AUGUST 2004 The Best of LA What a great night! We had almost 2000 people at the Pacific Design Center for LA Magazine's BEST OF LA event. The night air was full of excitement as restaurants and purveys of fabulous exilers offered samples of their best fare.  With Suzie Hanson and the Latin Band providing music and the House of Blues gospel choir greeting guests with their soulful sound, it was an electric event for a good cause: The Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation and the Alzheimer's Association of Los Angeles. Our two nonprofits are thrilled to join forces to open Leeza's Place in Los Angeles. We currently have two locations (Melbourne, Fl and New York City). Each is designed to offer comfort and care to those with memory disorders and their caregivers, by offering a web of support to families as they face a difficult transition. We all had such a great time, thanks to the countless volunteers who showed up ready to produce a night to remember. Thanks to Ivan Hall and his band of angels who worked with our friends John Tripp and Pam Sakow to make sure everyone had a blast. To Alan Klein and his staff at LA Magazine, our deep gratitude for this opportunity. Check out the BEST OF LA edition of the magazine for full details on all the eateries plus pages on Leeza's Place and the Alzheimer's Association. If you are a jewelery fanatic (and who isn't?) you would have been gasping for breath if you had seen the ribbon piece designed by Asanti Jewelers in Pasadena. The gracious and charming Nelson Hodder personally delivered the platinum and diamond piece which went home with a lucky attendee. Thank you Nelson for your kind heart. Once again, where there are stars, you'll find Rita Tateel and Paula Greenfield from Celebrity Source. Thank you, thank you for being the pros that you are and for making sure the stars at the event were well-handled. Personally, my status at home went way up when I told my sons that Tony Hawk was there. No "skater-mom" could touch me! Handling the hosting duties were two of LA's best for sure: Steve Edwards from Good Day Live and Ellen Kay from KIIS-FM (formerly the Wayne Brady show-miss them). Steve and Ellen were generous enough to try to get the attention of the massive crowd long enough to let them know about our charities and to encourage them to bid on the silent auctions items. Steve, you know I adore you to the max and Ellen- I owe you. Mark Jordan brought amazing sports memorabilia items for our silent auction. We look forward to working with Mark and his talented team on future events and for staging web-auctions to benefit Leeza's Place. Stand by for details. We announced pre-sales for our fundraiser/awareness-builder CD called REFLECTIONS at the event. This 15 song compilation featuring the biggest names in music will be in stores Sept. 14 but we are taking orders now at Leezasplace.org. Check it out, I know you'll be impressed by the line up of music designed to nourish the souls of families in crisis or anyone who loves emotional music with powerful lyrics. Chuck Gullo and Michelle Meena from Topsail are the force behind Reflections, thanks Chuck and Michelle. Also on the project, representing his company Sunncomm International, was Bill Whitmore. Sunncom did an amazing job with the enchanced video portion of the CD. When you play the music disc in your computer, you will get a menu of items explaining more about our work at the Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation. Bill, thanks for coming in from Scottsdale to join us. We are inspired by your work and your talented staff--Scott, that's YOU especially. Thanks so much to my personal support team: Steve Meadows, Nadine Dekema, Suzanne Isa, Jerry Sharell, Paul Hecht and as always my friend and executive director Jamie Huysman whose example keeps me focused and whose goodness is my lifeline. Love, Leeza Event guests sampled food and drink from 32 of the best restaurants in LA The evening's hosts were Ellen K. and Steve Edwards Leeza and Steve listen to Ken Howard speak about the Memory Foundation and Alzheimer's Association of LA Tony Hawk and his friend Lhotse Merriam smile for the cameras