Tammy and Andy Reid were honorary co-chairs at the casual auction benefit for Laurel House, the only emergency domestic violence shelter in Montgomery County, that provides battered women and children with a safe haven from abusive relationships. Today, in addition to a 24-hour hotline and shelter, Laurel House also offers transitional housing, medical advocacy, legal advocacy, community counseling and support groups, a Community/Education/Training Center, and services to Deaf and Hard of Hearing families. There are always opportunities to help out - www.laurelhouseonline.org.

Bright cocktails, mermaids and mermen, beach umbrellas, sequined flip-flops and saltwater taffy were some of the signs that summer had arrived at the Kimmel Center. The Summer in the City party was held on Friday, June 6th, starting with cocktails in the main hall downstairs. Dinner was an event unto itself, catered in-house by the always fab Restaurant Associates (you know them from the Art Museum too, and Lincoln Financial field where our Eagles soar). After dinner, guests, clutching small flip-flop shaped boxes stuffed with taffy went to Verizon hall to hear K.D. Lang belt it out (only 3 encores…). The building staff had to kick people out as the night went on and on….

The Anti-Defamation League's Torch of Liberty Award Dinner was held in honor of Kenneth Jarin, of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, on Tuesday,June 3rd at the Crystal Tea Room. Former Vice President Al Gore was the keynote speaker. Nearly 400 people attended the dinner which raised approximately $400,000 for the ADL's programs to combat hatred and bigotry.

The Young Friends of the University of Pennsylvania's Museum threw their annual Bacchanalia Garden Party at, where else? – the garden of the Museum. The party attracted hosts of mostly 20-something sippers glad to be out of work. The weather cooperated despite a dreary forecast. We can't wait for summer to feel like summer!

The Free Library of Philadelphia teamed up with local experts in technology, art, food, athletics, and other interesting fields at an event called the Pickwick Salon. After a brief cocktail hour at the Warwick Hotel, guests trooped all over Center City in groups of eight to ten for a light supper and a presentation by a selected expert. We arrived at a post Rittenhouse Square Penthouse to hear Daniel Stern, the executive chef at Le Bec Fin, wax rhapsodic on topics ranging from managing insolent sous chefs (in a previous position) to the many unique, if icky (headcheese), ways to use ALL of the parts of a cow….