Out & About

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The New York Sun

“OOOOOOO a party at the Plaza is tres agreable,” read the invitation from the Grosvenor Neighborhood House Y on the Upper West Side. The tea party at the vaunted hotel yesterday brought out a well-appointed set of children ages 2 to 10 – and their mothers and grandmothers, including event chairwomen Amelia Prounis Raftopoulos, Lila Prounis, Serena Harding-Jones Lese, and Kirby Graham.


Attire ranged from Spence and Trinity school uniforms to velvet suits from Bon Point. Erin Flanagan Lazard’s daughter Chloe wore a pink dress by Anthea Moore of London, who made the dress by hand, after preparing sketches and sending swatches of fabric across the Atlantic.


It was a rare moment on the benefit circuit, to see a buffet of French fries, hot dogs, and chicken fingers, not to mention the cotton candy and trays of cupcakes. But the fare seemed a charming choice for the pintsized crowd. Fitting, too, was the magic show by Al Garber and the auction items – dozens of Madame Alexander dolls. Activities included face painting, drawing Eiffel Towers, and classical music performances.


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Under the elms of the Mall, the steadfast women of the Central Park Conservancy Women’s Committee gathered yesterday to celebrate the park’s 26,000 trees.


In his “state of the trees” address, the conservancy’s new president, Doug Blonsky, told of the latest trees to be planted in the park – red oaks and butternut hickories in the woodlands, to replace dying ashes. Thanks to support from Donna and Marvin Schwartz, flowering cherries and crab apples will soon bloom throughout the park as well.


Mr. Blonsky also introduced the park’s team of tree climbers, who inspect the elms twice a week for Dutch Elm disease.


The conservancy’s Tree Trust allows donors to endow mature trees for $5,000 and up – since, after all, money doesn’t grow on them. Karen LeFrak, for example, endowed several kousa dogwoods in honor of her dog Ch. Ale Kai Mikimoto, who won Westminster two years in a row.


Yesterday’s gathering, hosted by the chairwomen of the Tree Trust Committee, Gail Hilson and Cathy Ingram, included the group recitation of Joyce Kilmer’s poem “Trees.” The chairwomen presented a crystal dish by Baum in the shape of a leaf to the editor of Town and Country and longtime park supporter Pamela Fiori.


The New York Sun

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