South O' the Highway (and the North too)

On Friday, October 20th, Mark Borghi Fine Art Inc. and Dan's Papers will host the opening reception for a new exhibit, "From the East End Post War Abstraction 1945 - 2006."Among the artists featured in this show are Willem DeKooning, Mercedes Matter, Hal Buckner, Roy Lichtenstein, Lee Krasner, Robert Dash, David Hare, and Elaine DeKooning. Call 631-537-7245.

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Sagaponack's Dick Grasso, the deposed king of the New York Stock Exchange, seems to be living quite comfortably as he prepares to fight for the $100 million Attorney General Eliot Spitzer says he was overpaid. He received $140 million from the Stock Exchange in 2003. A civil trial is scheduled to begin in Manhattan Supreme Court early next year to settle the matter. On weekends, Grasso can often be found in Sagaponack, where he has a luxe four-bedroom, six-bath, 5,000-square-foot house valued at $6.1 million. Starting in 1999, he and his wife bought six multi-acre lots, four bordering his residence - which he is holding as an investment. Two other undeveloped properties in the nearby Parsonage Pond Road neighborhood owned by his wife, Lorraine, are valued between $1 and $2 million.

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The Children's Museum of the East End celebrated its One Year Anniversary last weekend with a wine tasting event hosted by Michael Cinque, proprietor of Amagansett Liquors and Wine, followed by an auction. The evening was made possible by Leslie and Thomas Maheras, Heather and Steven Munchin, and Heidi and Jonathan Wald. Also in honor of the anniversary, children and families were welcomed to a sneak preview of CMEE's new "Discover My Community Exhibit." This exhibit, which runs through January 7, is hands-on tour through four of our community's outstanding non-profit organizations: The Retreat, Bay Street Theater, Southampton Hospital Foundation and ARF, with a display of building facade replicas of each organization.

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East Hampton's Ron Perelman is not only planning to attend the PAL's Women of the Year luncheon at the Pierre Hotel Oct. 17, which honors his ex-wife Claudia Cohen, but his firm, MacAndrews & Forbes, is an underwriter of the event.

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WordHampton PR, the recipient of the Best East End Public Relations firm "Best of the Best" award, is opening up an office in Riverhead's Polish Town due to the firm's recent growth and success. Their headquarters, however, will remain in East Hampton.

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1-800-Flowers CEO Jim McMann had some creative differences with event planner Preston Bailey regarding his daughter, Erin's, lavish wedding to Joseph Lenehan on Saturday, September 16, in Southampton. Two weeks before the big day, McMann brought in decor master DeJuan Stroud to create the ultimate celebration for his little girl. Although the bride wore traditional white, Stroud incorporated vibrant colors throughout the Meadow Lane estate, filling the five tents that were lined in pink and orange with more than 8,000 hot pink and neon orange roses and 10,000 fuchsia, pink and green orchids, and 25 custom chandeliers overflowing with flowers and candles. He even added a 9 foot orchid tree in the center of the pool. A live band performed and more than 250 danced on the hand painted dance floor.

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Quogue native Austin Stark is showcasing his latest short film, Love/Death/Cobain, at the Hamptons International Film Festival (Oct. 18th to 22nd). The nostalgic film is a coming-of-age tale centering on two teenagers forming an unlikely bond the day Kurt Cobain died. The homegrown writer/director/producer is also in the midst of penning the sequel to The Boys From Brazil, having just signed aboard with producer Marty Richards.

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Hamptonites Lee and CeCe Black, Chappy and Melissa Morris, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lawson, John Stein and Amanda Bowman were among those to don masks and costumes and kick up their heels when society band leader Alex Donner hosted "A Night in New Orleans" benefit at Twenty-Four Fifth Avenue. Donner, who led the Mardi Gras type celebration, helped raise more than $150,000 for the musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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Warner Bros. has bought the film rights to Melissa de la Cruz's young adult book series, the Au Pairs. The first novel will be produced by Drew Barrymore's Flower Films. The story is about three teenage girls who take summer jobs as au pairs for a wealthy family in the Hamptons.

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TV & Radio sports personality and full-time Westhampton resident Ann Liguori was honored at the Family Counseling Services annual Golf Tournament, Building Communities, on Tuesday, October 10, at Hampton Hills Golf and Country Club in Westhampton.

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Dan's Papers photographer Barry Gordin will have a celebrity photograph auctioned off at The 5th Annual GLAAD Out Auction on Sunday, October 22 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan. Among the artists with works to be auctioned off are Hamptonites Ross Bleckner, Robert Risko, Katie Coric, Herb Ritts, Ryan McGinniss, and Patrick McMullan. For tickets, visit www.glaad/outauction2006.

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In an effort to support local urban youth programs, Carnegie Corporation of New York has donated $100,000 to East Hampton's Russell Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.

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Federal Judge Richard M. Berman, of East Hampton, was elated that a mock Supreme Court at the NYU School of Law just ruled in favor of a decision he made validating "random warrantless searches of New York City straphangers" in the interest of preventing a terrorist attack. His decision was upheld by the Court of Appeals. The Judge, Elizabeth Gildersleeve, Vice President of Communications for Barnard College, his wife, and Barnard pre-law student Raquel Garnett attended the mock event.

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Hamptonite and philanthropist Eleanor Taffner and Mrs. Stanley De Forest Scott are the co-chairs of the 50th Anniversary and Wallace Award Dinner to be held October 23 at The University Club. The evening will feature cocktails, the Award dinner and a luxury charity auction featuring trips and experiences with a focus on Scotland. Call 212-957-9511.

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Jay Johnson: The Two and Only Two, produced by East Hampton's Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comely, has received rave reviews from the critics since it opened on Broadway a few weeks ago. The show stars master ventriloquist Jay Johnson, from "Soap," and Bob, his puppet. For information or tickets, visit www.TheTwoandOnly.com.

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