Dinner – photos by Marilyn Kirschner
On Friday, November 15th, guests gathered at a private club for The French Heritage Society’s annual fundraising gala dinner dance. This year, the Celestial Ball celebrated the historic reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral and recognized the role Americans—both philanthropists and artisans—played in its restoration.
Honoree Odile de Schietere-Longchampt, Jennifer Holhein, FHS Executive Director, Honoree Hank Silver
The two special honored guests were Odile de Schiétère-Longchampt, an interior designer and steadfast FHS champion of artisans specializing in French decorative arts, and Hank Silver. This American carpenter spent over a year rebuilding the wooden roof framing of the cathedral’s nave.
Odile de Schietere-Longchampt, Jean Shafiroff, Jennifer Herlein, Denis de Kergorlay, Elizabeth Stribling, Hank Silver, CeCe Black, Liz McDermott
Founded in 1982, the FHS is a nonprofit organization protecting French architectural and cultural legacy in France and the United States. Their ten dynamic Chapters across the US and one in Paris form a vibrant network to support restoration projects and promote French culture.
Many guests wore black and gold or black with a touch of diamante.
The generous proceeds of this annual fundraising gala are a testament to the unwavering support for the French Heritage Society’s three parallel missions: preserving the French architectural legacy in France and the United States, nurturing the next generation of preservationists through its Student Exchange Program, and fostering Franco-American friendship.
“In a semester abroad in Lyon, I fell in love with the culture, the food, the people. When I left, I was determined to find a way to keep France in my life” – French Heritage Society Executive Director Jennifer Herlein.
Jean Shafiroff wearing Malan Breton with the designer
Among the avowed Francophiles in attendance were FHS Board Chairman Elizabeth Stribling, President of the Board Denis de Kergorlay, Executive Director Jennifer Herlein, Philanthropist Jean Shafiroff, a former FHS honoree and member of the FHS Board, and Special Events Chair CeCe Black.
Julia Haart
Other guests of note were Myriam Gil, Deputy Consul General of France in New York; Joan Jedell, publisher and editor-in-chief of Hampton Sheet magazine; publicist Jon Marder, entrepreneur and author Julia Haart; philanthropists Ruth Miller and Barbara Tober, fashion designer Malan Breton, Lauren Day Roberts (we went to summer camp together lol) and the Honorable Rebecca A. Seawright, Chair of Assembly People With Disabilities Committee, Assembly Member representing the 76th District, Upper East Side.
Margo Langenberg and Joan Jedell
The dress code was black tie, and with all the glitter and bling, it was a mix of wedding, bar mitzvah, and debutante ball rolled into one. Though it was a mild evening, there were plenty of fur stoles.
A musical interlude
The dinner of beet and goat cheese mille-feuille with candied walnuts, poulet de Bresse en Crème de cepes mushroom sauce, pommes duchesse, sautéed spinach, French pumpkin pecan cheesecake was very French and very fattening.
“Born in New York City into an observant Jewish family, Mr. Silver owns a small timber framing business in rural New England and admits that until recently he didn’t even know what a nave was” – Aurelien Breeden, The New York Times.
Honoree Hank Silver
There were dinner-time welcome remarks by CeCe Black, Elizabeth Stribling, Denis de Kergorlay, Myriam Gil, and the evening’s two honorees. Hank Silver went a step further and staged a fascinating slide show illustrating some of the meticulous stages of renovation he undertook. But Mr. Silver’s back story was more intriguing.
This event always features a Live Auction lorded over by Nick Sawes, a Senior Vice President at Heritage Auctions. Lot 1, beginning at $2500, featured a private tour and lunch for up to four guests of the Louis Vuitton family home and ateliers in Asnieres-sur-Seine.
Lot 2, which started at $3500, offered a three-night stay at interior designer Timothy Corrigan’s beautifully appointed 3400 square foot Paris pied-a-terre in Paris’s 16th arrondissement.
Lauren Day Roberts and Marilyn Kirschner
I was seated at a lively table and enjoyed chatting with my tablemates, publisher Joan Jedell and Jay Hershenson, Rebecca Seawright’s husband, who once served as Vice Chancellor for university relations of the City of New York.
I’ll give you three guesses as to what the predominant point of discussion was all evening – and the first two don’t count.
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