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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A fab and festive weekend
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
From left, Jamie Brownlee, Jane Fonda and Lila Hertz. Photo by Poane’.
Saturday night we ran by the Atlanta History Center, where jugglers on stilts welcomed patrons for Fun Fete, which raised $350,000 for Prevent Child Abuse Georgia.
The event honored community activist Lila Hertz.
Jamie Brownlee chaired the event, Jane Fonda was honorary chair and Dave FM’s Mara Davis served as emcee. The gala committee included Hilary Abbott, Michael Axelrod, Mary Bondurant, Sarah Borders, Michele Boushka, Nancy Bryant, Susan Callaway, Nancy Caswell, Mary Delmer, Elly Dobbs, Marie Godsell, Michael Habif, Kelli Keb, Elizabeth Klump, Lisa McGahan, Victoria Palefsky, Pam Parke, Kellie Reifenberger, Cindy Stancil, Caroline Tucker, Elizabeth Willett and Barbara Zacks.
From left, Shivon Stewart, Tanya Rodriguez and Kristen Gibbs. Photo by Cathy Athaide.
Our next stop Saturday was the Masterpiece Gala, held at the Emory Conference Center Hotel. The event, co-chaired by Kathy Pilkenton and Shivon Stewart, raised money for Sophia Academy, a private Christian school for children with learning differences.
John Anderton served as emcee, the Rev. Laurence McCullough asked the blessing and author Tommy Newberry gave the keynote address. The crowd also heard heartfelt remarks from Stewart and Marie Corrigan, Sophia’s founding director.
“Sophia Academy is an amazing place to be every day,” Corrigan said. “There are incredible miracles that happen.”
We ran into Caroline Duffy and sat with Kristen and Duncan Gibbs and Tanya Rodriguez. She and husband Frank Ski, and Sherri and Alan Herrick, are now Sophia royalty, having emerged as top bidders for the “carpool king/queen” auction item, winning them convenient parking spaces and front-of-the-line status during carpool pickup.
Lisa Adler, left, and Emily Kisber
Sunday afternoon was the Horizon Theatre’s season preview party. Chef Ago Go CEO Sidney Corum, who attended with wife Bernadette, donated the glorious spread of nibbles and wine.
“I think what they do here is good work,” the civic-minded chef said. “It’s diverse work. It represents Atlanta.”
Sunday’s event featured readings, scenes and short discussions of the Horizon’s upcoming season. We visited with Horizon co-artistic directors and founders Lisa and Jeff Adler, Emily Kisber, a member of the senior ensemble, and actress Tess Malis Kincaid, who performed a monologue from “Missionary Position,” a political satire running Feb. 15 to March 16. The theater crowd also included Faye Adams, Hilda Brucker, Jenn Dwyer, Celeste Harris, Terrie Hill, Marguerite Simmons, Leonora Weaver and Ann Wilson.
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Where Should the Dogwood Festival Go?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When the city and Piedmont Park Conservancy announced earlier this month that poor drought-stricken Piedmont Park needs a break from festivals this year, Dogwood Festival organizers got busy.
But the hunt for a new site is taking time and creativity.
Organizers have decided that Turner Field, the Atlanta Civic Center and Atlantic Station, due to various size and scheduling conflicts, aren’t going to work.
They also have considered the “Technology Square” area around 5th and Spring streets, and the Woodruff Arts Center. Neither of those turned out to be a workable option either.
But they’re not giving up. While organizers want to keep the 72nd annual event, planned for April 4-6, in Midtown, looking to Lenox Square or Stone Mountain might be necessary, as my colleague Chandler Brown reports in Tuesday’s AJC.
“Both facilities can host the event and have proven successes hosting events the size of the Dogwood Festival,” Atlanta Dogwood Festival executive director Brian Hill said in a release.
Have Atlanta festivals become victims of their own success? Where do you think the Dogwood should be held this year?
