When I moved to Palm Beach to launch Dan’s Papers Palm Beach, I felt like I knew my readers in this lush southern county.
When Dan Rattiner, the founder of Dan’s Papers, came to visit me last week in Palm Beach, I explained to him how the similarities are extraordinary between the people who live in the Hamptons and Palm Beach County.
Palm Beach residents are very similar to those in Southampton, Boca Raton residents are very similar to Westhampton Beach and East Hampton, Delray — a rocking place — is so much like Montauk and “horse country” Wellington people are like Bridgehampton people!
Since the readership is similar, we have now, for three years, been successful in building a following in Palm Beach County. Similar to the summer season of the Hamptons, Palm Beach plays host to endless parties, fundraisers and fabulous cultural institutions — and both regions have magnificent beaches!
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of going to Saturday Night Lights during the Winter Equestrian Festival held at Wellington International.
Missy Sullivan, who works for the equestrian division of Flagler Insurance Agency, is a friend of my friend Elyse in Westhampton Beach, grew up around horses and was a great guide to the beautiful jumpers — including many Olympic riders — that appeared Saturday night.
Our seats were ringside and the rink looked like a double of the Hampton Classic but I was told by Missy that Wellington is larger. Missy knows of what she speaks!
Watching the magnificent horses up close can take your breath away as they gracefully — horse and rider as one — jump over barriers that seem impossible!
The winner, Tiffany Foster of Canada (on Battlecry), was able to soar to victory with speed and accuracy, jumping over every barrier and leaving every pole in place! We all held our breath as she made her final round perfectly and with the best speed to win the grand prize, with NetJets being the main sponsor of the night.
It was a warm, lovely night of meeting new people, and that’s always my greatest pleasure when I go to events. I met two men from Greenberg Traurig, the law firm that represented me when I bought my office building in Southampton, and another woman, Jennifer Burger, who is CEO of Phelps Media, a specialized PR firm to the equestrian industry worldwide.
Later in the week, lucky me, I saw dear friends Dan Rattiner and his wife Chris Wasserstein, who were visiting the home of Adele Fuchsberg and her husband, Dr. Derek Enlander.
We all gathered for a delicious, impeccably served dinner at the Renato’s restaurant off Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. The only problem was that the popular destination had every table filled and we spent the night screaming at each other in order to be heard! Dan brought me up to date of Hamptons happenings and I shared my joy of being in Palm Beach publishing a media outlet in this pastel world.
Another evening, my dear friend Donna Schneier invited me to see the magnificent “Tosca,” by Giacomo Puccini, at the Kravis Center, a mini Lincoln Center.
The Palm Beach Opera offers world class performances and, under the board leadership of David Genser and David Walker (opera general and artistic director), the house was sold out for its performances and the opera exceeded its financial goals.
The powerful and beautifully staged opera offers love, passion, hate and deceit. The villain’s portrayal was so strong that when he took his bows, the audience booed!
The highlight of the night was to the magnificent soprano voice of Anastasia Bartoli, who brilliantly sang the role of Tosca. She repeatedly brought the house down with cheers of “bravo” echoing in the enormous concert hall. It was a performance I will never forget!
A bonus for me was getting to see dear friends Ted Vassilev (CEO of DTR Modern Galleries) and his wife Simona Petrova-Vassileva sitting across the aisle from me and sitting next to me was Sandy Baklor, whose art collection we just wrote about in Dan’s Papers Palm Beach. He has the largest collection of photo realism works, many of which were purchased from New Yorker and Sagaponack resident art dealer Lou Meisel.
Donna’s friend introduced me to Daisy Soros, who has made a commitment to helping migrants integrate into life in America. Stay tuned!
Life here is filled with new friends and old, and I’m grateful to enjoy them all!
