Fendi Freestyle

One of the glitziest holiday parties is the Aspen Art Museum Fendi Freestyle presented by Moet & Chandon. Held midway through the holidays at the St. Regis Hotel, the silent auction, live auction and style show benefit the Aspen Art Museum. The event has become Aspen’s legendary aprs-ski extravaganza with everyone sipping champagne or martinis and sampling caviar and all kinds of hors d’oeuvres.More than 600 guests attended and more than $360,000 was raised for the Art Museum. Chairwoman was Nancy Magoon and her co-chairs were Susan Marx, Harley Baldwin, Janet O’Grady, Maria Bell, Richard Edwards, and Liz Barbatelli. I’m not going to write much this week so you can see all the people at the party.Lifelong Aspen resident John B. Schumacher was inducted on Jan. 12 into the Golden Key International Honour Society. The Golden Key Society is a nonprofit, academic honors organization that provides academic recognition, leadership opportunities, community service, career networking and scholarships. Membership is by invitation only to the top 15 percent of juniors and seniors in all fields of study. John, the son of local attorney B. Lee Schumacher and his wife, Judy, is a senior at the University of Denver and plans to begin law school in the fall. John is a graduate of Aspen Country Day School in Aspen and Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale.Former Aspenite and Switzerland native Maye Fluege, who now lives in Glenwood Springs, recently sent us some clippings from Swiss magazines that point out “The Greenhouse effect, mass tourism and road traffic pollution are threatening the globally unique ecosystem of the Swiss Alps.” Permafrost, the frozen layer of soil that covers at least 5 percent of Switzerland’s territory and for centuries has protected alpine communities from landslides, is slowly melting. So the global warming affecting the ski areas of Aspen is also affecting Europe’s ski resorts.Aspenites Judi and Bob Francis are skiing in the French Alps until Feb. 13.Erika Ross Norman and Keith Norman announce the birth of a second daughter, Eleanor Wylder Norman, on Jan. 13. Maternal grandparents are JoAnn Ross of Aspen and Terry Ross of Jackson, Wyo. Paternal grandparents are Carole and Frank Norman of San Mateo, Calif.Undercurrent … Maybe by springtime I’ll have the holiday parties all published.