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Tea with Tamron Hall and a Philly who's who

Ali Velshi debuts, a Villanova bobblehead and a Philadanco’s founder to be honored by Penn

TV personality Tamron Hall (right) with the new Philadelphia Style issue featuring herself on the cover. The mag's editor, Kristin Detterline, is at left.
TV personality Tamron Hall (right) with the new Philadelphia Style issue featuring herself on the cover. The mag's editor, Kristin Detterline, is at left.Read more

I was delighted to have afternoon tea - yes, you read that right - with the beautiful Tamron Hall, of NBC and MSNBC, at the Rittenhouse Hotel (210 W. Rittenhouse Square) on Friday.

Kristin Detterline, editor in chief at Philadelphia Style magazine, hosted the event, which corresponded with the launch of the May issue celebrating and dubbed "Women of Influence."

Hall, co-anchor of "Today" and host of "NewsNation," is recognized as one of those women, and graces the cover of this month's issue.

"We are discussing empowerment and the power we have beyond the exterior," Hall told me.

"In reality, we are more than the clothes on our backs. . . . I think that while the cover of the magazine is 'style,' if you have no substance, you have no style."

Friday's event lured illustrious ladies from all over, including Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman; Marisa Magnatta, associate producer of WMMR's "Preston & Steve Show"; public-relations pro Nicole Cashman; and NBC10's Jacqueline London.

'Burbanite gets new show

Tonight at 10:30, Al Jazeera America debuts "Ali Velshi on Target," a weeknight current-affairs show. The first episode will delve into the debt crisis in Greece, which is still working its way toward recovery from a 26 percent unemployment rate.

The globe-trotting Velshi and his wife, Lori Wachs, president of the Philadelphia-based Cross Ledge Investments, own a home in Bryn Mawr.

Bobblehead for blubbering instrumentalist?

It was embarrassing at the time, but teary-eyed Roxanne Chalifoux, the Villanova University piccolo player who became an Internet sensation when her weeping went viral, could soon become famous for it.

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce a bobblehead of her. In March, the Villanova senior was captured on TV, tears streaming down her face, after her top-seeded Wildcats were upset by North Carolina State in the NCAA Tournament.

A rendering of the bobblehead depicts Roxanne in the piccolo-pouting pose that was caught on camera. A total of $5,000 in funds will make it happen.

For a good cause

This Thursday marks the fifth annual Knock Out Homelessness charity event hosted by the monthly street paper One Step Away. This year's honoree is the late former light-heavyweight boxing champ Matthew Saad Muhammad, a Philadelphia native who was a big advocate for the homeless. The event will be held from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Chickie's and Pete's (1526 Packer Ave.) in South Philly, and tickets are still available.

An Ivy League endorsement

A pioneer of modern dance, especially for black women, Philadanco founder Joan Myers Brown will be given an honorary doctor of arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania at the 259th Commencement next Monday.

"We wish to recognize you for your unparalleled and pathbreaking careers in the arts, and your powerful example in founding a dance company that offers opportunity for aspiring dancers and choreographers - a true Philadelphia treasure," Penn president Amy Gutmann wrote.

Brown was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2012 by President Obama.

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