From the Wall Street Journal: The annual benefit for the Everglades Foundation at the Breakers over Presidents Day weekend brings out New York’s power players and big-name singers. Jimmy Buffett of ‘Margaritaville’ fame and Zac Brown come together for a tune.
PALM BEACH, Fla.—They could have had snooze-worthy guests, served terrible food and provided awful entertainment at last weekend’s benefit for the Everglades Foundation.
But the hundreds of guests who attend this casual gala at the Breakers were still excited to be there, because it meant being out of the New York City cold.
That’s the kind of winter it has been.
“It’s snowing right now up there as we speak,” the New York-based music executive and entrepreneur Tommy Mottola said during the cocktail hour, as he headed outside for a drink and a gander at the full moon in the balmy Floridian night.
This party, which takes place in Palm Beach over Presidents Day weekend and brings out some of New York’s biggest power players thanks to the foundation’s board chairman, Paul Tudor Jones, is anything but snooze-worthy.
Each year, it features a full concert. Past artists have included Dave Matthews, Sting and Kenny Chesney. Last year’s entertainment was ZZ Top. This year’s musical guest stars were the Zac Brown Band, the country/folk group out of Atlanta.
Katie Couric, the evening’s master of ceremonies, borrowed a cowboy hat for the occasion, and even she admitted she was thrilled to be “away from one of the snowiest winters on record.”
This auction was “so silent, in fact, that we will only take bids via email,” read the program. That silence served as a counterpoint to the raucous Zac Brown Band, who was eventually joined by the great Jimmy Buffett.
When the band hit the stage, decorated with blue and green lights and eco-friendly water bottles, the Palm Beach guests left the dark-chocolate alligators at their tables, forgot about the snow up north, grabbed their cowboy hats and got ready to rock.