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The 51st International Red Cross Ball at Mar-A-Lago featured more chairs than a furniture store:
Bill and Nancy Ellison Rollnick were the head chairs; Susan and James Keenan served as national chairmen; Sarah, Dutchess of York, as international chairwoman in absentia; Susan Telesco as committee chairwoman; Michelle Kessler as vice chairwoman; Anka Palitz, Sandy Krakoff, and Nancy Raquet as chairwomen at large; Mr. and Mrs. Leo Vecellios as honorary chairmen; Susan and Dominick Telesco as Ball Committee chairmen; Nancy G. Brinker as Honorary Chairwoman of Goodwill; Ivanka Trump chaired the Young Friends Gala dance bash held concurrently by the pool and vice-chaired by Elizabeth Meigher; and finally, the Mar-A-Lord of the Manor The Donald Himself officiated as Chairman of Ambassadorial Arrangements, which mainly entailed shaking various ambassadors’ hands and telling them they’re fired. Oops, wrong show.
Speaking of ambassadorial arrangements, following a 30-year run as Chief of Protocol, Ambassador Marion Smoak had passed the torch to former Ambassador to Denmark Stuart A. Bernstein, who rendered a flawless chief-of-protocoling debut. No breaches of protocol were reported.
Mr. Trump’s mother Mary attended in spirit via her fabled meat loaf atop truffled mashed potatoes, while blackened sea bass was offered as an alternative for the cholesterol-conscious among the tiaraed, gowned, and cummerbunded congregation. Peter Duchin and his Orchestra supplied a motley menu for the eardrums, and the calories consumed at dinner were soon converted into kinetic energy on the dance floor.
The International Red Cross Ball was launched in 1957 by Marjorie Merriweather Post, in whose honor two awards were presented to aforementioned Ambassador Marion Smoak as well as to Grand Benefactors Emeriti Lawrence and Florence De George.
The Prince and Princess of Hungary, somewhat confusingly named Archduke and Archduchess George of Austria; U.S. Senator and Mrs. Bill Nelson; Countess Henrietta De Hoernle; and some 400 additional individuals of distinction, including a fully uniformed detail of the 4th Anglico Marine Corps, supported the International Red Cross by way of their presence at this queen of white-tie-and-tails extravaganzas.
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