Washington Life Magazine
Washington Life Magazine
Around Town

with Donna Shor

Who says our economic boom won't last—not Millennium Partners! With the Ritz-Carlton Corporationas management, they are building a super-luxury complex of hotel rooms and residential condo-miniums at23rd and M Streets. The smallest of these state-of-the-art condos starts at $500,000, zooming up to $3million plus. Forty percent are already sold—who said economic slowdown?

More than 500 guests flocked to a preview reception of this work-in-progress. Construction laborerstoiled unseen on the roof above their heads as invitees danced to a brisk orchestra and savored endlesssupplies of caviar and champagne, lamb chops, filet mignon, and a cavalcade of buf-fet dishes anddesserts.

Guests were greeted by Christopher Jeffries, the Millennium Partners’ founder and principal, hismodel-beautiful wife Lisa, new General Manager James McBride, and Ritz-Carlton Chairman Bill Tiefel.

Welcome to the basketball court,” said Bill, and he wasn’t joking. That’s what the 7000 square feet ofhalf-finished space is, though elegantly transformed for the party by designer Aniko Gaal Schott. The imaginative draping, the twenty-foot-high cascades of flowers, autumn leaves, and berries under hugeoverhead floral wheels, and the warm amber glow bathing the whole scene, did wonders for those lath andplaster "walls".”

Seen: Nina and Phil Pillsbury; Buffy and Bill Cafritz, Arnaud de Borchgrave; Donna and Jack Pflieger; Senator John Warner; Pierre and Paris-born Poppy Salinger (who’s justopened a bed-and-breakfast near Avignon); Tandy and Wyatt Dickerson; throngs of diplomats,includ-ing the Ambassadors of Italy, Hungary, Brazil, Greece, Romania, Portugal, Australia, and Belgium. Others included Lynn Magruder; Irina and Bill Thomas (he publishes CapitalStyle). Also seen: Liz and George Stevens; Wilma and Stuart Bernstein, Leo and Grega Daly; Howard and Barbara Burris; composer/banker Maximo Flughelman and hiswife; Richard and Sarah Booth Conroy; Giorgio and Anna Maria Via; the RobertPittmans (he's the President and Chief Operating Officer of America OnLine); Conrad Cafritz; lawyer Kathy Leckey, who will chair the Washington Ballet gala at the Finnish Embassy in February;the Anthony Laniers (he's the developer for the Georgetown Ritz-Carlton); Susan Bennett; and Harriet and Larry Pressler.



Geronimo! So there were Mary and Mandy Ourisman, comfortably seated in theshuttle, taking off for a New York evening. As the plane climbed, the pilot unexpectedly announced theywere at 35,000 feet. That was Mary’s cue. She turned noncha-lantly to Mandy and said, “This is where Ijumped out yesterday.” “You WHAT!?”, Mandy shrieked, and she confessed. Mary had made her first parachutejump ever, along with Lloyd Hand and Tom Peoples, “because I always wanted to,” sheexplained.

Petite but dauntless, Mary has met several challenges— head on and beautifully—since they married and shecame to Washington a few years ago. With so many, long-established galas here, it’s hard to draw peopleto a new one, but when she accepted the challenge to spearhead the first-ever benefit ball for theSmithsonian Associates, it was a smash sellout.

As Co-Chair of the recent Mount Vernon Gala, Mary again shone both through her hard work and in herspeech to those in attendance. The evening was the risky re-creation of the legendary 1961 State Dinnerat Mount Vernon, which Jackie Kennedy designed as the crowning social event of her White Houseyears. (Jackie was aided in the original by Tish Baldridge, who this year helped maintainauthenticity in the successful 1999 rendition.)

For major out-of-town and local supporters of the Mount Vernon event, the Ourismans hosted an outstandingparty at their home. With exquisite flowers and food, and A-list guests, Mary produced an evening withsuch charm and flair that Jackie herself would have felt quite at home.



A Secret Kept: In this gregarious and talkative town, it’s hard to keep a birthday party secretfrom anyone who gets around a lot—someone is sure to slip; but Margaret Hodges was genuinelystunned. Although caught in a whirlwind of activity just before one of the city’s biggest benefits (theLombardi Gala, which she founded), she was delighted to go to what she thought was a banquet honoring herson, Dr. Walter J. Hodges, Jr.

