Trails Forever Dinner raises $1.3 million for Golden Gate National Parks.
Atop the California Coastal Trail in Presidio National Park, wild winds whipped through a stalwart phalanx of Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy supporters.
But 450 savvy guests at the 14th Trails Forever Dinner, always prepared for the great outdoors, gamely wrapped themselves in down vests, jeans and wool wraps. They also had the good luck to duck inside Building 1648 for a VIP tour of “Home Land Security” with gallerist Cheryl Haines.
This beloved “trail chic” soiree, led by co-chairs Julie Flynn and Stephanie
Mellin, finally landed inside a clear, woodsy-styled tent where McCalls Catering served up a hearty supper. And auctioneer extraordinaire Mark Buell helped raise a hefty $1.3 million for Golden Gate National Parks infrastructure programs and earmarked $100K for parks conservancy academic internships.
The evening also introduced new Presidio Trust CEO Jean Fraser; bid adieu to recently retired Golden Gate National Recreation Area spokesman Howard
Levitt; and honored Ira Hirschfield, who retires at year’s end after 28 years of leading the Haas Fund.
That generous fund, established by the late philanthropists Evelyn and Walter
Haas Jr., has, among its many multimillion-dollar contributions, gifted some $35
million to Presidio Park projects, the crown jewel of which is Crissy Field.
Parks conservancy director Greg Moore recalled the early days as organizers pondered how to make the Presidio’s abandoned military lands thrive as a national park. So he was delighted to surprise Hirschfield with a tribute and authentic park ranger hat.
“Tonight we honor someone who’s vision and support has been fundamental to making the Presidio the beloved place it is today,” toasted Moore. “He is a singular leader who deserves our gratitude: Ira Hirschfield understood the Presidio’s transformation was not just about the physical place but about the people we reach and serve, especially people who need our parks the most.”
Fall frolic: The invite for the recent ODC fundraiser in Petaluma at McEvoy Ranch was titled “Fall for Art.” However, the thermometer at this al fresco fete was decidedly in the red — and hovering near a vernal-like high of 98 degrees.
Thankfully, umbrellas dotted this spectacular natural setting, providing relief for some 225 devoted dance fans who marveled at the expert ODC dancers gamely giving it their all on a sizzling outdoor stage.
Hosted by Chronicle Books publisher Nion McEvoy and his partner, Leslie
Berriman, the leisurely afternoon also featured a delish Tasha DeSerio lunch and live auction that raised more than $330K for the ODC Youth & Teen Scholarship Fund and program development by ODC choreographers Brenda Way, KT Nelson and Kimi Okada.
Members of this renowned contemporary dance company performed an excerpt from “Boulders and Bones,” a Way-Okada work inspired by environmental sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, who crafted a large boulder as the central image in the staged piece.
“What we really love in Andy’s work is its ephemeral nature,” explained ODC founder-artistic director Brenda Way. “You put leaves on a sculpted tree and they blow away, which is very analogous to dance, too.
“So we were surprised when Andy said his sculpted boulder would last forever,” she continued, with a laugh. “It felt very literal, and we at ODC are not literal. So we turned to process. And our dancers express the enjoyment of that creative process.”
Talking points: Just as Donald Trump began creeping behind Hillary Clinton onstage during the recent presidential debate, here on the far Left Coast, authorarts philanthropist Robert Mailer Anderson set SFJazz’s Joe Henderson Lab
stage with his own cast of decidedly cooler cats.
“This is sort of an old-school, art, hoedowny kinda North Beach beatnik gettogether,” Anderson said of the gathering, which, fittingly, included pours of bourbon.
Co-hosted by Litquake, Green Apple Books and Molotov Editions Press, Anderson presented a table reading of his first play, “The Death of Teddy Ballgame,” which unspools amid a post-apocalyptic world inside Caffe Trieste, the nerve center for North Beach, which Anderson used to live above in an SRO.
Onstage, speaking roles were doled out to Anderson pals Primus’ Les Claypool, noir author Domenic Stansberry, SFJazz Photographer Laureate Jim Goldberg and SFJazz drummer Obed Calvaire, in his acting debut. YBCA Chief of Civic Engagment Jonathan Moscone provided direction as the SFJazz Collective accompanied with soulful sounds.
“This is the first play I’ve ever written, and maybe the last,” joked Anderson. “We’re going to do a few scenes from it as opposed to having a puppet show of the debate. I don’t know which one is going to be more depressing.”