Shindig for cemetery landscaping

Almost a year after a tornado ripped the head from a marble angel and knocked over a century-old cross, there’s a sense of renewal at Oakland Cemetery. In the months following the freakish March 2008 storm, which ravaged downtown Atlanta and caused more than $3 million damage at one of the city’s most exclusive addresses, volunteers with the Historic Oakland Foundation have worked to restore monuments and walkways. Now the Oaklanders have planned an evening to fund new landscaping. The Oakland Shindig, hosted by Trees Atlanta and the Historic Oakland Landscape Committee, is 6 to 9 p.m. March 7 at the Trees Atlanta Kendeda Center, 225 Chester Ave. The event features live bluegrass, a cocktail buffet, wine and beer, a silent auction and a photography show and sale by Dinny Addison. Tickets are $50. Call 404-846-8376.

ART in the ATL

ARThouse, running through Feb. 8 at the storied Pink Palace in Buckhead, kicked off with a Jan. 22 gala benefiting the Atlanta Ballet, the Georgian National Ballet and the ATLart Foundation. The crowd of 500 enjoyed performances by the Atlanta Ballet and Nicole Chillemi and a spread donated by Endive Catering, Axis Fine Art Installation, Tony Brewer & Co., Tents Unlimited, Event Rentals Unlimited, Chocolate Pink, the Sun Dial, Diageo and Live Event Solutions. The guest list included Anne Irwin, Kay Bragg, Evelyn Legerquist, Susan Bridges, Stan Woodard, Chester Old, Richard Hays, Malissa Ladd, Rebecca Des Marais, Jeff Grove, Stephanie Hughley, Flora Maria Garcia, Beau King and Rodney Cook. Also the home’s gracious owners, Nino Sukhishvili and Zurab Lezhava.

Birthday serenade

Internationally acclaimed violinist Robert McDuffie gave a performance as a birthday gift to his friend Angela Turner. The private Jan. 25 event was held in the Turner Building Penthouse. He played “Winter,” from Vivaldi’s famous “Four Seasons,” accompanied by a pianist. The crowd of around 40 close friends enjoyed a too-fab pink and white cake in the shape of a shoe box (complete with tissue and shoes) created by Jamie Fine of Sugar Plum Visions. Speaking of McDuffie, who has performed with the world’s major orchestras and as a soloist on stages around the globe, he is scheduled to perform a benefit concert at Rhodes Hall for the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. The event, themed “Classics at the Castle,” is planned for 2 p.m. Feb. 22. Tickets are $75 for members and $100 for nonmembers (that price includes membership to the trust). A reception with McDuffie, a Macon native and distinguished professor of music at Mercer University, follows. For more information: 404-885-7812, www.georgiatrust.org.

Here and there

The Jan. 9 performance of Cirque du Soleil’s “Kooza” at Atlantic Station benefited the Bridge, which works with Georgia’s troubled and abused adolescents. The Bennett Thrasher CPA firm sponsored the event. The crowd included Nandan and Mita Sheth, Raj Pandya, Renuka and Ashish Thakur and Robin and Bryan Mermans… . Politics aside, we can all use a drink, can’t we? Inca Spirits, the importer of Inca Gold Pisco, recently invited Atlanta’s mixologists to whip up their best “PiscObama.” Taking top Barack-tail honors: Jonny Abens of Trois, platinum; Dinah Pena of Whiskey Park, gold; Shira Heffernan of Front Page News, silver; and honorable mentions to Adam Fox of Beleza and Tarik Livingstone of Ted’s Montana Grill… .Someone’s going to peel out of the Feb. 21 Hearts With Hope gala in a sweet new ride. The gala, benefiting the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, features a raffle of a 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera S coupe valued at $94,000. Raffle tickets are $100 and 1,500 will be sold to help the PADV achieve its fund-raising goal of $700,000. Co-chairs are Suzanne Sitherwood, president of Atlanta Gas Light, and her husband, Guy Griswold, principal of Blue Ridge Strategies. Tickets to the event are $350 and sponsorships range from $5,000 to $75,000. Info: 404-870-9616, development@padv.org or www.padv.org.

butterfly@ajc.com