- April 18, 2024
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Key to the Cure is known not only as being the kickoff to the Sarasota social season, but also as the perfect opportunity to show off that pink gown that’s been itching to make its event-season debut! This year, the event committee made history by adding purple to its traditionally pink dress code, and attendees jumped at the opportunity. Honoree Chairwoman Ariane Dart donned a gorgeous one-shoulder gown with a fabric rose, and Susan Jones brought her A-game, as always. Jones stunned in not only a purple feather skirt, but also in a pair of 5 1/2-inch purple suede platform Brian Atwood stilettos that she happened to find at the top of her shoe cabinet — what she calls an act of luck and closet karma. “The heal is a silver pin,” she says. “Definite man-killers, for sure.”
Casey Key resident Anita Holec and her husband moved out of their beachside home last week to make room for a three-day photo shoot with model Cindy Crawford. Crawford, 50, was shooting a commercial for Florida-based furniture and home-design store Rooms To Go, showcasing her Cindy Crawford Home collection. Daily Mail reported that Crawford was spotted at the home Oct. 25 wearing a blue cerulean gown by Calypso St. Barth. Her stylist, Rita Rago, completed the look with dangly earrings, silver stackable bracelets and white gladiator sandals.
Guests at the annual Oceanic Evening gala enjoyed a unique starter to their dinner, courtesy of Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium’s Mote Aquaculture Park (MAP). The gourmet dishes featured sea purslane, a sea vegetable grown at MAP using aquaponics— “raising seafood while using the wastewater to fertilize salt-loving crops,” as Kaitlyn Fusco, Mote spokeswoman, describes it. She says the project uses eco-friendly technology developed by Mote scientists to raise red drum, which is now being sold to restaurants along the Suncoast as well as sea purslane and saltwort, which are edible sea vegetables that can be found at the Sarasota Farmers Market.
Sweet Surprise...Key to the Cure committee member Donna Koffman got an unexpected visitor Oct. 27 when her daughter, Sydney Koffman, flew in from Pennsylvania for a special surprise. Sydney and her mother (pictured below) have been attending the event together for years, and she didn’t want the fact that she’s now
a freshman at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., to end the tradition.Special Appearances...The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Student Scholarship Auctions 2016 had a few special guests with whom everyone wanted a photo at the event Oct. 29. The gala guest list included Elizabeth Cuevas Neunder, past candidate for governor of Florida, and Debbie Porreco, a descendant of Pocahontas, on whom Disney based the design of its animated character. If the Shoe Fits…Saks Fifth Avenue Vice President and General Manager Terri Najmolhoda gave the Key to the Cure co-chairwomen and honoree chairwomen — Jamie Becker, Diana Buchanan, Kelly Van Vliet, Aimee Cogan, Ariane Dart and Ashley Kozel — a clever gift before the event: pink ballet flat “Sidekicks” so the women could rest their feet before and after braving high heels for the evening. Najmolhoda also gave the ladies each a bottle of Chanel No 5.
