Jim Weissenborn and Brier & Garry Neel, who co-chaired the $4-million capital campaign - were spotlighted during the program emceed by board member Katie Parks. Before and after the program guests enjoyed superb wines from the Celani Family Vineyards and yummy food and spirits courtesy of Huntington Bank. They also toured the new 14,000 sq. ft. building designed by architect Ed Francis. He confided that he mostly did residential remodels yet many touring the new center commented on how his design accomplished the seemingly impossible – lots of bright daylight flooding private interview rooms. The Detroit Country Day String Quartet provided the perfectly harmonious musical accompaniment to the evening’s festivities in the new home where abused kids begin to heal. Sacred Heart Leaders of Conscience So how did international award winning concert pianist, composer and beauty Marina Arsenijevic land in Bloomfield Hills when she immigrated from her war torn Yugoslavia in 1999? “I came to Michigan because one of my bipartisan congressional (immigration) co-sponsors was congressman Joe Knollenberg. The other representative was from Chicago. I liked Oakland County better than Cook County,” she explained following her concert April 14 in the chapel at the Academy of the Sacred Heart. It was a passionate, powerful performance, made even more so thanks to the three perfectly positioned cameras that captured Marina’s slender, strong fingers for display on the video screen above her. We later learned the talented AV guy, Blue World Productions’ Russell Sumner, was a perfect choice for the assignment because he was trained as a classical pianist. Marina was the third recipient of the ASH Leaders of Conscience Award honoring those whose ethical lives and work inspire hope and optimism. Her compositions blending ethnic music have led to her hallmark “Unity through Diversity” concert. It gained national prominence when she performed it at West Point with the cadets’ glee club and band and subsequent broadcast on PBS. During the intermission of her concert at ASH, Sr. Bridget Bearss, when she presented Marina the award, noted that Marina and her music “…have brought the world together and made dreams possible.” Marina thanked ASH for recognizing her immigrant downtownpublications.com
Variety’s Table Tops Luncheon
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3 1. Sheryl Briggs (standing left) of Orchard Lake, Patty Ghesquiere, Kandi Brice and Variety president Kelly Shuert of Bloomfield, Evyenia Jonna of Birmingham, Carrie Langdon (seated left) and Andrea Guttilla of Bloomfield and Andrea Vespa of Birmingham. 2. Ellen Rogers (left) of Birmingham holding 2-month-old Spiros Karmanos, his mother Danialle Karmanos of Orchard Lake and Vicki Valentine of W. Bloomfield. 3. Marian Ilitch (center) with her daughter Lisa Murray (left) of Bingham Farms and daughter-in-law Kelly Ilitch of Bloomfield. 4. Designer Phyllis Whitehead (left) with Lisa Arnold and Mary Ellen Tonis of Birmingham. 5. Caroline Mila (left) and Judy Solomon of Birmingham, Michael Coyne and Susan Paroly of Bloomfield and Kari Gillette of Beverly Hills.
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South Oakland Shelter’s Luncheon/Boutique
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1. Event Chair Lynn Oates (left) of Rochester with board committee chair Jennie Cook and SOS’s Danielle Miller of Birmingham. 2, Style Naturale Barbara Boz’s jewelry designer Barbara Boz (left) of Pleasant Ridge, Carolyn Clark of Chesterfield Twp. and SOS board VP Tawnya Bender of Bloomfield. 3. Elena Hunt (left) of Bloomfield (in necklace she just bought at the It’s a Treasure! booth) and her mother-in-law Kathi Hunt of Waterford. 4. It’s A Treasure! owners Evelyn Simon (left) of Bloomfield and Shula Brown of W. Bloomfield. 5. Owner of Escapades in Franklin Pam Bird (left) of W. Bloomfield and her daughter Michelle Fischer of Pleasant Ridge.
5 Gleaners’ Women’s Power Breakfast
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2 1. Event chairs Sarah Earley (left), Leslie Murphy and Vivian Pickard of Bloomfield and Joan Gehrke of Grosse Pointe. 2. Marsha Johnson (left) of Bloomfield, Crevelle Bedra of Wolverine Lake and Lamija Gerbovic of Warren. 3. Maria Labie (left) of Birmingham and Lucy Fowlds of Shelby Twp. 4. Shauna Ryder Diggs (left) of Grosse Pointe, Kim Nye of Troy.
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