Annual Best Buddies Ball Rolls to a Glitzy Finale

By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 20, 2008

Back before the dinner performances by Kenny G and Cirque du Soleil under purple and teal stage lights in colossal satin-draped tents, before the open bar encircling three stuffed peacocks in an iron gazebo, before Miss Universe and Robert De Niro came to mingle, the Best Buddies Ball was hardly one of Washington's glitziest charity events.

The inaugural benefit two decades ago was just a low-key dinner hosted by a Georgetown undergraduate to support his fledgling charity that would pair people with intellectual disabilities with friends and mentors. The earnest student was Anthony Kennedy Shriver, the dinner party was at his famous parents' Potomac estate, and the rest is history.

Since then, Best Buddies has become a massive international nonprofit organization with 1,300 chapters across the country and on six continents. The annual ball, held at the home of Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, has morphed into one of the hottest galas on Washington's social calendar, attracting politicians and celebrities, industry titans and technology moguls, as well as dozens from the Kennedy clan.

On Saturday night, more than 900 guests gathered in black tie under backyard tents at the Shriver estate and bade farewell in opulent fashion to the Best Buddies Ball, held for the final time. The Shrivers have put their home on the market -- the 16,000-square-foot Georgian manse is listed at $11.8 million -- and their son plans to replace the annual gala with a D.C. cycling challenge.

Anthony Shriver, 43, who emcees each year, said he will miss the ball, adding "we're definitely going to go out on top."

"I didn't want this thing to become stale . . . or become this Washington event that went on and on and on," said Shriver, who works full time as chairman of Best Buddies. "After 20 years of success, you've got to reinvent yourself."

Saturday's finale provided Best Buddies its largest haul yet. The ball raised $3.35 million in ticket sales (starting at $600 a head) and auction revenue (Randy Jackson auctioned four backstage passes to "American Idol" for $64,000, while Kenny G's saxophone went for $9,000).

The event honored Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, consort of the emir of Qatar, who founded a center for special-needs children in her wealthy and fast-growing country. She is credited with raising awareness of intellectually disabled people, who had been hidden in her society.

"They are the true leaders," she said in accepting a leadership award.

The evening had a Middle Eastern flair, with a menu of seared sea scallops, lamb shank and baklava tart garnished with figs and pistachios. Fuchsia, gold and turquoise fabric draped the ceiling of the dinner tent, and dramatic lighting bathed about 100 round tables and their centerpieces of roses.

The Best Buddies Ball only recently took on a global flair. The early balls were less glamorous. For one, Anthony Shriver rented a cheap tent, and it started to fall down as a pouring rain drenched the event. Organizers drove out to buy umbrellas and ponchos for the guests. "The tables were literally sinking into the ground," recalled Lisa Derx, a vice president at Best Buddies.

Every year has a theme. Once, Indy 500 race cars were displayed in the tent and each guest got an unusual gift: a quart of oil.

Anthony Shriver recalled the early balls, when his college buddies would head downtown after dinner for an after-party. "I had kegs, a local band. I'd bring some celebrities down, and people went crazy and danced," he said.

As the ball grew, the partying occurred at the Shriver house and sometimes got out of control.

"We've had guests up in the bedrooms; we've had guests down in the steam room," he said. "People ended up going all over the place. We had people in our pool. Certainly there's no hesitation to having fun and getting a good, solid drink."

Saturday night's affair was decidedly more tame. Aware it might be the last party at the famed Shriver estate, some guests gazed upon the evening with awe.

"I said, 'You know, we're going to be at Eunice and Sargent Shriver's house. How cool is that?' " Mary Ellen Spears recalled telling her husband, AT&T Business Solutions Chief Executive Ronald E. Spears, on their trip from Connecticut. "You never get too old to appreciate these moments in history."

The evening was a tribute of sorts to Sargent and Eunice Shriver, who at 92 and 87, respectively, have battled serious illnesses.

Sargent Shriver, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1972, was the founding director of the Peace Corps. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of president John F. Kennedy, is a longtime advocate for people with intellectual disabilities and is founder of the Special Olympics.

Both greeted guests in the foyer of their home. Sargent Shriver called the ball "a marvelous thing."

He reveled in the party, staying late into the night to receive a leather jacket in recognition for attending all 20 balls. "There's my dad over there, surrounded by women," Anthony Shriver announced at one point.

"Sargent Shriver and Eunice Shriver have probably touched more people with their volunteerism than any other couple in American history," said Ted Leonsis, AOL's vice chairman emeritus and Washington Capitals owner. "Now that kind of activist philanthropy is en vogue, but they really are the godparents of that movement."

Lowell P. Weicker Jr., a former U.S. senator and governor from Connecticut, has a son with Down syndrome and said were it not for the Shrivers, "he and others would go on forgotten by America."

Several members of Best Buddies who have intellectual disabilities attended the ball, including Caitlin Donovan, 20, a sophomore at George Mason University from Fairfax Station. "It feels good to be here," she said.

Brad Blank, a sports lawyer, said his childhood friend Anthony Shriver recognizes that "people who are intellectually disabled need friendship just like you and I do."

Regulars at the ball said the finale was bittersweet. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, wearing a Maryland flag-inspired bow tie and cummerbund, reminisced about balls past. So did Mary Lou Dell of Chevy Chase, who for decades coordinated the Shrivers' travel.

Kennedy and Shriver children have grown up at the ball. Katherine Schwarzenegger, 18, daughter of Maria Shriver and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said she is "sad it's the last one."

Leonsis, who has attended each ball since 1996, said the finale "feels like an end of an era."

"This was really the first ball that mashed up politics, philanthropy and that rock-star vibe in Washington," he said.