First she saw Judy Esfandiary, but as Ahmad Esfandiary is also a doctor, that made sense.Next she spotted several more friends, and then what appeared to be half the city shouted, “Surprise!”

The terrific party was hosted by her children and their mates, Karen and Walter Hodges and Laurie and Pierre Lapeyre (aided by some adorable young grand-children), who managed tofind 25 photos of Margaret, old and new, so that each table displayed one.

As for the Lombardi Gala, it was a huge success, as it has been for fourteen years. Margaret’s effortshave netted over $7 million for Georgetown University’s Lombardi Cancer Center. Gala Patron HerMajesty Queen Noor of Jordan greeted the crowd by video, and sent her very young daughter, HRHPrincess Iman Bint Al Hussein who spoke well. Awards presented were the Lombardi Symbol of Courage to Eric Davis of the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Lombardi Symbol of Caring to Irwin Zazulia, ofHecht’s.

The silent-auction items were mind-boggling, with some low bids on many luxury articles, win-ning genuinebargains. Highest ticket and biggest bargain: the $50,000 BMW that went for $44,000, with a trip toSwitzerland thrown in.



A Secret Surmised: James J. Kilpatrick, the wily fox, probably suspected a birthday party afterseveral secretive phone calls came to spouse Marianne Means. When a guest approaching hosts Ariane and Jack Carpenter’s door, at the same time he did, called out, “Is this where theparty is?,” there was no doubt.

Jack Carpenter had coached the guests on when to shout “Surprise” and blow their streamer whistles beforelaunching into “Happy Birthday To You.” Just one small thing went wrong: there were no whistles in thestreamer whistles, so the Birthday Boy entered to see a group of dedicated friends indecorously stickingout long red paper tongues at him, with nary a sound being heard.



Diplomatic Didos: “Janet, you really know how to throw a party!,” cried Frances HumphreyHoward to Janet Howard (no relation), savvy veep of the Coca-Cola Co., which underwrote theMayor’s diplomatic reception at the National Building Museum.

Responding to the invitations from the Honorable Anthony A. Williams and his wife Diane SimmonsWilliams for the reception and exhibition “Washington: Symbol and City,” the diplomatic and socialcommunity turned out in style. Seen: Anne Bujon de l’Estang, wife of the French Ambassador, veryup-to-the-minute in a tailored suit with a leopard collar; Austria’s Peter Moser seemed to be theambassador having the most fun, opening conversations with everyone in sight; KenCen’s Ann Stock;Dean and Cathy Philpott; Amanda Downs from the British Embassy; Smith Bagley; and Didi Cutler.

One surprise gleaned from the exhibit: George Washington was insistent that the President’s house be asgrandiose as a European palace, believing that our “new kid on the block” country needed it for prestige.When protests mounted that his planned building smacked too much of the monarchy Americans had justfought a war to escape, he finally relented. And that’s how we missed having our own Versailles.

At Coca Cola, Janet Howard’s official title is Vice President for International Diplomatic Relations. Iffor any wild reason you question her credentials for diplomacy, consider this: she was well-known foryears as the valued right hand of that dynamic and determined redhead, the late Pamela Harriman, in a position of trust that surely required greater diplomatic skills than most of us could muster.



Power-Packing Mamas: “Never under-estimate the power of a woman” again proved true when theNorthwood University dinner at the Four Seasons marked the thirtieth anniversary of their DistinguishedWomen’s Award.

This year’s awards to women who have taken leadership roles in diverse fields went to Elizabeth Dole;Helen Thomas, newswoman magnifique, doyenne of the D.C. press corps, and author of Front Row at theWhite House; Gail Berendzen, who founded and oversees bicoastal groups working on vital issuesinvolving women; Tish Baldridge, assistant to two ambassadors (David Bruce in Paris, and Clare Booth Luce in Rome), Chief of Staff and Social Secretary in the Kennedy White House, anexecutive, writer, lec-turer, and subject of a Time magazine cover story; Elizabeth Peale Allen (daughter of famed minis-ter and author, the late Norman Vincent Peale) who is a trustee of theinfluential Guideposts, a bank Chair, and serves on several boards up and down the East Coast.

