programs at People’s Light, including free student tickets, help with transportation and scholarships for theatre classes.
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Another awesome edition! Kudos!
Thanks so much, Amy. We’re doing our very best to make the Main Line charity whirl fun, relevant AND meaningful. P.S. Pretty sure a certain Devon Ladies Day hat judge was wearing one of your smashing Ella Grace hats… the pink one?
One correction on the St. James School story: St. John’s Church is in Bala Cynwyd, not Wynnewood. St. James is a terrific school doing wonderful work – thanks for bringing it to peoples’ attention!
Fixed! Thanks for calling that to our attention, K. Also, I couldn’t agree more about St. James School. (I’ve volunteered there myself and saw firsthand how special the place is.)
Your online newspaper is awesome! How lucky are we to live in such an amazing area of traditions and great people all creating lots interesting stories. We love the photos too.
Thanks, Ali. Appreciate your taking the time to comment. Thrilled to hear you’re enjoying SAVVY Main Line!
Loved seeing all the wonderful hats!