Earlier this month I was asked to photograph the “release party” for Bask magazine, a magazine I have been assisting Tony Florez with recently. Tony was already booked at Pelican Hill so he asked me to cover the event. I arrived at the location of the party, the Balboa Beach Club in Newport Beach, and to make a long story short, no one there had any idea what party I was talking about. Well, after a few phone calls we figured out that the event was actually the Beckstrand Cancer Foundation annual fundraiser, “The Diamond and Pearl Ball 2010”, and this year’s theme was “An Evening in Havana”. I was there to cover the fundraiser for Bask Magazine!
Topping the guest list this year was the new national spokesperson for the foundation, Eva La Rue. Currently, Eva portrays Natalia Boa Vista on CSI Miami and previously she portrayed Dr. Maria Santos Grey on the daytime soap opera All My Children.
The event started out with a walk down the red carpet, also covered by ABC news out of Los Angeles for their new show “On The Red Carpet” which airs on Saturday nights. The guests then made their way to the ballroom, which was decorated to the hilt portraying a nightclub that would have made Ricky Ricardo proud! The whole event was produced and directed by Kimberly DuBois of G-Force Production Company, she really did a great job.
During dinner service auctions were held to raise money for the foundation, later it was report that they raised more than 1.1 million dollars.
Renetta Caya (Gala Chair) Oday Shakar (Dress Designer to the stars) Eva La Rue, George O'Connell (Connell Family Foundation, Presenting Sponsor)
Renetta Caya, Oday Shakar, and Eva La Rue
An evening in Havana,
Even the waiters where dressed in period attire,
And the entertainment was amazing!
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