Dan's Papers - July 20, 2007 - A Party At Grey Gardens For Dogs And Cats

Grey Gardens is a special place. The fundraiser for the Humane Society of America was held on Sunday at the once run down, 28-room estate in Georgica, which was home to Big Edie Bouvier and Little Edie Bouvier Beale, the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The house was home to American royalty, whose money ran out 35-years ago, became a symbol of weird cat ladies and the inspiration for an internationally acclaimed documentary and a Tony award winning Broadway production, it was quite the party.

The gorgeous completely restored property, with outstanding landscaping and spectacular renovations had a group of party guests that included rap mogul and animal lover Russell Simmons, who Wayne Pacelle (the president of the Humane Society) personally thanked during a very inspiring speech to the crowd about the goals of the Humane Society and the horrors of industrial farming. "Thank you for being here (Russell) your presence means a lot."

There were also dogs everywhere at the event, which always puts a smile on your face. One dog and huge animal lover, Frances Hayward was there with her mixed-breed rescued dog Amigo along with public relations master R. Couri Hay who had two pooches scuffling around on a leash. I also spoke with Vered of the Vered Art Gallery in East Hampton who expressed the importance of this event to me, as did Paul Fried of Orion Realty Group, Frank Cilione of the nightclub and restaurant Le Flirt in East Hampton and Anya and Jacquelin Robertson. I also spoke with Ashley Bush about the importance of the issue, who was there with her family members Sharon Bush and Lauren Bush.

Most people would agree that animals want to live just as much as humans do and needless abuse of them is unnecessary. I encourage you to check out the website www.hsus.org to see how you can be a part of this organization if you haven't already.

One glaring thought about the party was the amount of changes this house has endured. If this house had emotions (which I think it does) it would be a candidate for bi-polar disorder. It was hard not to think about how much this house has gone through over the years and the contrasts that it has experienced. Think about it, in a little more then half a century, the house was home to the richest and most powerful people in America, then to the shattered and broken bank accounts of seemingly desperate socialites. Let's not forget that when this happened all those years ago, 52, yes that's right, 52 cats roamed the premises, in a very unsanitary way, attracting the health department to come by the house on more then one occasion. Then, the house comes back full circle, with new owners restoring it to its former grandeur and a documentary and a Broadway musical lending star power to it.

And then, finally, on Sunday, the house came full circle, with according to my count, 19 dogs running around licking people's faces as a group of about seventy people all gathered around to eat an amazing catered menu of sea bass, fresh shrimp, vegetables and summer salad.

Which brings me to my final point after experiencing this fabulous party for a very important cause...