Apr 27, 2008

Seniors say goodbye, help school with 'Green'

By Adria Murray / Society Columnist

Like stepping through the looking glass, entering the vast tent situated on the lawn of Atherton's Menlo School campus was like finding yourself in another world, where the flowers talked and danced, a giraffe-like bush walked among the guests, and where the outdoors had wandered inside.

At the April 18 "M on the Green" luncheon and fashion show, benefiting Menlo School's scholarship fund, the ordinary became the extraordinary. Soda and food boxes transformed into purses and backpacks. Candy wrappers were elevated to couture accessories. Cocktail napkins were made of rice. Even 12-year event sponsor Bloomingdale's got in on the action, creating a strapless evening gown using nothing but the store's ubiquitous brown bags and a little imagination. (The dress will be on display at the Stanford Shopping Center Bloomingdale's.)

Jeffrey Adair not only designed the Brown Bag Dress for the finale (modeled by Emily Anderson), he was the director of the afternoon's impressive professional fashion show that featured and saluted the school's 138 graduating seniors.

"This event is really a celebration of our seniors," said event committee member Tracey Avery. "'M on the Green' is taking place on the quad where they have spent the last four years, and signifies that they are moving on to greener pastures."

But as with tradition, these young adults strutted down the runway to raise funds for their underclassmen before taking that fateful walk to receive their diplomas. Dressed in elaborate spring foliage headdresses and summer dresses, tuxedos and evening gowns, and tracksuits and safari-inspired looks, students and parents took the runway wearing more than 230 outfits hand-selected by Adair and the gals from Bloomingdale's.

Show producer Alex Perez and choreographer Jan Chandler did a fine job giving the production an elegant yet vivacious feel. Flashing bright smiles and hot-pink and orange outfits, Menlo mother and production co-chairwoman Lisa Mooring and her daughter Elisabeth were the picture of style and sass.

Modeling eveningwear fashions during the show's "Defying Gravity" finale (featuring several strapless gowns) were daughter/father duos Sloane and Paul Lehman, Hannah and Doug Leone, Ali and Bill Pace, and Christina and Kent Thiry.

Sitting in the center of the action, unmistakable as the event's "fashion crowd" clad in black, were Bloomingdale's own Linette Leong, Liz Beringson and Nancy Lueck, as well as fashion show assistant director Brenda "BB" Bernheim.

Along with the help of sponsors, the event committee and community, co-chairwomen Mikey Hoag and Marie Lehman managed to surpass last year's fundraising grand total, with initial estimates from the luncheon and dinner gala combined totaling more than $350,000.

Not only did "Green" mark a fundraising success for education, but a turning of a new leaf for Menlo's graduating class of 2008. And the send-off couldn't have been a classier affair.


E-mail Adria Murray at amurray@dailynewsgroup.com.