Forty-six years of raising funds and finding cures, the Ladies Leukemia League Inc. held their annual “Fete de Noel” in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Grand Ballroom. More than 1,100 attendees joined in the festivities.
Rosalie Edwards and Anne Favret presented $125,000 in grants to Alessandra Ferrajoli MD, Hua Lu MD, PhD and Weiguo Zhang MD, PhD. Also in attendance were young people fighting cancer: Emily Peters, Kay Colten and Brenda Stackhouse.
Socializing was the order of the day as the assembled enjoyed cocktails followed by lunch. President of LLL, Carolyn Escher, welcomed the festively clad group. Cathy Wattigney served as Chair, with Terri Klor and Meb Cefalu as Co-Chairs, and Camille Whitworth of WDSU-TV served as Mistress of Ceremonies. An annual highlight, the ceiling-height Christmas tree sparkled to life as the “Light the Tree of Hope” donor names were read.
The opening ceremony was followed by the Dillard’s fashion show, “The Art of Fashion.” The upbeat show featured scenes including: Abstract Imagination, Floral Fantasies, Hippie Harmony, Jewels of the Jungle, Bright Fight for the Cure, Pop of Art—Black and White, Art Deco and All That Jazz and The Royals. Mr. Bingle and Santa joined the models on stage for a show-stopping ending. Entertainment before and during the show was T-Ray on his violin. Additionally, there were 119 silent auction items, door prizes and raffles including vacation packages, jewelry and shopping sprees.
EVENT AT A GLANCE
What: “Fete de Noel,” benefiting Ladies Leukemia League
When: Friday, December 5
Where: Hilton Riverside New Orleans
