South O' the Highway (and the North too)

Katie Holmes and husband Tom Cruise have been spotted out and about on the North Fork. The couple is reportedly in town while Holmes films The Romantics, an independent film costarring Anna Paquin and Elijah Wood.

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Amangansett's Sarah Jessica Parker has been chosen to serve on the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, which works with organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts to encourage partnerships between the public and private sector on cultural projects. Other members include Edward Norton, Forest Whitaker, Anna Wintour, Yo-Yo Ma, George C. Wolfe and Thom Mayne.

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Friends of the late Jim Brady gathered at the Blue Parrot in East Hampton last week to celebrate the author, war veteran and former editor of the New York Post's Page Six column.

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On Monday, November 16, at Gotham Hall in New York, PrudentialDouglasElliman President and CEO Dottie Herman was honored as one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in New York" by Crain's New York Business. According to publication, this list describes "the most important female leaders running businesses and organizations that drive New York's Economy."

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Last weekend, the US Marshals Service auctioned off 188 items seized from former Montauk resident Bernie Madoff's houses and raised approximately $1 million, which will benefit victims of Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

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East Hampton's Ralph and Ricky Lauren have established a professorship at the Yale School of Architecture in memory of the late architect Charles Gawthmey, with whom the couple was good friends.

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Hamptons resident Barbara Walters snagged an interview with Sarah Palin days before the former vice-presidential nominee released her highly anticipated book, Going Rogue: An American Life. The first of the five-part series aired on "Good Morning America" this week.

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Sag Harbor's Christie Brinkley and daughter Sailor Lee were made "honorary angels" at the launch of Tea Party Angels, a new national fundraising program that raises money for girls in need around the world via mother-daughter tea parties. The event was held last weekend at the Doubles Club in Manhattan.

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Southampton philanthropist Jean Shafiroff, who will chair next year's Southampton Hospital Gala, hosted an elegant luncheon at Swifty's to introduce William Ulfelder, the newly appointed Director of The Nature Conservancy of New York, to her conservation-minded friends. Ulfelder spoke about climate change and the need to protect our coastal shorelines and inland waterways with guests Ann Rapp, Margo Langenberg, Carole Belladora, Maria Kalnay, Yaz Hernandez, Roger Webster, Sharon Bush and John Wegorzewski.

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Rumor has it that Ronald Lauder sold his Main Street, Wainscott pad, which is part of a family compound, to daughter Aerin for upwards of $5 million.

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Peconic Bay Medical Center (PBMC) has been selected as the Recipient of the 2010 HealthGrades General Surgery Excellence Award by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization. This designation-the highest available-places PBMC among the top 10% of hospitals in the nation for general surgery.

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Saunders & Associates won the Phoenix Award for "Most Outstanding Brand of 2009" from Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate, the global network of the world's top 1,500 luxury real estate brokerages. Saunders & Associates hired a global strategic branding consultancy for the project last year.

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