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On Tuesday, March 23, The Women’s Guild of the New Orleans Opera Association hosted their 26th annual Mad Hatters luncheon and fashion show. “Mad Hatters Go ’Round the World” took place in the Grand Ballroom at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.
Tea partiers were welcomed by Bernard Jaffe M.D. as the Mad Hatter, Rebecca Metzinger M.D. as Alice, Val Killion as the Queen of Hearts, Barbara Heard as the March Hare and Julie Habetz as the Cheshire Cat. Cheery tulips were the centerpieces as guests dined on beef tenderloin with mushrooms and julienne vegetables, crisp salad and chocolate tulip cups of mango mousse.
Saks Fifth Avenue provided gift bags to all and organized the fashion show. Special guest models joined the professional models on the runway including Stephanie Bruno, Christine Le Blanc, Dr. Ralph Lupin – The Honorary Consul General of Romania – and wife Pam.
A lot more was in store for the afternoon including a raffle for an oil painting of Wonderland characters by Frederick Guess and silent and hat auctions. The hat contest was judged by Bev Church, Martin Covert, David Cuthbert, Carolyn Elder, Angela Hill and Peggy Scott Laborde. Winning hats topped the brains of Rosemary Austin, Margarita Bergen, Yolanda Doucette, Celeste Judell, Jean Rice, Kathy Singleton, and Maureen Evans’ nine-member “Flight of Fancy.”
Event Co-Chairs Celeste Judell and Irene Klinger hobnobbed with Women’s Guild President Gloria Darlak with husband Dr. Joe; Kenneth and Jennifer Rabalais, hosts of the patron party; auction organizers Sabrina Strander and Sandra Wilson; Philip Lorio, Honorary Consul of Austria; and James Sutterfield, Honorary Consul of St. Vincent and The Grenadines.
