Are you busy grilling and chilling in the good old summertime? If you are on the grill, remember to place the chicken wings on the side of the grill where the heat can thoroughly cook them before placing them in the middle where the flames turn them golden brown. Another special tip is to cook your barbecue sauce for at least a half-hour separately before dousing your meats. I have had several occasions to break out the charcoal and serve ‘em up, and I tried a new trick. After grilling the hamburgers and franks and placing them in their respective buns, I cut them all in half. That way there is plenty for everyone. Anyone who wants more can have it and is likely to have both half a hot dog and half a burger. I am happy to report the trick has been working like a charm—no leftovers.
City College Center for the Arts in partnership with The Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University Lenfest Center for the Arts presents “Uptown Bateyes: the old school, refugees, gentrifiers and hoods, plus Dominicans.” Featured artists Carlos Jesús Martínez Domínguez/FEEGZ and Pepe Coronado explore the New York Caribbean experience through a combination of prints, painting, typography and hanging street signs, curated by Souleo. The works are on view until Aug. 19, 2017, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Windows on Amsterdam Gallery, West 137th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. Viewing from the street is at all times.
Are you a Harlemite, African-American, single mother, budding entrepreneur?
The Lillian Project is back and looking for all entrepreneurial-minded and side-hustling single-mothers. Open to native-born African-American women, The Lillian Project is an immersive incubator program that supports low- to middle-income women entrepreneurs aspiring to pursue their dreams of business ownership. Participants in the 16-week business education series will tackle topics to support building their business plan. Sessions will include guest speakers on course topics as well as personal wellness goals. For more information, contact Daryl T. Downing, marketing consultant, Harlem Business Alliance Inc., 212-665-7010.
It’s all for one and one for all as D’Artagnan and the Musketeers fight to protect the ones they love from the revolting exploits of Cardinal Richelieu. A story of double crossings, kidnappings and carefully guarded secrets, complete with lavish fights and sweeping romance, “The Three Musketeers” reminds us that through strength, courage and unity, you can always defend what you believe in. Be transformed and part of the experience as The Classical Theatre of Harlem returns once again to Marcus Garvey Park, Tuesday through Sunday at 8 p.m., Fridays at 8:30 p.m., until July 30. The cast is riveting and the performance is one you won’t forget.
I made a terrible faux pas. I previously mentioned that Al “Fawny” Hunter was seen at the Reveille Club Father’s Day event with his lovely wife, and inadvertently misspelled Fawny. I was corrected in that it is not Fawny, such as referring to a sweet, baby deer as in a fawn, but Fonny, like Bonnie except instead of “ie” it’s a “y.” Oh.
The Women’s Forum of New York hosted their seventh annual Elly Awards Luncheon at the Plaza Hotel. Named for the Women’s Forum founder Elinor Guggenheimer, the awards honor outstanding women leaders, who represent the highest levels of achievement across all professional sectors from finance to fine arts. Started in 1974, the Education Fund of the Women’s Forum has helped more than 200 women over the age of 35, whose lives have been disrupted by extreme adversity, complete their college degrees by awarding grants totaling more than $1.25 million. Today, the Women’s Forum of New York is the founding flagship of the International Women’s Forum, a global organization of 6,500 dynamic women leaders in 35 countries and 74 forums around the world.
This year’s award recipients were Carolyn B. Maloney, U.S. Representative for New York’s 12th Congressional District; Daryl Roth, producer of more than 100 Broadway and off-Broadway shows, including seven Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, and winner of 10 Tony Awards; and Mariska Hargitay, actress, director, producer, advocate, Emmy award-winning star of NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” and founder of the Joyful Heart Foundation, who received a special Elly Award. Cheryl Wills, award-winning NY1 anchor and author, moderated a conversation on leadership with the honorees after the presentation of the awards. Among the attendees from the invitation-only membership of more than 500 women were Jonelle Procope, Christina Norman, Taina Martinez, Awatef Ibrahim, Emmitta Lewis and Priscilla Domeneck. The event raised $300,000.
Mayor David N. Dinkins has been celebrating his 90th birthday in high style. Kicking off the celebration was an intimate dinner held in association with the opening night photograph exhibition of children from the Association to Benefit Children organization, of which Dinkins has been a member of the board of directors since 1993. Among those in attendance were the Hon. Charles Rangel, Cicely Tyson, Carol Banks, Justice Helen Freedman, Ed Lewis, Lynda Hamilton, Jennifer Jones Austin, Faye and Karl Rodney, Hazel N. Dukes, Fikile Magbane and the Tatum family, our publisher Elinor, daughter Willa and mother Susan. This event was followed by a larger soiree at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s old stomping grounds.
Also celebrating her birthday, but not her 90th, was Assemblywoman Inez Dickens, aboard a yacht chartered especially for the event. No need to mention names because everyone was there.
Meanwhile, back on dry land, Councilperson Bill Perkins presided over the first annual H.O.P.E. Awards & Cocktail Reception at the newly opened ImageNation Studios, 2031 Seventh Ave. The event featured musicians from the John Cooksey Band, regulars at Paris Blues, where there is live music seven nights a week. The acronym H.O.P.E. stands for Harlem’s Outstanding People of Excellence, and those honored were Deneane Brown-Blackmon, Gregory Gates and Moikgantsi Kgama, Cicely Harris, Bob McCullough, Donna Murphy, Valencia Moore, Apostle Dr. Staci J. Ramos, Charles Shorter and Samuel Hargress Jr., proprietor of Paris Blues. The speeches were short and the camaraderie delightful. Among those in attendance was William Allen, who never gives up or gives in.
Until next week … kisses.