Cue Gloria Gaynor

Elys Rullan at Catwalk for BMC Cancer Care

Few charity fashion shows are as ambitious as Catwalk for BMC Cancer Care, which took over the State Room for an evening of cocktails and a runway show with clothing by local designers like David Josef, Denise Hajjar and Candice Wu, modeled by pros, demi-/hemi-/semi-celebs like yours truly and the evening’s real stars: cancer patients who were treated at Boston Medical Center.

Among the prominent faces: event founder Bryan Finocchio and his handsome other half, Salvatore Forte, Channel 7 eye candy Kim Khazei and Adam Williams (who emceed), City Hall hottie Sam Chambers, hunky real estate hustler Kris MacDonald, the unsinkable Mary Kakas, blond beauty Monica Pietrzak, legendary fashionista Yolanda Cellucci and the dapper Joe Berkeley, and others of an equally impressive milieu.

It’s hard to say which was more breathtaking—the city views or the runway fashions—but the evening’s uncontestable highlight was the standing ovation for the cancer survivors strutting their stuff. Overheard backstage: A model asked, “Are you nervous?” to which the response was “After dealing with stage 4 colon cancer, there isn’t a whole lot that scares me.”

Let’s Do the Time Warp Again

Clem Benenson and Jen and Dan Mayer at a Night at the Old Manse

It was as if Mr. Peabody told Sherman to set the WABAC machine to 1770 for A Night at the Old Manse, the Trustees of Reservations’ annual summer soiree. The historic house in Concord (which witnessed the shot heard ’round the world and was a home to Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne) is imposing enough. Add a full moon, free-flowing Moscow mules and some highly entertaining historical re-enactments, and you’ve got yourself a party.

Guests were greeted by actors dressed as Emerson and Hawthorne (who never broke character, even when direct descendants quizzed them), and cocktails were interrupted by a rousing and rather hilarious re-enactment of the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

“They’re certainly getting their money’s worth,” said one guest, referring to the knot of curious tourists watching from the other side of the field.

Dinner was served under a big top that could have benefited from mosquito netting, but as one guest pointed out: “It’s not authentically New England unless it’s in some way uncomfortable.”

Present and accounted for: Emerson descendant Sukey Forbes and her handsome companion, Kevin O’Leary, her cousin, Alec Emerson, the dryly witty Dan Elias and his kick-ass wife, Karen Keane, country squire Edward Garmey and the delightful Sophia, salty dog Peter Creighton and his lovely other half, Kitty, colonial historian Clem Benenson, architectural guardian Ted Landsmark and one man wearing the signature fork-tailed swallow tie from Trimingham’s, the iconic Bermuda department store that closed in 2005.

The evening’s most amusing exchange: Upon being introduced to someone, a man asked, “Oh, are you ________’s brother?” To which the other man replied, “That depends upon your dealings with him.”

In Vino Veritas

Caesar Belbel and Leah Talanian at the Dock Party

One of the city’s most scintillating and quintessential summer shindigs is the Dock Party to benefit the Esplanade Association, held at Community Boating. A uniformly attractive crowd in their summery best gathered on the edge of the Charles for cocktails and a BBQ while a spectacular sunset unfolded over the Salt and Pepper Bridge.

Present and accounted for: the always delightful Kristine Glynn, cuteness personified Jodi Wolin, Charley (aka Curly) Aldrich and his fiancée, Meg Thomas, the unfairly attractive Paul and Pia Miller, preppy pair Regina and Jonathan Winslow, adorable lovebirds Carolina Save and Bryan Natale, Venezuelan beauty Gabriela Santos and her other half, Camilo Gutierrez, the lovely Karen Lachmayr, Beacon Hillion Jason Winmill and so on and so forth.

The sailboats on the water made for a picturesque backdrop, while the wine and the company were equally intoxicating. The evening’s most amusing remark: “The thing I like best about sailing is that drinking is pretty much mandatory.”