D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A AMERICAN CANCER SOCIET Y HOSTED ITS “MOTHERS OF THE YEAR” LUNCHEON AT T H E ST . R EG I S H OT E L
Diana Feldman
This year’s luncheon had a lot of honorees and they must have sold out the place as the ballroom was entirely filled with tables of 10. They honored Marion Scotto, Rosanna Scotto, and Elaina Scotto. The sisters were presented with their award by two daughters, Julia Faucetta and Jenna Ruggiero, joined by Greg Kelly (who works everyday on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York” with Rosanna in the morning). Kelly talks about his partner on the show. He’s very funny and his words about Rosanna are dear, heartfelt, and like family. Then, after Rosanna and her sisters come up, they talk about mama, Marion 44 QUEST
Mariana Kaufman and Eva Mohr
Brenda Johnson and Isabel Leeds
Susan Bloomberg and Diane van Amerongen
Scotto, who was known affectionately as “mom.” Marion lives in New York City with her husband and has eight grandchildren. She also runs the front-of-the-house duties in the family restaurant, Fresco. Zagat Survey has voted her as one of the “Most Gracious Hostesses.” She comes up on stage. You get right away why she’s one of the Most Gracious Hostesses. You get that because of the way her daughters and granddaughters talked about her. A saint, yes. A know-it-all mother, yes. Caring, yes. The boss who is always right, yes. You can tell by everyone’s reaction that this mother was a powerful leader
who created a family of women who are powerful leaders or potentially. This is what the Mother of the Year luncheon is always about. I don’t forget it when I’m whining with myself about the obligation of attending because I know its value. I had a mother who had all kinds of qualities and characteristics, many or several of which I could criticize. However, the boy’s still here because of that mother. After Marion’s family was honored, they called on the family of the next honoree, Dr. Susan Drossman, an interventional breast radiologist in private practice in New York.
Elizabeth Robins, Julie O’Neil and Cricket Burns
Kris Kim and Charlotte Ford
Drossman was introduced by her son, her daughter, and her husband, Adam Sokoloff. I’d never heard of this doctor although I soon realized that in a room full of hundreds of New York women, she is not only known but she is important. Her husband and children (both of whom are in their mid- or late-teens) spoke of a wife and a mother who is always there to the point of questioning their choices of the way they look when they leave the house. In fact, her husband, her family, and her friends offered a description that was one of a woman of tremendous energy, wisdom, and capability. One person
A N N I E WAT T
Gabriel Sokoloff, Susan Drossman, Julia Sokoloff and Adam Sokoloff