By Dee Richard
There were two great parties Saturday night. The first was for Kristen Karoff, who graduated from Adelphi University cum laude with a bachelor’s in business administration by majoring in management and minoring in mathematics. Congratulations, Kristen, on a job well done, as you must have put a tremendous amount of time and energy into your education. Your parents, Carolyn and Bernie, also deserve a lot of credit for both supporting you and being there for you. More young people should be lucky enough to have such great parents. We now expect big things from you.
The party was held at her cousins Teresa and Brian Kiernan’s home in Great Neck, L.I. What a lovely, large yard they have for a party. They must’ve had between 100 and 150 people in attendance over the period of 6 p.m. till whenever.
It was a fun party and a lot of my favorite Queens buddies were guests. All the movers and shakers stopped in at one time or another during the evening.
The second party was a luau given by state Sen. Frank Padavan at the Douglaston Club. That was also a fun party, although a different kind of party. He had a great live band that played all evening. The hit of the party was the Hawaiian hula dancers. These young ladies were something else. They even had a session teaching the guests how to hula. Needless to say, that was hilarious.
I was glad I attended the senator’s luau, as it gave me a chance to have an exclusive interview with him.
As you know by now, the Albany debacle has ended, at least for now, but there is no telling what the next move by the Beach Blanket Bingo Boys, Sens. Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada, will be — or have they set a precedent for other electeds that if they don’t get what they want, they’ll also defect or at least threaten toi
Anyhow, to quote the Padavan: “The actions of the past month were, in a word, disgraceful. New Yorkers have a right to meaningful reforms, which we will continue to fight for. We have a state governor that does not reflect the need of those who pay the bills in the form of ever-increasing taxes despite the need for belt-tightening. A budget that increased by over $3 billion, with $8 billion in new taxes and fees, this must stop and stop now.”
That’s what the man said. How can anyone on either side of the aisle disagree with himi The senator is a member of the Douglaston Club. One of my favorite club members is Rod O’Connell, who was there with an overflowing table of fellow club members. The good senator has an interesting group of supporters.
When the senator’s party seemed to be winding down, I decided to head back to Karoffs’, knowing full well those revelers would continue to party well into the night, which they did. With a lot less people around, it was easy to indulge in some good, old-fashioned gossip, which is always a fun way to while away the time.
By the way, does anyone out there know of a museum or community organization that would be interested in receiving the donation of a pre-Civil War Rosewood Square grand pianoi I don’t have the room for it in my new condo. It’s 39 inches high, 39 inches wide and a little over six feet long. It’s an interesting piece of musical history. Square Grands were the forerunners of the present-day, kidney-shaped pianos. I would like to find a good home for it where the public can enjoy it. My cell phone number is 917-744-0800.
That’s it for this week.
I look forward to hearing from you with information on people, parties and politics or gossip.
I like receiving your voice mails at 718-767-6484, faxes at 718-746-0066 and e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com.
Don’t forget to check out the Focus on Queens page.
Till next week, Dee.
