Black Tie & Tales

+ Friendship goes global
Mike Bear, the general manager of DEX imaging, is a young man whose relationship with Friendship Centers started out as strictly business. It changed, however. Over the course of 10 years, the more he learned, the more he cared: “I saw how the organization fills a big need that communities along the west coast of Florida have to give seniors a purpose.” And that is how he and his wife, Dawn, became co-chairs for the sixth annual Friendship Centers gala.

Their idea for the March 10 party at the Friendship Center is to make it “a cultural smorgasbord of fun” with food and entertainment representing all seven continents. You may think that Coto Paxi is an Ecuadorian volcano, and most days it is. But for this party, Chef Paul Mattison is executing it as a chocolate truffle — a trifle on a seriously multinational menu. The entertainment features everything from the local Spotlight Kids (singing “It’s a Small World After All,” of course) to Jacobite bagpipers and Irish cloggers. There will be a silent auction and a paddle raise to fund a much-needed new phone system for the Sarasota center, but the focus, the Bears and their team promise, will be on fun.

You can participate as a guest for $150; sponsorships start at $500. For more information, call Cheryl Pilch at 556-3205.

+ Love is in the air…
Dr. Braun and Jeanne Graham have an exciting year coming up — both of their children, Worth and Lauren, are engaged to be married. Worth Graham proposed to girlfriend Erin Evanson on the beach in Naples at sunset Nov. 15 (they will be tying the knot March 12, 2016, at The Field Club). Soon after Worth popped the question, daughter Lauren Graham was proposed to by boyfriend John Wohlwend on the beach at The Ritz-Carlton Beach Club at sunset on Jan. 30 — let the planning begin!

+ Big success under the big top
The Jan. 30 Circus Arts gala honored the memory of Tana Sandefur, a passionate supporter of the Circus Arts Conservatory from its earliest days. Janet Hunter, another longtime circus patriot, recalls the inaugural party had 15 tables, no more than 150 guests and that the team “thought we had died and gone to heaven” because it raised $32,000 — a big number in those days.

How satisfying it must be for CAC founders Pedro Reis and his wife, Dolly Jacobs, that the community came out so strongly to celebrate Sandefur and the circus. One of Sandefur’s big goals was the renovation of the Sailor Circus Arena and the gala included a paddle raise dedicated to that. A donor had promised to match up to $50,000, guests came up with $38,000 and at the end, the infamous anonymous matched that … raising a total of $114,000 for the project.

+ Tidbits
Superbowl round-up … Three generations of Patriots fans gathered at the home of Gordon Greenfield and voted the Budweiser lost puppy commercial as best-of-show … Allison and Hardy Schwartz also had three generations with the arrival of her snowbird mom and stepfather from Toronto … Phil Mancini went to a friend’s house expecting to be one of 20 or so and ended up one of 75, most of them in Patriots’ shirts and all of them bringing food. “If you could barbecue it or if your Italian mother could make it, we had it.” … an anonymous (for obvious reasons) friend reported being teased when she asked what inning the game was in … Allen and Stephanie Hochfelder were at the home of Roberta and Jim Fox with Joe and Marty Marsh, all but one of them disappointed Seattle fans ... Cheryl MacLauchlan watched Turner Classic Movies because Alasdair is not an American football fan … last words go to Joan Mendell and her partner Bob Coppenrath who, as they announced to nearly 100 guests in 2014,  discontinued their Superbowl party after a 20-year run. Now that must have been fun! … You gotta love this … Thanks go to the nameless person who told Edie Chaifetz “At your age, you don’t have to remember names … you can just say, ‘Introduce yourselves.’” BT hopes he or she meant it … A pop art collection to die for… Mark and Kim Standish hosted Starry Night Dinner Feb. 2 and while Laura Stuart Wood’s themes and décor are typically the topic of the hour, the couple’s art collection was the buzz all night.