Muy Bien! Another Successful Benefit for the Books

Reprinted from the Montecito Journal
BY RICHARD MINEYARDS

Spain reigned at Laguna Blanca’s annual gala when 272 guests descended on the Bacara, hoping to raise over $500,000 for the school, which has campuses in Montecito and Hope Ranch.

The Viva Laguna! Feria de Sevilla bash, co-chaired by Bert and Belle Regeer, featured Gatling gun paced auctioneer Mark Schustrin selling off an Aladdin’s cave of lots, including stays in Bend, Oregon, a beachfront estate in Kauai, a stay at the Mandarin  Oriental in Barcelona, a house in Isla Navidad, Mexico, a week in Tuveuni, Fiji, and a private tour of former Tonight Show host Jay Leno’s extensive $350 million car collection.

Flamenco performers from the Zermeno Dance Academy in Goleta also added to the vibrant Iberian atmosphere.

Laguna faculty member and 2002 alumnus Blake Dorfman, a former colleague when i scribed at the News-Press, emceed the bustling beano after guests, many in fiesta attire, quaffed sangrias and noshed on paella cooked in a huge vat by Benjamin and Carol Schuster of Santa Barbara Paella Catering.

Among the tidal wave of supporters were actress Finola Hughes and Russell Young, Richard and Nora Scheinberg, Robert and Paige Miller, Kim and Tammy Hughes, Michael and Julie Davenport, and Christopher and Jeanette Hahn.