It was glamorous, and it was glitzy. And a Hollywood-style makeover ? complete with a 90-foot red carpet ? made The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley the perfect location for the recent Casey Cares Foundation?s Stardust Gala. The paparazzi were there and so were autograph-seekers, leaving the more than 350 guests a bit star-struck.
Once inside, some of the more fashionable guests were collared by a younger version of Joan Rivers, and Charm City celebs were everywhere. Spotted were Jermaine Crawford, who played Dukie Weems on HBO?s “The Wire,” Fox 45?s Candace Dold, who also emceed the event, and 106.5-FM morning gal Sarah Jacobs. Charity founder and Executive Director Casey Baynes easily pulled of a ravishing Rita Hayworth look, thanking the crowd for the record $100,000 that the gala raised to benefit critically ill children. “You are the real stars,” she said. “We wouldn?t be here today without you.”
For information, go to www.caseycaresfoundation.org or call 443-568-0064.
MEMORY BALL ROCKS THE HOUSE
The Alzheimer?s Association sure knows how to throw a party. Its recent “Dancing with the Stars” Memory Ball almost blew the roof off the Marriott-Waterfront in Baltimore, as local celebs danced up a storm to raise more than $220,000 for this top-notch organization. Spotted among the more than 400 guests was Baltimore lawyer John MacColl and his date, former Olympic ice skating gold medalist Dorothy Hamill, as well as 101.9-FM?s Diane Lyn, Molly Shattuck, Dr. Majid Fotuhi of the Life Bridge Health, Brain & Spine Institute and Brandy Washington of Notemarks LLC, whose dad, former Baltimore Colts runningback Joe Washington, was a 2007 Memory Ball dance winner.
The prestigious and very special Helen S. Schulze award was given to Patricia J. Mitchell, the VP of global sales and operations for IBM Global Services. In her honor, event sponsor Pizza Hut will donate $5,000 for research.
PSST! YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST
Remember the super mod man Peter Max? Well, the 70-year-old pop art icon will be making a Charm City appearance as part of an exhibit in the Light Street Pavilion at Harborplace on May 3 ( 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) and May 4 (1 p.m. to 4 p.m.). The exhibit runs from April 25 through May 4. There will be an “Uncrating Party” April 25 (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.), where a portion from the sale of Max?s art will benefit the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.
Anne Boone-Simanski is the social columnist for The Examiner and can be reached at [email protected] or 410-878-6131.
