The Gossip Column: February 21, 2025

It was a very busy couple of days leading up to the WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB dog show. ...

Friday started out with the cocktail party at the AKC MUSEUM OF THE DOG that honored longtime board member and contributor GAYLE BONTECOU. An overflowing crowd filled the museum as guests were surrounded with the wonderful art that is on exhibit. GAYLE, if I’m not mistaken, is the only remaining active board member right from the beginning of the museum’s inception. Among those socializing surrounded by fine art were JANET YORK, DAVID MERRIAM, BLAKE HANSEN, LISA CROFT-ELLIOTT, GINA DINARDO and her husband PETE GWYNNE, KAROLYNNE MCATEER, ANNE MARIE KUBACZ, MELANIE STEELE, CHARLIE OLVIS & LIZ MUTHARD, KIM & TONY CALVACCA, BILL & TINA TRUESDALE, and ROBIN GREENSLADE. ...

Then it was on to DOUBLES, the private club in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel where the “Fabulous Four” ladies — KAREN LEFRAK, PATRICIA HEARST, ELLEN CHARLES and MISS GALLOWAY — co-host their French Poodle Party. It’s the watering hole where all the bold-face guests gather for cocktails before going off to their respective dinners. Always a fun-filled room where friends from across the country see one another for the first time over the weekend. The air kisses that fill the dimly lit red room can take your breath away. Some of those 160 guests in attendance were a sight for sore eyes: ELLEN ROBERTS, CHARLOTTE PATTERSON, SYDNEY GOOD, JD & TARA MARTIN ROWELL (who were in town to watch TARA’S parents judge at the dog show), LYDIA COLEMAN HUTCHINSON (who was celebrating attending WESTMINSTER for the 61st time), DENNIS SPRUNG, DAWN SEARS, RICHARD SOUZA, CHRIS & RACHEL MANELOPOULOS, ELLEN CHARLES, GLEN LAJESKI, THE MCILWAINES ANDY, JACK & JASON, PATTY KEENAN, JOSEPH VERGNETTI, MARI-BETH O’NEILL, HEATHER BUEHNER, BONNIE DATEMA, JODY LONGMIRE, DIANE & LUKE EHRICHT, NANCY SHAW, VIKKI OELERICH, CHAD HOWARD, ALAINA MOULTON, BJ WHITLOW, PER RISMYHR, LISA ARNETT, DOUG JOHNSON, JAMIE HUBBARD, JOHN & LLOYD CONSTANTINE-AMODEI, DESI MURPHY, WAYNE FERGUSON, TOSHI OMURA, TINA TRUESDALE, HILLARY ZIMMERMAN, CONNIE CLARK, JAY SHEN, MARJORIE MARTORELLA, PEGGY BEISEL-MCILWAINE, LYDIA HEART, MICHAEL CANALIZO, EVALYN GREGORY and DAVID HADDOCK. ...

Then onto a reflective dinner to discuss the past, dog politics and take odds on which dog will be the big winner. This year for us, it was at the very tony IL POSTINO, one of our favorite Italian restaurants on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. That brings a close to the Friday festivities. ...

Next up: The PURINA PRO PLAN SHOW DOGS OF THE YEARS AWARDS DINNER partnered with DOG NEWS.