What I love about publishing Dan’s Papers Palm Beach is meeting powerful, successful people who support great causes.
Almost every night there is a party or gala dinner to raise money for important needs, from animal welfare, to veterans, to breast cancer and more — each party has a purpose and fun.
After traveling from Peru to Paris, I was delighted to arrive in Palm Beach at the beautiful Colony Hotel.
Just being at the hotel is a “happening” because it is the center of many of the parties held in their ballroom, dining rooms and lobby. Interesting people are seen at the famous Swifty’s Dining Room from morning to night — it’s a party unto itself! In fact, we are hosting the Dan’s Papers Palm Beach Power List event there on March 10 to recognize the extraordinary people who make a difference in this Palm Beach world.
It’s so good to see people who are successful giving back to many community causes.
I attended a party to benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, identifying Palm Beach people in need.
Janet Levy, an old friend and a Dan’s Papers Palm Beach Power Lister, organized the Motown-themed party with a live band, a marvelous meal, lots of dancing and opportunities to donate thousands of dollars through the live and silent auctions. The Colony ballroom was packed with donors and I got to see old friends and meet new ones!
What I loved was that the dance floor was filled with guests, including some in their 80s and 90s joining the 20-year-olds dancing their hearts out and being generous. Generosity has no age limit!
The night before, my friend Trish Gathers, CEO of the Carmelite System and Carith Foundation, invited me to the Catholic Charities Palm Beach gala held at the beautiful and elegant Breakers ballroom. The sold-out event had a silent auction lining the walls of the cocktail hour, and I couldn’t resist bidding on a white fur long vest, perfect for the chill that has hit Palm Beach!
But I’m not complaining after my Westhampton Beach trainer Susie told me it was 5 degrees Friday morning and feeding her wild animals was a problem because the food froze! But leave it to Susie to find a way to feed her furry friends living under her porch and in her backyard!
On another afternoon, businesswoman and philanthropist Kim Renk, an old friend and extraordinary hostess, had a party in her historic Palm Beach home that was designed by the same architect who designed Mar-a-Lago.
Kim, along with Rosalyn Yellin, Melissa Butterworth and Cindy Karen, hosted a cocktail party for Cancer Alliance and was attended by women in the new hit reality show “Members Only: Palm Beach.”
The television show “Inside Edition” filmed the women and guests mingling in the historic house and shopping for a cause.
It doesn’t get better than this!
But the highlight of my week was to celebrate dear friends Michelle and Steve Barnet’s birthdays at a party hosted by Hamptons friends Rita Stein and Victor Schwartz in their home at the Polo Club of Boca Raton.
Michelle, a beloved businesswoman and philanthropist, owns hotels across the United States, and I stayed in her Pineapple Hotel Seattle with a group from the Hampton Synagogue. We visited Dale Chihuly’s workshops as he created pieces that now enhance the Hampton Synagogue’s buildings.
But it’s funny how little things about a trip stay with you forever. She had given me a lush terry cloth yellow-lined bathrobe, which she offers at the hotel, and it now sits in my bathroom reminding me of her generosity and that extraordinary trip to Seattle.
I always like to bring home something from my trips, so when I see it in my home, it’s a flashback to the trip and the terrific moments from it. Mementos can be meaningful!
This was a week for the memory books, through the photos I share with you today.
Friends and family make a life and what a life it is!
See more photos on QNS.com, DansPapers.com and LongIslandPress.com.
