And a Happy New Year! Have you made your New Year’s resolution? Jan. 1 was a gloriously clear, crisp day; hopefully the days following throughout the year will bring us as much enjoyment.
Carol Lewis had all of the proper accoutrements to ring out the old and bring in the new. While there weren’t any pig’s feet and black-eyed peas, there was chicken, fried to golden perfection; peas and rice; macaroni salad; and oxtails and collard greens, all complimented with Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider and Verve Clique.
Polar Bear clubs, located all along the Brooklyn and Long Island coastlines, kick-started the New Year with a jump in the ocean. But did Noel Hankin join them? Wife Gwen is overjoyed as she begins a new position with Harris Brown Stevens out on the East End. Anyone interested in buying or selling just has to see Gwen first before doing anything. And see Charles before you sign anything.
Did I tell you I ran into Shari Bronfman recently, looking gorgeous as usual? When I told Shari that her daughter, Hannah, is my “It Girl,” because she is at all the social scenes that matter and always dressed in a very stylish, age appropriate manner, she replied, “Yes, she’s my it girl too!”
Hanna was the DJ at the Fab-U-Wish Gala, the pet charity led by television personality and journalist Guiliana Rancic. Hannah wore a pink gown that was only a tad bit revealing, in all of the right places. The fit was perfect.
Fab-U-Wish is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to women undergoing treatment for breast or ovarian cancer. Giuliana and her team give the women an ultimate “celebrity” experience, which for many is to just feel like a woman again. Also at the event were Angela Quarles and Marisa Renee Lee of the Pink Agenda, an organization of young professionals committed to raising money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Happy birthday, Dawn Marrow, Burt Bucaroo, Frankie Jackson and Albert “Mic” Mitchell, DDS.
Condolences to the Cuomo family on the passing of patriarch Mario Cuomo. He was as great an orator as he was a man. He spoke with passion from the heart. I recall being so moved by hearing one of his speeches that I actually wrote a letter addressed to him in Albany expressing my thoughts. I was more than surprised to receive a thank you note from wife, Matilda, as a show of appreciation and support. I no longer remember what the topic was about, only that I was so moved.
A new year, and a new website to check out. The site www.blackpublicmedia.org has a listing of shows that will air on public television in the ensuing months, including “AfroPop: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange.” “AfroPop,” which will be hosted by Yaya DeCosta, who will play the lead role in Lifetime’s “I Will Always Love You: The Whitney Houston Story,” focuses on contemporary art, life and culture in the African Diaspora. The documentary series, which is now in its seventh season, is produced by Angela Tucker and directed by Duana Butler, with the generous support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts.
New on the FM dial is radio station 103.9. We came across the station while driving in a loaner car because ours was in a repair shop over the holidays for one of those “minor” repairs.
The 2015 list of scholarships has just been posted. To view the list of hundreds of 2015 scholarships and apply, visit www.scholarshipsonline.org. Some of the scholarships with a January 2015 application deadline are the Ron Brown Scholar Program, which provides scholarship awards to African-American high school seniors who are excelling in academics, exhibiting exceptional leadership potential and participating in community service activities; the Dell Scholars Program, which recognizes students who have overcome significant obstacles to pursue their educations and are now serving as positive role models in their communities; the Generation Google Scholarship for Minorities, Women and Disabled Students, which helps minority, female and disabled students who plan to attend college and study computer science and technology; the United Negro College Fund Scholarships, which provide opportunities for minority students with financial need; and the Ronald McDonald House Charities Scholarships for Minority Students, which give financial aid awards to Black, Hispanic and Asian school students with high academic performance and community service, as well as financial need.
Oh, Chris Rock, say it isn’t so. After nearly two decades of marriage, Chris Rock and his wife, Malaak Compton-Rock, are breaking up. Rumor has it that Chris is the one filing for divorce. Can’t he get some counseling from Denzel Washington or Samuel L. Jackson? And of course there is always Spike Lee, who has been married since forever to Tonya.
Did you know that Don Abram Harris is known for being the first African-American to manufacture cigars in the United States? But of course you didn’t, and who else would tell you these things if I didn’t. Anyway, you can find out all about him in the biopic “The All American Don,” scheduled to be released soon.
Harris’ life story takes the viewer back to the tobacco fields of St. Mary’s County in southern Maryland, where his father, Joseph Jerome Harris, grew up and worked. From southern Maryland to Puerto Rico to prison and back, the story depicts how Harris never gave up until he achieved his long-time dream of owning a cigar company. According to the press statement, “‘The All American Don’ provides an insightful view of how the realities of life—good and bad—and how our hope and faith in God play a major role in forming our character and helping us to adjust to the ups and downs we entail in this life to ultimately get to where we want to go.”
Next on the social scene should be the Winter Antique Show, for which Eula Johnson and her team, including Max and Winnie Walker, worked so diligently to make opening night the place to be. It is considered the kickoff of the winter social season, and if you just give me a few days to get back on my feet after the whirlwind holiday scene, I’ll be there.
Until next week … kisses.