Posts Tagged ‘Heidi Glaus’

Heidi Glaus with her parents

I awoke from a nap Sunday afternoon and turned on Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” and it dawned on me with a sharp pain, that I hadn’t been getting around much over the last few days. Jumped out of the shower and played “The Blue Pajama Song” – ah, our town’s Buddy Moreno – then headed for Ameristar Casino Resort’s ballroom.  That’s where the Missouri Restaurant Association held its inaugural ball.  While seated at a table with Monsignors Sal Polizzi and Vince Bommarito, hosted by the Missouri Baking’s Gambaro famiia, Msgr. Bommarito said the two clerics would head for Sin City’s MGM the next day for a vacation.  “We’ll be there a week,” said Father Vince to which Father Sal

Msgrs. Vince Bommarito and Sal Polizzi with the Gambaro family

contradicted, “No, we’ll be there for five days.”  Will they gamble?  “He will, but I won’t,” insisted Father Vince, who continued to regal the guests with his story about lunching with funeral directors at Pietro’s.  He said he warns the morticians in advance, “Nobody dies, while we’re there.” He continued to recall a grieving family, who insisted, “We don’t want a mass and let’s just go to the Pasta House after the funeral.”  KSDK’s Heidi Glaus picked up the award as Media Person of the Year and announced, “This is perfect, because I don’t cook and eat out all the time.”  With her were

The Fortels

her parents, educators Jill and Bill Glaus of Ballwin.  The charming and ebullient Shelly Fortel of pizza fame was introed by emcee Jim Holder, who announced her new post as prez of the organization.  In the wings, Fortel tipped her six stores will vend heart-shaped pizzas next month. Headlining the event was the presentation of Restaurateur of the Year to Mark Aizzi, owner of the 54 year-old, 300-seater landmark, Rigazzi’s on The Hill. Confined to a wheelchair, Aizzi, with his wife Joan and their five children, turned to the dinery’s chef, Jim Murphy, and asked him to reveal the upcoming entree – “Cacciatore over risotto and salzizia,” said Murray, who has been with the restaurant for almost 50 years.  On hand for the event were: the association’s prez, Jack Borgmeyer of Grappa Grill;

Roland DiGregorio, Lowell Martin, Jr. Bart Saracino

Bart Saracino of Bartolino’s Osteria, Chris’ and Bartolino’s South; Lowell Martin, Jr., Ameristar’s food and bev guy; Roland DiGregorio; Corey and Sarah Miller; Jim “Socko” Lahrman; Diane and Chris Gambaro; Linda and Dario Gambaro and opera singer Gina Galati, who wowed the crowd with her singing of the National Anthem. Galati is the founder of Winter Opera St. Louis. Asked if there was a great deal of skimming by restaurateurs these days, tax attorney Harry Charles blurted, “I can’t tell you!”

The Aizzi family

Whenever I feel I’m out of touch with reality, I hit the charity circuit and the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy telethon at Grant’s Farm was a must.  Music blaring, a marathon of phone calls, Grant’s Farm gendarmes returning your stare with contemptuous flicks of the dead eyes and KSDK’s Mike Bush and Heidi Glaus, along with staffers from the station, working with desperate vitality.  On the sidelines, the columnist cornered Mike’s wife, Claudia, who offered that her husband recently signed a five-year contract extension “with a reduction in salary.”  So, no entity is immune to budget cuts. With their son, Ryan,  Claudia enthused over Mike’s mom, Lois Bush‘s, upcoming reunion with the family in time for Rosh Hashonah.  While Claudia is a Catholic, she intimated that Lois is working on converting the children to Judaism, albeit their son Matthew‘s recent marriage in a cathedral.  Daughter Jennifer, 25, is working as a researcher at Columbia U. in NYC, specializing in psychology of eating disorders; son Daniel, 21, is a senior at Mo. State U. majoring in electronic art.  Elsewhere, Jennifer Feldman, Channel 5′s assignment editor, heaped praise on the station’s chief, Lynn Beall, who happens to be national veep for the MD Association, for having plunked down $800 for a Camp Star to be used by the kids afflicted with MD. Heidi Glaus, escorted by vet cameraman Ed Thornhill into the arena of giving, said her day began with her regimen of exercise and a turkey sandwich during the telethon.  MD’s regional director Toni Hails lamented, “Participation (of volunteers) is down this year. Some people are afraid to ask to help.”

Biff, bang, wham, zingo! That’s KSDK, Channel 5′s Heidi Glaus all over and she remains the freshest face on local television. With wit, humor and speed, she swept the dry dust from the corridors of Plaza Frontenac with a bright broom at the Crisis Nursery benefit the other night. New Madrid, Mo.’s own Glaus (who claimed there’s not even a flashing red light in her hometown) was one of the celeb servers at Cardwell’s and Canyon Cafe, who raised money for the agency through tips. Shuttling between the two dineries, she paused at a few chic shops, and confided, “I buy clothes at Victoria’s Secret.”