Muckety-mucks take to water at fundraiser

With Jimmy Buffett in the house, there was no shortage of Margaritaville Tequila or LandShark Lager to toast 25 years of the Everglades Foundation. But when it came time to raise glasses Saturday night, guests in the ballroom of the Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla., sipped something else.

“Florida drinking water, everyone?” said Mary Barley, a past chairwoman of the foundation, as Wall Street’s elite — including Christine and Steve Schwarzman (left), Marie-Josee and Henry Kravis, Sonia and Paul Tudor Jones, Thomas Peterffy, Bill Koch and Ken Langone — took a few gulps.

“It’s not bad, is it?” Barley added. “Just think if you didn’t have it!”

Getting billionaires to try the tap water is one way the foundation gets its message across.

Protecting threatened species and swampy habitats sounds important; maintaining clean drinking water for 8 million people, even more so.

It’s personal and concerns a public resource everyone takes for granted, even as pollution and hurricanes like Irma pose threats.

That night raised more than $3 million for the Everglades Foundation with Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops, serving as honorary chairman, and tickets starting at $1,250.

Taking the “parrothead posh” dress code seriously, Blackstone Group CEO Schwarzman wore a straw hat and neon flower lei as he dug into his first course, a shrimp cocktail served in a coconut.

Hedge-fund manager Joe DiMenna carried around a plush cheeseburger, and Chuck Royce had a plush shark on his head.

The hedge fund manager was also a proud papa, dancing and cheering when his daughter Caroline Jones joined Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band on stage.

The performance was outdoors along the beach, instead of in the ballroom, on a balmy evening that showed off Florida’s winter weather.