Bow Wow Meow

The Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons will host its annual Bow Wow Meow Ball on Saturday, August 18, at 6:30 PM at its 22-acre Adoption Center in East Hampton. Elegantly designed by David Monn and Alex Papachristidis, the evening begins at 6:30 PM with cocktails, followed by a night of dinner catered by Olivier Cheng, and dancing to the sounds of the Peter Dunchin Orchestra, with a live auction.

Monn, a leading event designer in the nation, will be honored with the Champion of Animal Awards, presented by past honorees Katharina Otto-Bernstein and Peter Marino.

“ARF is so special. To be able to help an organization that helps the little ones that can’t do anything for themselves makes me feel really good,” Monn explained. His dog Sammy, who passed away in spring, will also be remembered. A King Charles Cavalier, Sammy serendipitously entered Monn’s life through another family who gave him up for adoption.

“I never knew what it was to love before. Sammy taught me the absolute meaning of love . . . Something that hurt that much can only be because you really love him. That’s the tragedy of animals; they don’t live as long as us.” To this day, Monn, who has donated his event planning expertise to the Bow Wow Meow Ball for the past four years, carries a laminated photo of young Sammy laying betwixt his pillows, on the day that changed his life.

The Bow Wow Meow Ball is expected to welcome 400 friends and supporters. Scott Howe, executive director of ARF, who has two ARF dogs of his own, Stritch and Finn, noted, “By bringing it to ARF [adoption center], we’ve transformed it. We realized we wanted to connect people to where we are and where we do our work.” ARF animals will make special guest appearances during the program, and the organization’s staff will be front and center.

“[David] takes it to a whole other level. It’s hard to put a value on someone of his caliber and creativity. It’s made the event something incredibly special,” added Howe.

New at this year’s ball are unique auction items called arfITECTURE, an idea conceptualized by 14-year-old rising ninth grader at Pierson in Sag Harbor, Luke Louchheim. Louchheim, who has two ARF dogs in his family, came up with the idea in Fall 2017 to partner with some of the best architects and builders to create individual pet homes that are functional both indoors and outdoors.

Local architects Michael Lomont, Blaze Makoid, Nacho Ramos, Andrew Reyniak, Nick Martin, Kitty McCoy, Bill Beeton, Robert Young, and Maziar Behrooz, designed the homes that were then built by one of John Hatgistavrou and Jeff Gagliotti, Ken Wright, Michael Derrig, Maude Adams, Gary Seff, John Koronkiewicz, Michael Davis, Walter Sternlieb, and Jamie Davis. Homes are currently online in a silent auction, and homes will be auctioned at the event.

Tickets start at $750. Visit http://www.arfhamptons.org or get tickets by phone at 631-537-0400 ext 219.

ARF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, founded in 1974, that is expected to rescue more than 1600 animals in 2018, providing full medical care in addition to humane care.

ARF Adoption Center is located at 124 Daniels Hole Road in East Hampton and open Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM. The ARF Thrift & Treasure Shop is located at 17 Poxabogue Lane in Sagaponack, with all proceeds benefitting the adoption center.