Dress for Success
Hundreds, count them, hundreds!, packed the Celestin Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency New Orleans for the recent Style for Success Luncheon of Dress for Success New Orleans. It was presented by Susco. The mission of DFSNO, empowering women, helps more than 700 women through “suiting and job readiness programs.” The fundraiser luncheon certainly abetted that cause, as well as added midday merriment. A tasty lunch, an auction, tributes and speeches, and a fashion show presented by local boutiques “celebrating style, confidence and empowerment” fused for fun and confraternity.
The program principals were Gina Swanson, WDSU NBC 6 news anchor; board president Arie Roth Kaller; respective executive and program directors Dinah Campbell and Tracee Dundas; representatives of Ulta Beauty, the business hailed as the Volunteer of the Year; and “A Success Story,” Client of the Year Tiffany Byrd. Susco Software owner and CEO Neel Sus gave the enthusiastic title sponsor address.
The 2025 Empowerment Fashion Show, a runway delight that was POWERed by Entergy, featured DFSNO clients and Entergy linemen, wearing jeans and hard hats, as their escorts. The show was coordinated by Aimée Gowland of ALG Style. A tip of the hat went to the fashion show’s presenters, local style setters Monomin, Chatta Box, Em’s, Febe, Angelique, Basics Underneath, Stella Dallas, and Swoon.
In addition to the luncheon’s title sponsor, Susco, the presenting ones were Entergy and Ochsner, and the Power Partners, Capital One Bank, The Coca-Cola Foundation, and Ulta Beauty (recipient of the Volunteer of the Year encomiums). Individuals listed as Empowerment Sponsors were the above Arie Roth Kaller, Dr. Victoria Smith, and close friends Rachel Bernhard and Steven Putt.
The twosome who teamed to co-chair the 2025 luncheon were Andrea Gilich Roussel and Rachel Taravella, while Arie Roth Kaller and Katie Geist Portier chaired the auction and décor. Flowers in soft shades of pink and ivory bedecked a number of tables, while other arrangements featured darker hues of violet. On the stage, twin pillars, lighted in turn by red and blue, flanked the lectern.
The luncheon committee included Kristin Alvendia, Aimee Brice, Shannon Brice, Trishelle Cannatella, Lauren Lipscomb Caro, Michelle Delery, Mimi Fuselier, Shelley Dee Girgrah, Aimée Gowland, Rena Jolly, Rupa Jolly, Tanzania Jones, Clarice Kirkland, Tamica Lee, Sarah Martzolf (past president), Brooke Mills, Diane Riche, Natalie Ruschak, Leigh Thorpe, and Tracey Wiley. In addition to board president Kaller, the officers are Mses. Martzolf and Gowland, and Colleen Snyder Filostrat, Cherish van Mullem, Missy Hopson, and Erin Primeaux. Carmen Jennings is DFSNO’s communications and program assistant. They, and the scores of attendees and volunteers, made the “Style” luncheon yet another success.
Harmony
A new name! Harmony at the Hermann-Grima marqueed the annual springtime togetherness of the historic house on St. Louis Street in the French Quarter. The Friday fête was two-fold, beginning with a one hour patron party at Broussard’s Restaurant, before moving on to the main event in the house from 7-10 p.m. Sponsorial thanks tapped Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Lauren and George Brower, Amy and Stephen Farnsworth, The Pinkerton Family, and Michelle and Lamar Villere. Live music, local food, an open bar and a live-ly auction blended for the bash to benefit “historic preservation and museum education for all ages,” for the Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses. The Harmony co-chairs were the above Amy Farnsworth, Michelle Villere and Meredith Pinkerton (with husband Michael). Serving on the committee were Danielle Batten, Claire Sanchez Dilzell, Nancy Falgoust, Carolyn Fitzpatrick, Julie Habetz, Logan Howcott, Ann Irwin, Lilla Kearney, Catherine Gorman Kuuskraa, Renee Laborde, Andrea Mahfouz, Sarah Martzolf, and Kris Vitrano.
Local designer Keith Carroll conceptualized the rustic centerpieces, which featured local plants and flowers, such as dogwood, camellias, ferns, and pittosporum. In the smaller live auction, paintings by Demond Matsumoto and Kevin Gillentine were coveted items, as was the “New Orleans Style & Design” package.
Now, for the food and drink. At the Broussard’s patron party, Veuve Clicquot Champagne (donated by Little Bar on Gravier) and Buffalo Trace Bourbon (donated by Goldring Family Foundation/Sazerac Company) wet the collective whistle, while the restaurant’s passed hors d’oeuvres were immediate palate pleasers. Included were goat cheese and walnut crostini, beef tenderloin brioche, and fried oysters, which flew off the trays. For the main event, “fun and casual” described the Broussard’s-catered chomps: andouille corndogs, panko-crusted fried mac and cheese balls, chicken and waffles, and short rib sliders and frites. The musical menus were by the Honey Island Swamp and NWB bands.
Banding together for the fun fundraiser were family groups. From the Woman’s Exchange Board of Managers, which manages the Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses, came president Stacy Head with husband Jeremy and her mother, Kathy Singleton; vice president Celeste Eustis with Curtis and her parents, sponsors Donna and Paul Flower; and immediate past president Mary Schmidt with Justin and all their children, including son Calder and fiancée Winnie McCarthy, and daughters Conery, Ellie and Anna.
Also, interim executive director Susan Maclay, Lori and John Paige, Danielle and Mike Batten, Catherine and Jason Kuuskraa, Amy and John (an NWB Band member) Robertson, Amber Beezley, Jennie West and Jason Richards, Sarah and Jeff Meckstroth with son Miles, Margaret and Morgan Cross, and Andrea and Mark Mahfouz. For starters.
Assessing the new name, Harmony was a good fit for the meritorious mirth and the HGGHH goodwill it engendered.
Great Gathering
Chateau Golf and Country Club was the site for Sunday socializing when the East Jefferson General Hospital Auxiliary proudly presented the 46th Great Lady Great Gentleman Awards at a luncheon. Take a bow, John P. Blancher, Marian Gibbs, Valarie Hart, Freddie Landry, Tricia Stella Lincoln, Dr. Mary Maluccio, Nikki Pontiff, and Dr. Roland S. Waguespack III. They were hailed for their outstanding volunteer service in the Greater New Orleans area. Since the auxiliary’s founding, the mission has furthered the goals of EJGH in getting community citizens “to contribute their time, talent, and financial assistance.” Of interest, too, this awards luncheon gives direct support to the nursing educational and certification/re-certification programs.
Event chairman Dolores Hall figured on the program that was opened by auxiliary president Deborah Schmitz, and continued with Ginger Crawford (invocation and Pledge of Allegiance), hospital CEO Gregory Nielsen, and Ruby Brewer, senior vice president, chief quality and nursing officer. Peggy Scott Laborde was the mistress of ceremonies.
More names to know were auxiliary immediate past presidents Mary Crumb and Paige Lemieux, and president elect Carrel Epling, as well as additional board members, and the 14-person luncheon committee. Thanks were abundant and tapped the above roster, auction donors, event sponsors, and a host of others who made “Great” just that.