Naples teaches Hollywood a charity lesson

By Janine Zeitlin (Contact)

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Earlier Friday, one of the more than 300 workers who helped ready the 16,000-some square-foot North Naples home checked out a name card.

Mary Susan and J.D. and their two sons, Hurst, 8, and Denver, 10, moved into the home just last week. Preparations have been whirling since.

"Jackson," it reads among red, green and blue Waterford crystal goblets and silver mint julep cups.

"Ms. Clinton, is that who I think it is?" asked the young worker, his shoes covered with paper so as to not muss the marble floors imported from Spain.

Naples residents clinked glasses with Hollywood at the home of Mary Susan and J.D. Clinton on Friday night.

Almost 40 guests sipped Ruinart Champagne from France, while the hosts who had hustled to ready their home for the dinner mingled.

James Keach, producer of "Walk the Line," which won Best musical or comedy at the Golden Globe awards, said Hollywood could learn a lot from the Naples Winter Wine Festival.

"I just wish people in Hollywood would realize what it means to 'step up' like these people," Keach said. "You don't see anything like this at a charity event."

is wife, Jane Seymour, was commissioned by the festival to create seven pieces around a circus theme. This is Seymour's third year at the festival.

"I'm just so impressed by what they do," she said.

Seymour, who wore a black and white gown designed by Kevan Hall, paused to kiss hostess Mary Susan Clinton on the cheek and admired her chocolate Vera Wang gown.

"Don't you look beautiful," Seymour said.

Denise Cobb, a festival trustee and former CNN anchor, marveled at how the home came together and how the wine festival improves each time.

"It's amazing to me, it can get better every year," she said. "It sounds like a cliché, but it amazes all of us."

What's her favorite thing to do with wine?

She smiled and swirled her glass of 2000 Vérité Le Désir.

"Smell it, taste it and drink the whole thing," Cobb said.

The singer and three-piece band beckoned guests from poolside shortly after 8 p.m. to a grand entryway where the table was set with red and gold napkins.

Servers filed in with small French appetizers shortly before 8:30 p.m., a crab parfait while Shawn McClain and a pair of chefs from his Chicago restaurants sprinkled fresh chives around Japanese hamachi, the first course.

The chefs brought seven boxes of fresh food that they checked on their flight from Chicago to Fort Myers.

During the dinner, the hostess planned a surprise — a Broadway singer to belt out a song from The Phantom of the Opera from an upstairs Juliet balcony.

With a cup of coffee that's been fueling the final stretch, Mary Susan Clinton, the head of an international documentary company, chuckled.

She's been up since 6 a.m.

"No, but at this wine festival nothing will surprise me," she said.

Landscapers were still laying sod two hours before the guests arrived.

Actually, it's Jess Jackson, who created Kendall-Jackson with his wife, Barbara Banke. They're also vintner of the dinner.

The Clintons planned for 38 guests, which also included Michael Gelman, producer of "Live with Regis and Kelly."

Seymour and Keach, the producer of the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, stayed in the guest suite with a silver bedspread and a large shell filled with ocean-scented bath salts in the bathroom.

The couple planned to leave Naples early Sunday for Screen Actors Guild Awards. Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix, the stars of "Walk the Line" are nominated.

Earlier in the day, Mary Susan checked gift bags with the tag: "Sweet Dreams" near the mahogany doors imported from Honduras with the extra touch: a black toile bag with V8, Grey Goose vodka, antacid and aspirin.

Near the pool, the owner of Twigs, a Naples florist, was eyeing his orchid arrangement while using some of the 2,000 orchid stems for the party he planned to complement the antiques and dark wood of the home.

Her sons played video games in a living room.

"It's been a labor of love, like a family," Mary Susan said. "It's all coming together magically".

Actress Jane Seymour, right, talks about her artwork with Richard Crawford, from left, Lori Sharp, and Rita Scott during the cocktail hour of the Naples Winter Wine Festival dinner at the home of J.D. and Mary Susan Clinton Friday evening, January 27.

Brad Locke from Ridgeway Bar and Grill in Naples folds napkins as workers prepare for the Naples Winter Wine Festival dinner at the home of J.D. and Mary Susan Clinton Friday afternoon, January 27.

John Sprinkle from Twigs in Naples prepares flower arrangements as workers prepare for the Naples Winter Wine Festival dinner at the home of J.D. and Mary Susan Clinton Friday afternoon, January 27.

Bottles of wine in the wine cellar of J.D. and Mary Susan Clinton before the start of their Naples Winter Wine Festival dinner Friday afternoon, January 27.

Housekeeper Glada Zaguirre gets the house ready for the Naples Winter Wine Festival dinner at the home of J.D. and Mary Susan Clinton Friday afternon, January 27.

Guests arrive for the Naples Winter Wine Festival dinner at the home of J.D. and Mary Susan Clinton Friday evening, January 27.

Darin Bieck from Spring in Chicago works on appetizers for the Naples Winter Wine Festival dinner at the home of J.D. and Mary Susan Clinton Friday evening, January 27.

Alan and Heidi Farrugia, center, of Naples, look for their seats during the cocktail hour of the Naples Winter Wine Festival dinner at the home of J.D. and Mary Susan Clinton Friday evening, January 27.