"The AZ Insider" with Kathy Shayna Shocket: Get the inside scoop on Arizona's social scene and celebrity news.
Shocking. A puppy mill party in Paradise Valley...breaking news of Childhelp’s Nobel Peace Prize nomination... celebrities in town...and more.
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Tony award winning actor Harvey Fierstein set a fire in the Valley. No, not the one in Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard’s garage this week. That fire, with witnesses reporting 40 foot shooting flames, was started from an electrical malfunction of a refrigerator and the outlet.
Harvey – (whom I loved in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway and in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire, among his other roles) ignited contrasting emotions at the Night for Life Gala, the benefit for the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS. The talented funny man with the gravel voice who led the evening’s festivities- had the 680 guests laughing and crying.
“He spoke from his heart, telling the stories of how many actors that have died from HIV/AIDS,” notes Lisa Molina, pictured above hugging Harvey during rehearsal. Harvey has been a very vocal and influential ambassador for HIV/AIDS prevention.
“Harvey told me that half the cast from La Cage aux Folles died from HIV/AIDS and that three of his dear friend’s ashes are buried on his farm property in rural Connecticut,” added Lisa who co-chaired the event at the Phoenician with Tom Betz. It raised an impressive $400,000.
About $6,000 of that was collected by the actual drag queens roaming the room with ceramic piggy banks – asking people for cash donations.
By the way…Lisa’s husband jeweler Al Molina, just returned from Florida where he gave the commencement speech at Saint Leo University. His son Derek was one of the graduates, receiving his diploma on stage from Al who sits on the University’s board of trustees.
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Paradise Valley Women Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
The AZ Insider is breaking this story… Two Paradise Valley women have been nominated for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize! And it’s the fourth such nomination for Sara O’Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, who founded Childhelp USA, The non-profit organization dedicated to the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect.
“We are so proud that the international organization is based in Scottsdale and its award winning work of its advocacy center in Phoenix, which is one of Childhelp’s four advocacy centers in the country, “said Governor Jan Brewer. The governor joined the women for Childhelp’s 50th anniversary fundraising dinner of 600 guests last week in San Diego on the USS Midway aircraft carrier.
In a dramatic grand entrance, serenaded by a Marine Corp band, the governor (security detail), O’Meara and Fedderson arrived by Navy helicopter, landing on the carrier’s deck. The helicopter escort from San Diego’s Montgomery Field to the event was in honor of O’Meara and Fedderson’s involvement with the military in the 50’s and 70’s, helping to save the lives of orphaned children in Vietnam and Korea.
Those polka dot outfits the women are wearing pictured above with the Governor? They are duplicates of their attire on the USO tours in the late 50’s while entertaining the troops in Korea and Japan.
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Watch the Dog Whisperer- May 15!
If you can’t watch the Dog Whisperer on May 15 at 2 p.m., record it. Don’t miss this – it’s a rerun of the series on National Geographic channel in which Cesar Millan takes on the horrors of the puppy mills. Cesar went undercover with Last Chance for Animals – (LCA) and its founder Chris De Rose.
Chris was just in town at a gathering at Dr. Deborah Wilson’s Paradise Valley home. He’s pictured below with Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and a dog rescued from a raid in Colorado puppy mill two months ago, now recovering from successful surgery and being fostered by a Scottsdale family.
Chris has been going undercover for years, investigating puppy mills, the large operations which breed domestic animals for sale as pets. On the May 8 and then 15th episode of the Dog Whisperer show, Cesar addresses the need to help rehab these dogs who have never known a life outside the mills, many raised in cages with overcrowding and deplorable conditions. Of LCA Cesar says, “They do the physical rescue, I do the psychological rescue.. together it is a team!”
About 120 people turned out for the meeting, hosted by Phoenix Animal Care Coalition, Goddard noted that the meeting helped educate him about the specifics of puppy mills. “Many people don’t know that the puppy they are buying is a product of that extraordinarily vicious- and I believe criminal – kind of business,” he said. Congressman John Shadegg was also there.
Pictured above is Bari Mears, founder of the non profit PACC with Theresa Strader, a pediatric oncology nurse from Colorado who founded National Mill Dog Rescue. She helped rescue the dog pictured above from the Colorado puppy mill and arranged for it along with others to be brought to the Arizona Chihuahua Rescue in Phoenix. The dog rescued from the puppy mill is recovering fine after the surgeries --- thanks to the expertise and TLC of vet Dr. Nancy McEachern of Sundance Animal Hospital.
At that meeting, Dr. Deborah Wilson chatted with veterinarian Dr. Josh Winston, about the dog saved from a euthanasia list (pictured above).
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Palmina Leone Concept Cosmetics Grand Opening
About 100 people turned out for makeup artist Mary Fennello’s opening of her new Phoenix location of Palmina Leone Concept Cosmetics. Mary, (pictured above admiring a photo of she and Janet Napolitano ) who’s worked on the sets of movies, and the makeup of stars such as Lisa Kudrow and Barry Bonds, also lists Governor Janet Napolitano, now the United States Secretary of Homeland Security - as a long time client. Mary will be specializing in make overs at her charming homey new location.
Kathy Shayna Shocket is a Phoenix based writer. If you have a good item for The AZ Insider, you can email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
