Lise Poulos, Barbara Damianos, Dr. Dan Damianos, Clara Macri, Robin Amato Photos by Lynn Spinnato and David Lion Rattiner

Decision Women Throw One Great Party

Fireworks, Wine, Professional Dancers, Monster.com,
Duck Walk North, Singers And More

By David Lion Rattiner

Last Friday at Duck Walk North Vineyards on the North Fork in Southold was one of the most amazing, elegant and first-rate parties this reporter has ever been to. It was hosted by Decision Women (www.decisionwomen.com), an organization that networks professional women and women business owners who raise money for charities. Clara Macri, the Chairwoman of the event, a former Wall Street success and world traveler, was all smiles with Lise Poulos, the EVP and CAO of Monster.com, who was the title sponsor of the evening.

Catherine Ellams, Jean and Tom Lynch

Decision Women that evening raised money for Long Island Cares, The Harry Chapin Food Bank, the Long Island Farm Bureau and Good Shepherd Hospice. The night featured an amazing array of cocktails, wine and food, and the good people at Buoy One Restaurant and Caterers kept the food and the raw oysters flying through the party.

It was amazing to find out the Duck Walk North donated their gorgeous vineyard space for the event and our hat is off to Doctor and Mrs. Dan Damianos, the owners of Duck Walk, for making such a special evening possible.

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Russell, Barbara Damianos, Dr. Dan Damianos, Catherine P. Saxton, Clara Marci

The night included live singing performances from St. George Production, with impersonations of the music by Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and Faye Emerson. A sensational part of the evening was a professional dance performance by world champion dancers Kelvin Roche and Lori Ann Greenhouse. As my colleagues and friends from Dan's Papers, Catherine Ellams and Jean Lynch, smiled in amazement at the evening, we all sipped from our wine glasses and cheered. "Can you believe how lovely this party is?" Jean said.

"This is just so lovely, so fabulous," Catherine replied as she watched the dancers literally fly over the floor. You can see a video of these dancers on the blog at blog.danshamptons.com/entertainment/.

"In five minutes we raised $5,000," Clara Macri told me when she described the small auction.

At the end of the evening, a fireworks display donated by Bay Fireworks President Charles Rappa went off in the background of the vineyard. The $10,000 fireworks show put the evening into the world-class category, it was truly magical. Everyone was in awe, including the people from the law firm Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman LLP, who donated an incredibly large check to the cause.

It was pure magic on the North Fork last Friday, we are all so lucky to have things like this happen here.

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