Sipping for a Cause: Friends of Kyle’s Korner at the Reiman Center for Grieving Children, Teens and Their Families tasted prime vintages at their sixth annual wine tasting. Center namesakes Bobbi and Roy Reiman were among the guests at the University Club soiree.

New board member Joe Alioto and his wife, Dawnia, brought a contingent of friends, including Judge Bill Brash and his wife, Ruth, Judge Ralph Ramirez and his wife, Renee, Judge Marshall Murray, Milwaukee County Court Commissioner David Sweet, attorney Maura McMahon, and Father John Belmonte, Marquette University High School principal.

The center’s development director, Kate Dineen, and director of programs, Linda Linscott, were appreciative of the hard work put in by the many volunteers and board members, including child psychologist Dave Cipriano; Cynthia Nye, her husband, Harold, and their daughter Debbie, with her husband, Tom Heinze; plus Maureen Modlinski; Jim and Faye Altstadt; and Kathy Blake Carey of NML circulating with her husband, Dan, and parents Mary Alice and Jim Blake. Holly Nygro and her sister Abbey Paprocki performed desk duty. The evening’s emcee, Patty Mueller, owns the Idea Factory with her husband, John. Dennis Kramer from Wauwatosa’s Vino 100 supplied the wines. 

Style Plus: The sixth annual Gilda’s Club “Show of Support” at the Hilton featured a top-notch style show with models who are living with cancer. Participants, escorted by their favorite support person(s), were dressed to the nines in outfits from Faye’s, Harleys, Boutique Larrieux and other shops. Fox 6’s Kim Murphy and the irrepressible Ted Perry, appearing initially in his skivvies, were charming emcees and related moving stories about the models and their journeys.  

Among them were Irish Fest President Chuck Ward, with his sister and supporter Colleen Kennedy, and a huge Ward clan, plus Barry Stapleton, head of the Ward Irish Music Archives; Ruth Prus with her adorable 5-year-old grandson Jaiden Salgado; and Mary Cobb with her husband, Bill, there with pal Elizabeth D’Acquisto of Salone. The tallest model was David Rasmussen, president and tallest member of the Tall Club of Milwaukee, measuring in at 5 feet 28 inches, with his mother, June. Jill Fisher modeled with her children Elise, Jenny and Charlie and gave a beautiful tribute to her mom, “Molly.”

Co-chairs Pam and Jeff Lueken from NML thanked the many volunteers. The style show was organized by Abbey Johansen, there with her fiancé, John Robinson, parents Ben and Chris Johansen from Cedarburg, and sister Jenny, a personal chef. Also in the crowd were Arlene Wesson, an original Gilda’s board member, and volunteers Katie Lynch, Stacey Hoffenberg and Julie Craig.

Political Goings-on: A fund-raiser for 87th District Assembly Democratic candidate Dana Schultz was hosted by Jackie Boynton, Peter McAvoy, Michael Rosen and Glorie Salas at the Boynton/McAvoy digs. Schultz, a former UW-Milwaukee basketball star and 9to5 Milwaukee organizer, now runs a CSA in Medford.

Among Schultz’s supporters were state Rep. Sandy Pasch; Rep. Jon Richards and his adorable toddler son, Alex; Milwaukee County Supervisor Chris Larson along with his aide Jonathan Brostoff and Brostoff’s girlfriend, Diana Vang; Alderman Nik Kovac; Grace Fuhr; Sangita Nayak, now in Montessori teacher training; Vickie Strattner of the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future; and Jim Carpenter, MATC economics instructor. 

Slick Redo: B&D stopped by NSB Bar & Grill (formerly North Shore Bistro), half its former size with a stunning new look by designer Andrea Brennan. Among nearby diners were birthday girl Dana Mueller, celebrating her almost-60 with Arnie Peltz, Robert Peter, Jerry and Phyllis Brenowitz,and Jimmy and Robin Swernoff. Executive chef Mike Wolf’s right-on menu and Lawrence Lococo’s impeccable service made for a laid-back night.

Indigestion: Speed eaters descended upon Milwaukee’s Tres Hermanos and Whitefish Bay’s El Guapo to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. At Tres Hermanos, contestants were given three minutes to consume multitudinous jalapeño peppers. Officiating was Neil White, executive director at Lincoln Village Business Association, helped by Committee Coordinator Jim Tarantino, who distributed Tums antacids.

Downing 12 jalapeños each made for a tie between first-timer Andrew Dolinger, new to Milwaukee from Altoona, Penn., and Gail Thompson, cheered on by pal Mary Suminski. Eric Griswold, co-chair of Riverwest Neighborhood Association, was runner-up, there with nurse Kate Brusky, who also competed. Playing traditional Mexican music, Salvador Villanueva warmed up the crowd, which included Ramon Orozco, owner of Tres Hermanos, Lindsay Marx and restaurant regulars Steve and Jodie Szklarski.

Hosted by owners Marija and Ryan Whitman, El Guapo was jumping with outdoor music by Andy & Rachel. Lee Shapiro emceed the contest to see who could gobble three tacos the fastest. Winner was Shaun Fulford, taking the title with a mark of one minute, 44 seconds. Kreg Guran came in second, cheered along by his wife, Kelly, and Matt Moser placed third. Milwaukee Wave head coach Keith Tozer was among the competitors.

Partiers included Winkie’s John Stuhlmacher, his wife, Krisi, and son Riley, age 3; Josh Welsh and daughter Taylor; Shorewest Realtor Kate Kenlay and family; and Chris Jillings, celebrating the completion of his MBA from UW-Madison, there with his wife, Gayle. 

If you have any tips for Boris and Doris, contact them at borisanddorisott@aol.com. Their next column will appear in the June 3 issue of the Shepherd.