Mod and Cool on a Hot Day: AIDS Council Garden Party

Scott Baldinger reports from Kinderhook. The modern architecture of the self-designed home of designer Lucien Rees Roberts and architect Steven Harris (the latter pictured at left with a painting of grandma Maddie Gallow Hill Harris), served as the cool backdrop on a hot and humid Sunday, September 1, for the 2013 Columbia County Garden Party, a benefit for the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York. The goal for this year's festivities was to help 105 children affected by HIV/AIDS, with donations paying for backpacks, school supplies, or new clothing for their first day back to school; the turnout meant not only a great help to kids in need but also, no doubt, a large boon to Staples. The groaning tables of food provided by Rick Orlando's New World Catering was served in a huge tent that provided refuge from a sudden deluge midway in the proceedings; the sudden storm didn’t last long and barely put a damper on an auction and the remainder of the jam-packed proceedings.

Keith and AIDS Council Board member, Kitt Winslow; ACNENY directors Shelley Piscitella, Nancy Fisher, and Michele McLeod.

Stephen King, television producer Tom Leonardis, Peter Bevaqua, Jack Herzberg, and Keith Harris.

Tim Legg and Doug Wingo; Renate and Vince Varrialie, with host Lucien Rees Roberts.

' AIDS Council Board Member Gary Redhead and Dave Chico; ACNENY President Mark Ryan, Halstead realtor Nancy Horowitz Felcetto, and Michelle McClave.

The event's Honorary Chair, State Assembly member Didi Barrett, and David Barrett; designer Geoff Howell and artist Brian Kenny.

ACNENY volunteer Jeane Miller and Kimberly Usewicz; Qaudrille Fabric Outlet's John Knott, Peggy Lampman realtor Rick Rector, and NYU professor David Voorhees.