The show featured guest diva Amy (Rocky Mountains) O’Neill, looking fab in her blond Afro wig after a recent cancer scare. Also an artist, she now lives in Boston with partner Michelle Nowakowski. O’Neill belted out a torrid version of “Santa Baby” and snazzed up a few other topical tunes, much to the delight of the Studs’ Sexy Babies Fan Club. More than a few of the gals wickedly wiggled with a jolly and delighted St. Nick, who made the requisite ho-ho-ho appearance.
Partying were O’Neill’s mom, Chris; Lakefront Brewery’s Orlando Segura; Deanne Wecker, Lee’s Luxury Lounge owner; Jeff McClusky; Sarah Jonas and Cameryne Roberts, Caf?uLu owners; Kimberly Bunker; Shannon Palmer; Metavante’s Lisa Price and Paul Sweeney of PS Capital Partners.
More Cheer: WPR’s “Simply Folk” held a fund-raiser at the Coffee House that highlighted area musicians. Setting the tone, WPR’s Ben Merens demonstrated some fine licks of “Ruby Tuesday” on his acoustic guitar, as well as his original “Let it Go.” Carol Alvarez of WholeBody Balance & Center provided massages as her fianc?Lil’ Rev, showcased his harmonica, guitar, banjo and mandolin talents. Also performing were veteran folk singer Larry Penn and Joe Holland, who doubled as the night’s sound manager. The Madison host of “Simply Folk,” Tom Martin-Erickson, was fogged in and could not attend.
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The audience included Mud River Lee of the Bluegrass Orchestra; Gary Cone, whose grandmother, Agnes Ziedler, helped found the Coffee House; Coffee House volunteer Lyn Flynn and program coordinator/show hostess Sandy Weisto; and John Anderson, who was busy taking photos of lap sitters with appropriately bewhiskered Santa (aka David HB Drake).
Holiday Happenings: A whirlwind of holiday parties kept B&D in fine spirits. Among them was the annual bash of Mary Louise Mussoline, Jim Cope and daughters Madeline and Margaret, where their living room transformed into a dance lounge. Judi Selle and Sandy Wright arrived from Arkansas; locals included Louis Fortis; Marcia Sullivan and Tor Forumo; Kris and Tassi DeFelice; Pat Curley and Anne DeLeo; Patricia Hoben and Charlie Carter; Mitty Ledisma; Amy Goldberg; and Jean Berens and Scot Dragan.
Bartending was Miles Fabishak, whose UW-Milwaukee senior thesis was displayed at the Inova/Kenilworth building. His installation included cameras and a processed video feed transposed to a large ball dangling from a wire strung across a darkened room.
Mary Ritchie and Tom Cunningham, plus their daughter Isabel, home from Toronto, held their 32nd-annual Christmas party, where a festive crowd enjoyed a jeroboam of Mumm, signature beef stew and can’t-stop-eating-them holiday cookies. Trisha and Russ Dabrowski and 10-yearold son Henry, Sally Duffy and Paul Tilleman; Richard Kayo and Susan Anthony; Anne Booth and Charles Trainer; Melissa Mooney and Phil Schultz; and Todd Schlenker and Sue Boly were among those in the holiday spirit.
Over at Hinterland, the trendy new gastropub/ lounge, Kyle Cherek celebrated his 30-something birthday, with friends donating to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Dianna Milling took a break from studying for her MCAT and came up from Chicago; Frank Nicotera, COO and general counsel for World Festivals, enjoyed the evening, as did soon-to-tie-the-knot Tonya Buhs and Michael Luder; Sandy Sanders, Walker’s Point Maritime Savings Bank branch manager, and her daughter, Carrie, in from L.A. for the holidays; Sam Vinz, just back from London; Info Magazine cover girl Jemme Hartwig; husband and wife Doug Johnson and Aine McMenamin, owners of the McMenamin Irish Dance Academy; and state Rep. Pedro Colon, taking a breather from his city attorney campaign.
A holiday open house at the East Side home of Nancy Murphy and Steven Rosenberry festively featured a slew of Santa figures, with delicacies by International Food on Capitol Drive. Among the crowd were hairstylist Gail Grider and her husband, Nick, of the Love Monkeys, who brought their friend Janine Hedges, now teaching in Venezuela; Ned and Luanne Schiff; Holly Nannis; and Tee Gee and Alan Levy.
Judy Shane and Mary Kellner celebrated the completion of their Ed.D. doctorates in Leadership Learning and Service at a party hosted by husbands Don Shane and Ted Kellner, along with children Kristin Kellner, Laura and Bart Lueck, Carly King, and Liz and Casey Shane. Well-wishers included Marge and Steve Laughlin; Jan and Tom Spero; Don Wallace and Mary Pat Rose; Holly and Peter Helf; Linda and Barry Allen and Stritch professors Donna Recht, Nancy Blair and Kris Hipp.
A Little Lass: Photographer Barry Burns and his wife, Amy, are thrilled with the new member of their clan, Sarah Marellyn Langlas Burns, born Dec. 21. In true Scottish tradition, Barry cut the baby’s cord with his sgian dubh, a ceremonial knife. Sarah was then bathed and bundled in Barry’s family tartan.
If you have any tips for Boris and Doris, contact them at borisanddorisott@aol.com. Their next column will appear in the Jan. 17 issue of the Shepherd.
