Black Tie & Tales

+ Designer fever at UTC
Rebecca Minkoff stopped by Saks Fifth Avenue Wednesday, Oct. 22, for a Meet the Designer event.

"I like these events to give back to something important in the community," says Minkoff, who chose Make-A-Wish Central and Northern Florida as the beneficiary of the evening.

During the event, Minkoff mingled with guests and signed bags, two of which were prizes in the raffle, which produced sales of more than 800 tickets. In addition to the designer appearance, guests enjoyed a ponytail bar, beauty stations, freeze models and live music at the event.

+ CAN you top this?
Making things interesting this year at CANDance – Dancing with Our Stars, the same couple won both the best dancer and best fundraiser prizes. The giant disco ball trophies went to attorney George Mazzarantani and his professional partner, Marina Gando. Auctioneer Michael Klauber broke new ground as well, selling a dinner for 10 in his wine cellar at $6,000 six times and commenting, “Phil will kill me."
Klauber and partner Phil Mancini donate the dinners.

Other memorable moments: CAN Development Director Scott George wearing a print-sleeved Lily Pulitzer shirt, brooming fallen feathers from the dance floor … a touching memorial for CAN board member Dr. Vinny Capano by his fiancée Jennifer Laritz … a new AIDS video with the startling statistic that among seniors, AIDS has been increasing 15% annually for the last five years. Were there a prize for best wardrobe, it would go to the see-through black lace tights worn by professional ballroom dancer Sarah Hayworth who partnered Daniel Volz. Anything to raise money for Community AIDS Network, which serves 800+ clients in the Sarasota clinic alone. In total, CAN runs four clinics and oversees eight more.
See more photos here.

+ An uplifting story
Seven clients served by Harvest House, a faith-based community that provides transitional living for women who are getting their lives back on track, received a free fitting and new brassieres from Sea Cup and Up on Osprey Ave. on Oct. 7. The donation was the brainchild of shop owner Cheryl Burke who collected bras that her customers were not using plus two boxes of samples donated by Simone Perele.”

“None of the ladies ever had a bra fitting before,” Burke says, “they came in wearing 36s and 38s and most left in 32s and 34s; their clothes looked better and the women had new confidence for their job interviews and such.”

This is an ongoing program at Sea Cup and Up; if you have bras in good condition that you no longer wear, you can donate them at the shop. This column is a sincere admirer of creative philanthropy, a description that certainly “fits” (pun deliberate) this item.

+ "What am I going to do for 100?"
That’s what Betty Schoenbaum wondered aloud, so thrilled was she by the luncheon that Temple Beth Sholom threw in honor of her 97th birthday. The Sept. 21 party was the brainchild of Beth Sholom board member Emma Joels who said she “threw it together” in a few short weeks. The luncheon attracted more than 300 guests and family, including our-of-town daughters Emily Schoenbaum and Joanne Miller and son Jeff Schoenbaum.

Even more family and a few close friends celebrated Schoenbaum’s actual birthday at her home on Sept. 27. The toast of the evening was Elder Betty Beer, a product of Magic Hat Brewery, which bills it as “the matriarch of the summer sun and the spirit in our bare dancing feet.” Rather appropriate, we’d say.