Sammy Hagar is life of the party
Fashion designer John Varvatos and his invited guests opened their wallets to the tune of $800,000 to benefit Stuart House, a program of the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center, in April.
While that’s an impressive amount by any stretch, it represents the lowest initial tally for the annual fundraiser since 2012. The superstitious set might blame an unlucky number (this was the event’s 13th year), though it more likely was an unintended Coachella chill — because the April 17 fundraiser fell during the first weekend of the desert music festival.
The on-site live auction, which was hosted by Bill Bellamy in a tented space outside Varvatos’ West Hollywood boutique, had an estimated crowd of more than 1,500 bidding on experiences such as going on a $10,000 New York City shopping spree with Varvatos himself (two lots were snapped up at $17,500 each), having LeVar Burton (of “Reading Rainbow” fame) visit the children’s school of one’s choice (a $3,500 value, it gaveled out at $1,600) and a professional dog-focused photo session with renowned rescue dog photographer Frank Bruynbroek, worth $4,500, that went for the bargain price of $1,750.
The lackluster live auction (at least compared with previous seasons) was followed by a considerably more lively musical performance by Sammy Hagar, accompanied by Michael Anthony, Chad Smith and Vic Johnson.
After kicking things off with “I Can’t Drive 55,” Hagar tried to explain the genesis of his odds-and-ends musical supergroup.
“We’re not a band,” he told the crowd. “But we’re in the same bands together — which sort of makes us mongrels. So tonight, we’re the Mongrels!”
Notable attendees spotted in the crowd at the Chrysler- and Hasbro-sponsored event included Jeremy Piven, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jesse Metcalfe, Tony Goldwyn, Melina Kanakaredes and Tommy Chong.
There still is a chance that this year’s event can top $1 million in raised funds — as it has the last two years — thanks to an online auction component that’s accepting bids for one-of-a-kind items and experiences (flying on KISS’ private jet and getting Slash’s autographed top hat to name two) at www.charitybuzz.com/support/StuartHouse days.