Nov 5, 2006

Revelers dance night away 'With the Stars'

By Janet Duca Norton

The best of ballroom received a standing ovation from 550 glamorously dressed guests in the Grand Ballroom of the San Francisco Palace Hotel. The sold-out Oct. 27 "An Evening With the Stars" benefit for programs of the Peninsula Volunteers Inc., lived up to its star-studded billing with a performance by dancing stars Cheryl Burke, Jerry Rice, Louis Van Amsteel, Monique Coleman, Emmitt Smith, Anna Trebunskaya and Jonathan Roberts. Of course the sight of an ABC TV video crew added to the sizzle of this sparkling evening, and marked a new chapter in the annals of the elegant ballroom.

Gala co-chairs Sherri Burke, Zeni Mallari and Darlene Woodson and their committee worked 10 months to produce the event, which became a reality when Sherri's daughter Cheryl enlisted her "Dancing With the Stars" friends. In her welcoming remarks gala co-chair Sherri Burke saluted the attendees saying, "You're all stars."

The evening began with a silent auction under the historic Garden Court's vintage (pre-1906 earthquake) glass-domed ceiling featuring mystery boxes and a treasure chest, followed by the dance performance, a live auction and dancing to the Adrian Davis Presents Orchestra.

Jan Wahl of KRON TV graciously performed emcee duties and described each of the Menlo Park-based Peninsula Volunteers programs: Meals on Wheels, Rosener House Adult Day Services and Little House, The Roslyn G. Morris Activity Center.

"We raised more money than ever before. I am so excited that we can rebuild our dining rooms at both Rosener House and Little House due to the generosity of our gala guests," co-chair Woodson said.

Woodson contributed to the night's success by making the winning bid on Collienne Brennan's autumn tabletop decor and purchasing a pair of treasure boxes, one of which contained a Tiffany & Co. silver bracelet.

The room rocked when Mervin Morris escorted Carol Channing on stage to perform her signature song "Hello Dolly." Morris, the first Peninsula Volunteers Humanitarian Award honoree, gave the tribute to this year's recipient Carmen Christensen for her 50 years of outstanding contributions to the Peninsula Volunteers and the community.

"It's a great way to kick off our sixth decade," president Camilla Shroff remarked. Guests were a mix of new and longtime members and supporters. Leading the list were honorary chairs, past presidents and their spouses, including Nancy and Joe Greenbach, Ann Griffiths, Roz Morris, Jeanne and Frank Fischer, Trenna and Dave Knudson, Lynne and Fred Kliner, Mindy and Carlos Perez-Rubio, Linda and Stan Dickenson, and Helen and Larry Chew.

Auctioneer David Reynolds sold a week's stay in a Paris Left Bank apartment three times. Huguette Bartels made the winning bid on a dinner for 20 at John Bentley's. Gail and Nariman Teymourian donated a day in a luxury box for a 2007 San Francisco Giants game, and purchased one of a pair of dance parties featuring a lesson by Cheryl Burke for their daughter Julia's 10th birthday. It was a surprise present, so Julia, who was upstairs in her family's room during the auction, was ushered into the ballroom to receive her gift.

It was a big night for decorations chair Gaye Bruce. Her son Jeff Bruce, of JB Floral and Events, created the show-stopping white lily and dendrobium orchid centerpieces, and her son Steve purchased the other Cheryl Burke dance party. Gaye Bruce and Fred Ferranato will attend Barbra Streisand's San Jose concert and Ferranato's son Rod will see her perform in Los Angeles.



MUSEUM FELLOW AWARDS DINNER

The Computer History Museum's 19th annual Fellow Awards Dinner honored Sir Anthony Hoare, Robert Kahn, Butler Lampson and Marvin Minsky as pioneers in the field of computing, whose contributions have impacted the lives of us all.

About 430 friends, industry leaders, past honorees and board members attended the Oct. 17 dinner at the Mountain View Museum.

"Awards are about inspiring the next generation. Great communities build great museums," said board chair Len Schuster, who announced the acquisition of a "find" from an open-air warehouse in Germany, which consisted of seven shipping containers filled with historic computing equipment from a private European collection, dating back to the 1930s.

Fellows are nominated by their peers and selected on the basis of their accomplishments. Wall Street Journal columnist Kara Swisher and 1996 Fellow Mitch Kapor emceed the program, saying the evening wasn't about looking back, it was a time to look forward. The honorees mirrored this sentiment.

Robert Kahn was recognized for achievements in network communications. "The Internet was unknown and changing. I wanted to do something different," he said, and then advised, "Don't plan everything. Trust in yourself for your idea."

Butler Lampson, whose work in networked personal workstations, computer security and document publishing has produced 23 patents, said that he thinks "The computer has just begun."

By video, Sir Anthony Hoare, who was honored for his development of the Quicksort algorithm and contributions to the theory of programming languages, said, "We didn't know what we could do; we just started writing code."

Marvin Minsky was honored for co-founding the field of artificial intelligence, early robotics systems and developing the "Society of Mind" theory of human and machine intelligence. His daughter Juliana accepted his award, saying, "He was the greatest baby sitter. We were the first kids to e-mail and play video games."

Peter Ziebelman, Tom Kelly, Peter Zeiss, John Mashey, David House, Dave Anderson and Angela Hey applauded the new Fellows and techie-comedian Greg Schwem.