The evening culminates when Dakota Fanning (14 year old veteran of more than 30 film and TV roles) presents the Inspiration Award to Nicolai for his climb of Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the Free Wheelchair Mission. Nicolai accepts the award and delivers a brief but poignant speech (I will try and post video shortly). After his remarks a guest at the Gala donates enough money to take Nicolai over his $100,000 dollar goal. Mother and father were quite proud.
The choir performance was very uplifting and it was clear the kids were having a great time.
Master of Ceremony for the evening was Steve Valentine (plays Nigel on Crossing Jordan). In addition to being quite funny he is a very competent magician and was very entertaining.
Shortly after being seated at our table, Jeanine begins laughing hysterically. One of the service dogs in attendance has secretly taken up lodging underneath our table and has just begun licking her toes.
Nicolai possess with the portrait that will hang at the Shane’s Inspiration headquarters commemorating his award.
Nicolai looked rather debonair and spent most of the evening in the company of Logan who he had met the day before at choir practice.
It is finally time for the Gala which is held in the ballroom with elegant seating for the 600 guests who will attend the fundraiser.
Next we hopped in the car and drove to one of the Shane’s Inspiration playgrounds. The design makes it possible for children with disabilities to play along side with able bodied children. Fifteen such playgrounds have been completed with 80 more in development.
Later, we decided to take a quaint trolley tour of Beverly Hills and passed by many celebrity homes. This whimsical home, used in the movie Hansel and Gretel, was transplanted here from a back lot where filming was done. Talk about living the fairy tale.
Fortified by our morning meal we head out on foot to explore Rodeo Drive which is but steps from our hotel. Our thoughts of actually shopping quickly fade as we price a pair of $1500 sunglasses and a simple blouse for $6000. Shopping here is for people with more money than brains. It was fun to browse none the less.
It takes Jeanine no time to locate an authentic French bakery and Nico could not be more thrilled as he enjoys a chocolate croissant and latte.
This morning Jeanine and I relaxed in the robes and slippers provided by the hotel. Nicolai captures a nice image using the morning fog and Century City as a backdrop.
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There we met Spencer, a boy of indominable spirit. The boys are laughing because Spencer has just exhausted himself by kicking the very heavy boulder beneath him across the parking lot.
Nicolai volunteered to sing, during the Gala, with the Shane’s Inspiration Children’s Choir and we stopped by their new office for the final rehearsal. You could just feel the positive energy and enthusiasm of the volunteers and employees. Nicolai made several new friends and you could tell they were delighted to meet him.