French Heritage Society Kicked Off Gala Season With Festive Cocktails Hosted By Jean Shafiroff

French Heritage Society will host its annual Gala Dinner Dance at a private club in New York City on November 15. This year, the Celestial Ball will celebrate the historic reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral and recognize the role Americans – both philanthropists and artisans – played in its restoration. The festive event will have two honored guests: Odile de Schiétère-Longchampt, interior designer and steadfast champion of FHS and artisans who specialize in French decorative arts, and Hank Silver, the American carpenter who spent a year-and-a-half rebuilding the wooden roof framing of the cathedral’s nave. This black-tie affair will have music and dancing provided by the Bob Hardwick Sound.

On Wednesday, September 25, FHS kicked off its busy gala season with festive cocktails hosted by FHS Board Member and former FHS Gala honoree Jean Shafiroff at her residence. Remarks were given by Jean Shafiroff, as well as FHS Events Chair CeCe Black and FHS Executive Director Jennifer Herlein. New York State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright presented Jean and Martin Shafiroff and the French Heritage Society with certificates of recognition from New York State for their contributions and service to preserving French architectural and cultural legacy both in the United States and France.

Guests included FHS Board Members Jennifer Farrell, Rosann Gutman, and Liz McDermott Barnes, as well as Pauline Argenson and James Demmert, Allison Baroness von Arnim, Susan and Jerry Baker, Bettina Bennett and Gordon Beck, Lee Black, Sharon Bush, Candace Bushnell, Talia Carner, Liliana Cavendish, Yann Coatanlem, Francine Crocker and Dirk Adams, Patricia Cossutta and Puly Rincon, Paul F. Danello and Virginia Loving Pope, Wendy and Robert Federman, Vincent Festa, Silvia Frieser, Elena Gibbs, Julia Haart, Rolf Heitmeyer, Sylvia Hemingway, Gabriella and Vincent Kristov, Stewart F. Lane, Margo Langenberg, John Lutri, Ruth Miller, Pamela Morgan, Deanna Passarelli, Lauren Day Roberts, Anna Rothschild, Michael Gregson Reinert-Sessions, Patricia and Thomas Shiah, Michael Spinks, Hank Stampfl and Todd Burnsed, Andrea Wernick, Preston Wilson, Pamala Wright, Nina Yacavino, among others.