Supporting Great Park in high fashion

The Mariposa restaurant at Neiman Marcus, Fashion Island was the setting for a power lunch hosted by Ariela Shani, vice president and general manager of Neiman’s.

Shani joined O.C. activists Teddie Ray and Janet Ray for a kick-off luncheon on behalf of the Great Park Conservancy. Their goal is to organize local participants to generate funds earmarked for support of the Orange County Great Park, a section of some 1,300 acres of land in the center of the former El Toro Marine Base. The land has been donated by Lennar Development as part of its deal with the U.S. Navy. Lennar will provide an additional $401 million to build the infrastructure of the Great Park. Ultimately the land will be surrounded by residential and commercial development.

Sister-in-laws Teddie and Janet Ray are co-chairwomen of the campaign effort to turn the great park into what they hope will be the Jewel of Orange County. The Ray family is also involved in the development of the land.

To launch the campaign, special guest speaker Lydia Thomas, director of the Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy, New York City, addressed the luncheon on the responsibilities and the rewards of managing a major urban park.

For more information about the Great Park Conservancy visit www.orangecountygreatpark.org.

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In conjunction with the recent Diamond and Pearl Ball in Newport Beach benefiting the Beckstrand Cancer Foundation, Saks Fifth Avenue hosted the 2005 Key to the Cure at South Coast Plaza.

The recent shopping weekend at Saks was launched with a gala in-store reception sponsored in part by local dining establishments serving gourmet fare as Vox Vodka and Veuve Clicqout champagne flowed.

Some $20,000 was raised for the Beckstrand Cancer Foundation.

The Key to a Cure platform is a women’s cancer initiative founded in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation and its Women’s Cancer Research Fund. Academy winning actress Hilary Swank serves as the current ambassador for the national campaign.

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Newport socialite Cerise Jadwin-Feeley introduced her escort Rudolph Dew to the crowd this week at a Morton’s restaurant gathering on behalf of Candlelight Concert and the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

“I’d like you to meet Rudy ... my fiance,” said Jadwin-Feeley, sporting an elegant ruby and diamond engagement ring.

Dew, of Orange and Coronado, is the president and chief executive of American Career Firms of North America, a billion-dollar human resources industry. Dew has also been a guest lecturer at such universities as USC, UCLA, Princeton, Harvard and more. He is the father of two grown sons, Michael and David, and the grandfather of three grandchildren: Adam, Bryant and Conner.

Jadwin-Feeley is the mother of a teenage daughter Tara Claire, and is an executive with Heritage Escrow based in Newport Beach.

No wedding date has been set.

“I enjoy the period of courting,” Jadwin-Feeley said. “He’s a wonderful guy, and I’m a lucky girl.”

* THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.