South O' the Highway (and the North too)

Anne and Amanda Hearst hosted the glamorous grand opening of "Photo Op Studios," the Hamptons' newest studio space, wardrobe/costume hire and props/set dressing rentals on Saturday September 29. The studio is located at One Tradesman's Path in Bridgehampton and is equipped with a 2,000 square foot drive in cyclorama, 1,500 square feet of wardrobe and costume rentals as well as an eclectic inventory of props and set dressing. The Hearsts dressed in chic, colorful vintage garb from the 60s and 70s for the opening.

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Described as the "plummiest" location in the historic district of Sag Harbor by author Steven Gaines, the Morpurgo house, adjacent to the John Jermain Memorial Library on Union Street, will be going up for public auction at 11 a.m. on Friday, October 12. The court ordered partition auction will be taking place in front of the Municipal Building on Main Street, Sag Harbor with an opening bid of $900,000. Earlier incarnations of the house date back over 250 years and are still incorporated in the present building.

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Amagansett's Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick will serve as Honorary Chairmen of the Lenox Hill Hospital Autumn Ball 2007 on October 22 at The Waldorf Astoria Grand Ballroom. The gala celebrates the hospital's dedicated doctors, nurses, staff, benefactors and 150 years of service to the community.

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East Hampton's Les Lieberman will be Chairman of the Children's Cancer and Blood Foundation fundraiser at the Pierre Hotel on October 9. His wife Barri Lieberman, who is also working on the fundraiser, is a former Court TV executive.

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Aretha Franklin's agent of the past 45 years, Ruth Bowen, and her husband, real estate mogul Billy Bryant, just purchased a lovely home in Quogue.

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Hamptonite Adele Smithers, President of the Christopher D. Smithers Foundation, recently traveled 9,260 miles to and from Geneva, Switzerland to deliver a six-minute speech on alcoholism and youth.

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Amagansett's Nancy Grigor, head of Hamptons Locations, and her celebrity lawyer husband, Michael J. Griffith, have changed the name of the bed and breakfast that they recently purchased to the more elegant-sounding East Hampton Colonial Inn. It was previously called Puddy Place.

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Bridgehampton's Luann Countess de Lesseps and Count Alexandre de Lesseps will be honored on November 1st for their philanthropic and community efforts at Hooray for Hollywood, a big bash for important people.

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With folks just getting over the presidential candidates summer fundraising rounds in the Hamptons comes a new film by Southampton Producer Patricia Watt and Mark Mitchell, a mockumentary called Liszt for President. The film stars Richard Masur, Holt McCallany, Julie Wilson and many Hampton locals, including Anne Jackson, Eli Wallach, Paul Hecht, Larry Pine, Jacquelin Murphy Stahl and Countess LuAnn de Lesseps. Mitchell and Watt will soon be screening the searing comedy in the Hamptons.

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Southampton's Jeff Allen, head of Universal Attractions and was the late James Brown's agent for 25 years, met with the Rev. Al Sharpton, who considered Brown a father figure, to discuss the mishandling of the estate of "The Godfather of Soul." There are reportedly millions of dollars missing and the two men are trying to see that it is found and distributed to the people Brown designated.

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The Ross School has another accomplishment to add to its list of international accolades. Twenty-eight middle and high school students were recently honored at the "Beijing Olympics Through Our Eyes" exhibit that opened in Beijing in August. The works were created in a special Chinese Brush Painting workshop taught by Ross Art Chair Jennifer Cross. In August, Cross and award winners Lucy Loewenberg and Shanna Polley traveled to Beijing to attend opening ceremonies and to accept awards at the exhibition.

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On the "Indian Summer" Saturday of September 29, Southampton's Peter Mole teamed with navigator Bill Secrest and won the Bridgehampton Historical Society's fifteenth annual Road Rally in Mole's black 1953 Jaguar XK120, less than 24 hours after the two men met for the first time. This was Secrest's first time participating in the Rally. Mole has competed since 1989, with his best previous finish 7th in 2004, teamed with Dan's Papers' Sales Executive Jean Lynch.

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Sag Harbor's Julie Andrews, author and actress, turned 72 this past Monday, and she still looks half her age.

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