Rumor Has It – September 2010

Art on the Town… Karen Goerl and Jennifer Roosth were on cloud nine as they attended the 17th Annual Watermill Center Gala in The Hamptons on Long Island, N.Y. The star-studded event supports the Watermill Center, a laboratory for forward-thinking theater and visual performance started by Robert Wilson, an avant-garde artist and playwright from Waco. Sharon Stone kicked off the live auction, smiling at front-row bidders Alec Baldwin, Nicole Miller, Calvin Klein, Sharon Bush and Kathy and Rick Hilton. Karen and Jennifer dashed off to the invite-only opening of the Mercedes-Benz Bridgehampton Polo Challenge at Blue Star Jets Field. Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian of Keeping Up with the Kardashians fame, and Bethenny Frankel from Bethenny Getting Married? were in the crowd to watch the competitions for the Mercedes-Benz Cup and The Hamptons Cup to benefit the South Fork Breast Cancer Coalition.  And it wouldn’t have been a whirlwind trip without a party at handbag designer Judith Leiber’s house. A purseful of fun, of course.

Karen Goerl (at left) and Jennifer Roosth dress in a heavenly manner to reflect the 17th Annual Watermill Center Gala’s theme of Dante’s Paradiso. The gala was held in The Hamptons, N.Y.and welcomed a number of celebrities.

Mystery solved… Liz and Tim Jordan, along with their girls Cristina and Madeleine and 20 other family members, celebrated Tim’s 50th birthday with dinner at the Houston Racquet Club. When they returned home after dinner, they were surprised that a migration of 50 plastic birds had mysteriously landed on their front lawn, with a sign that read “U old Buzzard.” It wasn’t until the next day that a call from friends revealed the culprits – Therese and David Runnels and Tom and Cathy Zabel.

So many places in America are named after foreign places. Andy and Andrea Diamond saw a few of these originals. In Italy, they stayed at the Villa d’Este on Lake Como and took a boat ride to Bellagio Lake. One of the highlights was a spectacular fireworks display commemorating Bastille Day. They viewed the series of grand finales from a cruise boat on the Seine River. Paris Hilton was spotted onboard a neighboring boat and was also staying at the George V Hotel, as well. A magnificent display of thousands of multi-colored roses was in the lobby as a gift to Paris from an admirer. Oddly, the flowers were removed the day she left. Surely, she didn’t take them with her?

Animal adventures… Mehrnaz and Ned Gill and their children, Grant and Sarah, and Mehrnaz’s mom, Mahin Saeid, spent two fun-filled weeks in La Jolla, Calif. They explored the Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park in Escondido (home to more than 3,000 wild animals), Old Town State Historic Park, Coronado Island and the Spreckels Organ Pavilion – featuring the world’s largest outdoor organ with 4,428 pipes. Their favorite place to chill out at was George’s at the Cove, where they marveled at the beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean after busy days of being tourists.

It’s all yours now… Outgoing Houston Junior Forum president Gayle Barnett handed the gavel to incoming prez Janet Juban for the organization’s 65th anniversary year. Janet’s first job will be to welcome members and guests along with luncheon chair Lynda Gilbreath at HJF’s Fall Luncheon and Fashion Show Sept. 8 at the Houston Country Club. The guest speaker, philanthropist Maureen Hackett, who serves as chair of the Greater Houston Community Foundation, will share her philanthropy wisdom. Seen at the installation were Bernadette Benichou, Marilyn Waldman, Penny Knutson and Marti Lund.

Is this for real… There may be a reality-television show in the works starring Leslie Tyler Fink. Leslie says she nixed her plans to participate in the on-again/off-again pilot pitch for a Real Housewives of Houston series after another producer from Los Angeles approached her with a better offer of doing her own program. She says the producer had seen Leslie on Channel 11’s Great Day Houston and her RSVPSocial.com website. The petite blonde says a reality-based program is in the works and had no idea how involved the process would be.

Ninety is nothing… Shirley Green is 90 and still knows how to show her friends and family a fun time. Her birthday celebration in July was at Four Leaf Towers with family members and friends, including daughter Diana Brackman, along with her children, Adam Brackman, Lauren and Eric Berger and their son, Ryan Berger. Shirley’s son and daughter-in-law, Harry and Brenda Green, were there to help blow out all those candles along with their children Leon and Leslie Green. Guests came and went all afternoon while enjoying the Maggiano’s feast and seeing Shirley so happy.

Mixed media… Two of Frances Carter Stephens’ oil-crayon drawings were selected for Lawndale Art Center’s annual Big Show this summer. Frances’ pieces were chosen from more than 976 submissions by 396 artists that Lawndale received for possible inclusion in the popular show.

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