Diana Ross - St. Louis - Variety Club - Raises $3.5 Million, 350 Guests

[jobeterob]

April 29, 2012 11:06 am | Author: Jerry Berger

More than 350 guests arrived Saturday night at the Peabody for the Variety Club gala dinner and to be entertained by the high octane, musical muse Diana Ross and helped bring the total take for Variety Club week to at least $3.5 million. Crisp as a Pringle’s store, there were some who rated high on the sizzle-ometer, others stiffly embraced their spouses, cheeseballs of yore were plucked out of anonymity to re-acclaim fame. Philanthropic dynamo Michael Neidorf of Centene was chosen “Man of the Year,” while Thelma Steward was crowned “Woman of the Year.” Steward’s hub David Steward’s World Wide Technology underwrote the evening along with Centene. With more energy than winners of “Dancing with the Stars,” philanthropic dynamos Marilyn and former Belgium ambassador Sam Fox were embraced by Variety execs as were former ambassador to Hungary Bert Walker and his wife, Carol. There were some younger guests, who appeared as abstracts such as Monica and Peter Neidorf, who circled their mom and dad, Neomi and Mike. [[Monica heads MLN public relations.) Centene’s mouthpiece Deanne Lane remained mum to the media and irresponsibly shunned any contact with reporters. [[Nice job, D.A.!) Longtime Variety emissary Jan Albus and her husband, Larry appeared as works of art themselves. Jan set the stage for the event and had arranged FOX2 to campaign for the evening over a few months. The station’s chief and his wife, Spencer and Laura Koch along with news director Audrey Prywich - with her hub, Rick Powers of Fox Sports Midwest - got muchos kudos for their generous contribution of air time. Also on hand were FOX2 vet Tom O’Neal with his love, Cheryle. Jimmy Choo stiletto heels and an Armani outfit was worn by trend-savvy Donna Wilkinson, who was cornered with St. Louis Science Center prez and CEO Bert Vescolani, who offered a preview of things to come: “Small Nano World” and a documentary about the Arctic, voiced by Meryl Streep and Paul McCartney - all on the Omnimax screen. Diana Ross’ voice retained the characteristic depth and clarity, that combined – sounded equally commanding and accommodating in numbers such as “Where Did Our Love Go?,” which brought down the house. Dr. Bob Packman was on hand with his partner of 33 years, Len Powers, followed by attorney Martin Green and Penney Poole. During the evening, a donor who sought anonymity contributed $1 million – a challenge to support the Variety Adventure Camp. Then, another matched it with a $100k contribution. I’ve learned osmotically that the Variety Club has helped children with physical and mental disabilities for more than 80 years, and, the money stays in our town. There’s no such thing as too much, especially when supporting the Variety Club.

Share/Bookmark

[BabyLuv64]

Incredible!

[jobeterob]

. .Home / News / Local / Columns / Deb Peterson


Diana Ross is the brightest star in Variety's 'Dinner with the Stars'
More Sharing ServicesShare | Share on facebookShare on facebook_like
.StoryDiscussionDiana Ross is the brightest star in Variety's 'Dinner with the Stars'
BY DEB PETERSON • dpeterson@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8276 stltoday.com | Posted: Monday, April 30, 2012 11:22 am | [[2Loading…) comments.

Font Sizeefault font sizeLarger font size. BY KEVIN C. JOHNSON > POST-DISPATCH POP MUSIC CRITIC . kjohnson@post-dispatch.comkjohnson@post-dispatch.com > > 314-340-8191
Diana Ross

...OH, WHATTA NIGHT • Whether it was the "Supremest" Diana Ross repeatedly bringing the crowd to its feet with her familiar voice and inimitable style or emcee Joe Buck singing a karaoke-style rendition of “Ring of Fire,” Saturday night’s Variety Dinner with the Stars event was a keeper.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 supporters of Variety, the Children’s Charity of St. Louis, slipped between the raindrops to be ushered into the Peabody Opera House, which for the first time was the venue for the venerable charitable event.

Those used to enjoying the evening at the Chase Park Plaza, where dinner and entertainment and the VIP reception were all on the same level, griped a little about traipsing around the old building but soon got into the swing of things.

The different venue made Ross’ performance seem more like a traditional concert without tables and leftover dinnerware in the way. And the crowd seemed to love it — with such stalwarts as ambassadors Sam Fox and Bert Walker and their Mrs. Ambassadorables, Marilyn Fox and Carol Walker, dancing at their seats.

A newly slimtastic Joyce Aboussie led the front section notables by being the first one up and moving while Ross belted out such classics as “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Touch Me in the Morning.”

Next to Aboussie was former KSDK [[Channel 5) anchor cum Centene Corp. tubthumper Deanne Lane, who refused to make time to speak to the media but was busy clapping and cheering for Ross. Lane’s boss, Michael Neidorff, was Variety’s “Man of the Year. He was there with his better half, Noemi Neidorff, and their adult children, Peter and Monica.

Thelma Steward was the charity’s “Woman of the Year.” Her husband, David Steward, head of World Wide Technology and president of Variety, underwrote the evening’s expenses with Centene and The Steward Family foundation. The Stewards’ daughter, Kimberly, their son, David II, and his wife, Mary, were among those in the crowd. A special guest of the Stewards, celebrity designer Carmen Marc Valvo was there and a limo with his name in lights in the front windshield was outside the opera house, in case one missed him inside.

Money raised from the group's signature fundraiser provides equipment and medical aid for children with disabilities. The week of events leading up to the Dinner with the Stars raised more than $3.5 million for the cause, with an anonymous donation of $1 million and a matching grant of $100,000 contributed on Saturday night alone.

Among others we spotted: Donna Wilkinson and Bert Vescolani, head of the Science Center; Hazel and Arnold Donald; Peggy and Jerry Ritter; Carol and Tom Voss; Cabanne Schlafly Howard; and music man Ron Isley.


Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/c...#ixzz1tZ8ZQKUe

[David J]

Thanks for posting this Jobeterob, really appreciated