THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 5, 1995 TAG: 9510030083
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: On The Town
SOURCE: Sam Martinette
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Talk about lunch with the beautiful people.
Omni Waterside Hotel will be the site of a fashion luncheon Friday: ``Fashion on the Horizon'' to benefit the Family Sleep Rooms program at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters. With models ranging from a former Miss Oklahoma to one of Ebony Magazine's 10 Most Eligible Bachelors, the traveling show is sponsored by Leggett Department Stores and presented by the Norfolk City Union of The King's Daughters.
Local talent will include Joe Flanagan of WVEC-TV, who will emcee, and Virginia Beach's Amber Medlin, Miss Virginia 1995, who will be a special guest. Members of the Virginia Mass Choir will perform under the direction of Juan Turnes, and child models will include 12-year-old Kevin Welch, a ``graduate'' of the Burn Unit, who at the age of 13 months injured his feet in boiling water. Children's Hospital and Kevin's surgeon covered the $18,000 medical bill since the boy's father was unemployed at the time and lacked health insurance. I can imagine the tears and applause when Kevin walks the runway Friday.
Registration begins at 11:30 a.m., with lunch served at noon, followed by the runway performance from 12:45 until 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 for guests and $50 for patrons. As for the food, the menu consists of a fresh fruit garnish, pasta primavera with fresh pasta and garden vegetables, rolls and butter, coffee or tea and a chocolate mousse for dessert. A chardonnay will be served with lunch, and cocktails will be available until the fashion show begins. For ticket information, call the Norfolk City Union of The King's Daughters, 668-7098, or Customer Service at Leggett Department Stores.
Less than two weeks remain until the fourth annual Gourmet Gala to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The event is set for 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, in the Hampton Roads Ballroom of the Norfolk Waterside Convention Center, adjacent to the Marriott Hotel. Roughly 40 of the area's premier restaurants, caterers, bakeries and food vendors will offer unlimited culinary grazing.
The event is a popular after-work function, and last year attracted more than 2,000 patrons who admirably combined networking with dining. Entertainment will include the Pat Curtis Orchestra, and there will be some celebrity vocalists, including Becky Livas, Andy Roberts, Lynn Ruehlmann, Gigi Young and many others. There also will be strolling magicians, the Spectrum Puppets and a ballroom dancing exhibition.
Sponsored by the local Friends of St. Jude, proceeds go to research the causes and cures of catastrophic illnesses that affect children, which is done at that Memphis-based children's hospital, in addition to the actual treatment of children.
Tickets for the Gourmet Gala are $35 per person and are available at several locations, including the Decker I Building (201 E. Plume St.), and the Marriott Hotel Gift Shop (235 E. Main St.). Call 622-3317 for information.
Later this month at Omni, the 30th annual DePaul Charity Ball will take place. The event is set for Saturday, Oct. 21. It will begin with a cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m. and will continue with dinner and dancing. Artists Janet and Michael Bell will convert the newly remodeled Omni ballroom into a French countryside, and dance music will be provided by the aptly named group ``Liberation.''
Proceeds from past charity balls have helped to fund medical care for the poor. Last year DePaul Medical Center dispensed free medical services totaling more than $5 million, according to information furnished by the Friends of DePaul, the sponsoring group.
Tickets for the event begin with a contribution of $250 per couple and continue up to the level of Gold Sponsor: a $2,500 donation entitling the donor to a complimentary hotel room, special seating for eight, cocktails, dinner and dancing, and other benefits.
The menu will consist of a salad of field greens with mushrooms and an orange vinaigrette, followed by filet mignon and grilled salmon with a sauce Provencale, along with a timbale or mold of rice with caviar, and tomatoes grilled with cheese. Wines will be poured to match the courses, and chocolate mousse and coffees will follow the dinner.
A silent auction will offer patrons the opportunity to bid on a chance to spend New Year's Eve in Sandbridge with 10 friends, a yacht cruise up the Elizabeth River with refreshments for 18 or a month of Sunday brunches at top area restaurants.
For information, call the DePaul Health Foundation, 889-5900, by Oct. 16. by CNB