Honoree Alexandra Stoddard, an interior designer, lecturer, and author of 21 books oncon-temporary living and lifestyles, delivered one of the more intriguing quotes of the evening: “Don’tbe homeless in your own home,” meaning your home should not be just a shell you inhabit, but should bemarked as yours, infused with your spirit and your personality.

The late Margaret Chase Smith, first woman to serve in both the House and the Senate, was alongtime trustee of this Midland, Michigan-based university (with campuses in West Palm Beach, Florida,Cedar Hill, Texas, and Skowhegan, Maine). Known for her statesmanship, Mrs. Smith always wore a rose asher symbol. Commemorating her, and this thirtieth anniversary, Distinguished Woman Holland Coors aided in commissioning designer Frankie Welch (who is a Diamond Sponsor of the event) to create areally sumptuous rose-patterned scarf. Frankie, a Washington institution herself, has designed ties andscarves for seven American Presidents and their wives, as well as more than 2000 institutions. Thescarves were presented to the awardees, and will be sold by Northwood University to benefit theirscholarship fund.

Jan du Plain organized the three-day session, which included a tour of the National Museum ofWomen in the Arts, founded by 1987 Distinguished Woman Wilhelmina Cole Holladay.



Diplomatic Derby: If prizes were given for the most cosmopolitan Sunday brunches in Washington, Allison LaLand surely would win. She invites an interesting mix, heavy on the diplo-mats,announces a quick but thorough thumbnail sketch of each in turn, and gets conversations going quickly.Recent brunches have honored the Ambassador of Austria on his arrival, and Ambassador HugoPalman and Mrs. Palman on their departure, and have included the Ambassador of Iceland and his spouse, Bryndis Schram, Countess Gertrude d’Amecourt, Ambassador Oliver Puget, Justice SandraDay O’Connor, William Tiefel, A. Willis Robertson, brother of Pat Robertson, up from Atlanta,and Vera and Louis Emmeriji, who represents the ILO to the World Bank, Monetary Fund, andInterAmerican Development Bank.



The Buzz Around Town: Craig Feied, President of the historic Georgetown Club, threw a party for Tongsun Park, the Club’s founder, on the unveiling of his portrait, done by artist TomNielsen. “I expected to look much handsomer!” quipped Tongsun. Lively speeches were made by old pals, Congressmen Charles Rangel, and Ben Gilman, as well as Dr. Francisco Aguirre of ElDiario de Las Americas, and his son, the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic… Theater Buzz hasthe world’s greatest mime Marcel Marceau arriving at Ford’s Theatre in late January for athree-week stay. Marceau, though silent onstage, is a lively and voluble conversationalist off-stage.He’s booked as a luncheon speaker for the National Press Club on January 28… The National Theatre hasannounced that the stunning and unforget-table musical, Chicago is returning to D.C for a December run…At the party for Ron Kessler’s tell-all new book The Season: Inside Palm Beach, America’s RichestSociety one of the guests was Palm Beach merry widow Giana Lahainer. When Kessler, quoting hisbook, said that Giana had her husband embalmed and “iced,” as he delicately put it, post-poning thefuneral until the all-important social season was over, she called out, “Yes, and I’d do it again withthe next one!”

Lady Catherine Meyer, wife of the British ambassador, and patron of the Choral Arts SocietyGala, joined the gala's tasting committee to try the exact dishes to be served for the December 14thevent at the International Trade Center in the Ronald Reagan Building. They were ecstatic with masterchef Will Greenwood’s dishes—involving a special salmon first course, and a pair of 2" thickdouble lamb chops for the entrée matched with excellent wines. Dinner will wind up with port accompaniedby cheeses, figs and almonds, and conclude with Cappucino Mousse Cake. (The ten cases of special reserveport to be served are an extra treat, donated by Seagrams and an anony-mous committee member.) Thetasting was hosted by the urbane, much-traveled International Trade Center Vice-President Giles BeekerIII, who was formerly manager of Beverly Hill's famed Bel Air Hotel, and who is personally see-ing tothe details of the evening. Denise (Mrs. Braddock) Alexander announced that with 920 ticketsordered, the evening is almost sold out.



Is there an item you think “Around Town”should know about? Send e-mail to Donna: Shor@aol.com.


 



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