Social Scene

Georgetowner • July 27, 2015

Talk about your regional favorite here near the Chesapeake Bay: yes, it was the 10th Annual D.C. Crab Cake Competition, held June 28 at the Source by Wolfgang Puck, adjacent to the Newseum, on Pennsylvania Avenue. Competing chefs were Spike Mendelsohn of Bernaise, Danny Lee of Mandu, Chris Clime of PassionFish-Bethesda, Jeff Buben of Vidalia, Andrew Markert of Buechert’s Saloon, Anthony Lombardo of the Hamilton, Joe Palma of Bourbon Steak and Seng Luangrath of Thip Khao. Also, on hand were oysters, beer and wine as well as donations by local restaurants and businesses. Proceeds benefitted culinary internships, scholarships, and American Institute of Wine & Food educational programs. [gallery ids="102157,132951,132947" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird • July 16, 2015

The current exhibition at Hillwood estate, Museum & Gardens, featuring 70 years of fashion from the collection of Marjorie Merriweather Post, launched June 2 with a celebration of cocktails, exhibition preview and dinner on the Lunar Lawn. Post’s granddaughter and Hillwood’s president emerita ellen Macneille charles, current president nancy Appleby, and executive director Kate Markert spoke. Watching her grandmother dress was “better than any movie,” charles said. This stunner runs through the end of the year and was curated by Howard Vincent Kurtz.
[gallery ids="102114,133809,133806,133803,133812" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

The Friends of Volta Park gathered June 5 at Visitation Prep’s front reception rooms to celebrate and donate to their favorite park in the city. Mayor Muriel Bowser stopped by to compliment the crowd and its 34th Street park. Auctioneer Tom Strike kept things lively and got two persons — Michael Lackey and John Lever — to bid $800 apiece for a singular weekend use of a Tesla, which has a dealership downtown on K Street.
[gallery ids="102115,133802" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

The publication of “Gardens of Georgetown,” with text by edith Schaffer and photography by Jenny Gorman, coincided with the 87th Annual Georgetown Garden Tour this past May. On June 4, author and Georgetown resident Kitty Kelley held a festive celebration. Showers kept guests inside but the garden was very much on view. Proceeds from book sales will help local organizations preserve our village’s parks and green spaces.
[gallery ids="102116,133799,133801" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird • July 2, 2015

Founded in 2009, the charity, We Will Survive Cancer, involves a group of concerned family, friends and colleagues who have experienced the devastation cancer inflicts on the families of its victims. WWSC cares for basic needs such as grocery shopping, transportation to medical appointments, babysitting services and more. On Aug. 19, Morso’s Pablo Henrich and Peter Stepanek, photographer and owner of Skyhighart Photography, held a fundraiser at Morso. An attractive crowd enjoyed the new Georgetown venue’s great appetizers and networked for a deserving cause. [gallery ids="99290,99291,99292,99293,99294,99295" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • June 30, 2015

EagleBank and Georgetown Media Group presented the 2nd Annual Georgetowner Holiday Benefit and Bazaar at the historic George Town Club Nov. 17, 2011. Attendees were able to enjoy an array of cocktails by Beam Global Spirits, a marvelous menu compliments of The George Town Club & a fabulous gift bag, while browsing for holiday gifts at unique vendors’ booths, featuring local Georgetown businesses. [gallery ids="100392,112435,112307,112426,112317,112327,112337,112347,112357,112367,112377,112387,112397,112407,112297,112444,112227,112498,112237,112489,112247,112480,112257,112471,112267,112462,112277,112453,112287,112417" nav="thumbs"]

Carolyn Landes • June 22, 2015

The Capitol Hill Club hosted the Fourth Annual Memorial Day Kick-off and Veterans Tribute, honoring veterans and veterans in Congress and benefiting K9s for Warriors, a nonprofit dedicated to providing service canines to warriors suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury or trauma as a result of military service post 9/11.

Emceed by CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett, the May 19 reception was attended by several Members of Congress, including Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), all veterans, all of whom addressed the audience.

Zinke, a freshman congressman who served as a Navy SEAL, from 1985 to 2008, called today’s servicemembers “magnificent,” highlighting the “enormous sacrifice these men and women are making every day.”

Citing the hostile reception that many U.S. warriors received upon returning home from the Vietnam war, Coffman, who possesses 20 years of combined service to the Army, Army Reserve, Marines and Marine Reserve, urged the crowd of supporters and politicians to “make sure our veterans that are returning home today are never treated like those returning from Vietnam.”

Rangel, a recipient of a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, prompted attendees when speaking to vets, “Instead of just saying thank you, say ‘Can I help you? How are they treating you?’ ”

The attention being paid to veterans’ mental health and wellbeing upon returning home from combat is relatively new, when compared to America’s lengthy wartime history. “When you leave the service,” Rangel said, “they teach you to be proud, but you can be lonely.”

Loneliness, depression, substance abuse and other problems of physical and mental health are all symptoms of PTSD that some veterans encounter upon returning home from military service. As greater recognition of the mental effects of war has come about in recent years, organizations like K9s for Warriors have come to the aid of afflicted servicemen and women.

Captain Jason Haag, a Purple Heart recipient who served three tours of combat duty leading Marine Corps troops across Iraq and Afghanistan, is a recipient of a K9s for Warriors dog named Axel. Haag gave a moving speech to the audience, crediting Axel with saving him from the despair he felt upon returning home after his third tour of duty. “Axel awakens me from my nightmares still today,” said Haag. He shared that he has lost nine friends to post-war suicide – a startling number, greater than those he has lost on the battlefield.

Haag shared that K9s for Warriors has a 100-percent success rate and in 2016 will save 200 veterans’ lives, as well as 200 dogs’ lives – 95 percent of the organization’s dogs are rescued from shelters. Axel was just two days away from being euthanized before being saved by the program.

Special guest, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Steve Ritchie and the only fighter pilot ace of the Air Force since Korea, was honored. Ritchie received the Congressional Gold Medal the following day, an award bestowed by Congress and one of the highest civilian awards in the U.S.

After Ritchie’s speech, guests delighted over a performance of “O, America!” by Irish tenor Anthony Kearns and regaled while sipping spirits courtesy of the Beer Institute, the Wine Institute and Beam Suntory.
[gallery ids="102091,134203,134209,134207" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

Irish Ambassador Anne Anderson welcomed Founding Friends members for a literary luncheon May 20 and hailed the Irish roots of Washington Post journalists Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, who collaborated with Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus on the current New York Times bestseller, “Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland.” The women, and Michelle Knight, who has already written of the ordeal, were held captive for ten years in Cleveland by school bus driver Ariel Castro, who committed suicide in prison. The book details their amazing strength and resilience amid horrific abuse and Berry’s birth to a daughter Jocelyn.