People, parties and causes along the Gulfshore

Is it season already? did it ever stop? Truth is, we can't wait to see what another year of goodwill benefits and good-time parties brings to a region that is so willing to share its wealth-a region more of you are considering your year-round home.

So how did you spend your summer vacations? Marie and Larry Andrews, Denise and Brian Cobb, Penny and Lee Anderson, Connie and Tom Galloway, Ursula Pfahl, Jacob Tuchman, Bridget and Bruce Yamron indulged in some megayacht madness in Monaco. (For more about that, see page 157.) Suzanne and Bob Chute hung out in a private suite backstage in Boston with rhythm guitarist and buddy Ron Wood and the rest of the Rolling Stones, while Simone and Scott Lutgert and Linda and Jim Malone were bidding at Chalk Hill winery's auction for kids in Sonoma Valley. Matt and Thomas Riley of the Artisans' Guild crafted custom woodwork for Judge Judy and Jerry Sheindlins' Los Angeles home-and watched miscreants grovel before the judge at tapings of her show.

There was no such thing as a summer escape for some. Courtney Ott and Elise Burfield, with the help of Community School's Mary Ann Smiley, kept plans rolling for the Nov. 20 Angel Ball while vacationing in different parts of the country. Jose Pérez's Flappers to '40s gala team, including chair Nancy Humphrey and PR maven Paula Robertson, put the finishing touches on the Florida Arts Cultural Center's Nov. 5 fund raiser; Pérez was just named one of Time's 25 Most Influential Hispanics.

Tony-Award-winning choreographer Lindy Roy isn't throwing her Gulfshore Ballet fund raiser until January, but she has a wedding to stage first. The first-time bride will say "I do" to ballet master Ricardo Muñoz on Nov. 6 at Sanibel Harbour Resort. Muñoz will also teach at the Fort Myers school.

Two of the hardest-working men in show business, theater owner Will Prather and artist/architect/musician Bruce Gora, have teamed up to chair Art Royale, the Oct. 22 fund raiser for Lee County's Alliance for the Arts. It's a sweet circle for Gora, who designed the Alliance building and will enlist the help of interns to fabric-wrap the building, Christo-style.

Volunteers and workers put finishing touches on Joanne's House, Hope Hospice's inpatient residence in Bonita Springs. The facility, whose Mission-style décor rivals local dream homes, was made possible largely by the organization's Women's Committee of Bonita Springs. Member Marietta Davies credits friend and Bonita philanthropist Donna Roberts with making it happen: "You just don't say no to Donna."

Lee Memorial Health System Foundation board member Barbara Watt Biggs has donated land for a house raffle to benefit Cape Coral's hospital. (A client donated the house.) She announced the nationwide contest at Rumrunners' second annual celebrity chef benefit for Lee's Children's Hospital's pediatric oncology program. WOLZ-FM program director Jimmy Roberts, with wife Diane, kicked off the fund-raising drive that leads up to his Oct. 28 radiothon. Roberts, who raised $186,000 last year, confesses he didn't know much about his cause when he started the marathon four years ago, but "now I get more out of this than anything else I do all year."

Tiffany & Co., which will open in November at Naples' Waterside Shops, clearly did its market research: Company reps can rattle off the names of Naples Winter Wine Festival trustees and society powerhouses. Spied during the company's get-to-know-us lunches: a lobby full of ingénues auditioning to be the store's Audrey Hepburn-like spokesmodel.

Don't miss: can-you-top-this gala glamour at the 50th anniversary Hospital Ball, Oct. 29 at the Ritz, benefiting the NCH Healthcare Foundation. Or sign up to golf with friends to support local women with breast cancer at M&I's benefit for Bosom Buddies, Oct. 6 at Kensington Golf & Country Club.