Inside French Heritage Society’s Sold-Out Palm Beach Gala Dinner
French Heritage Society hosted its annual Palm Beach Gala Dinner on Sunday, February 15, 2026 at Club Colette, with the sold-out evening serving as an early kickoff to the organization’s fundraising season. Guests moved from cocktails into dinner and dancing with music by DJ Brett, keeping the night equal parts polished and genuinely festive.
The gala was held at the behest of chairmen Michel Kovner and Jean Doyen de Montaillou, with dinner chairmen Liz McDermott Barnes and Ben Barnes, CeCe and Lee Black, Nancy Place and Tom Thaler, and Jean and Martin Shafiroff. Welcome remarks were delivered by FHS Chairman Timothy Corrigan, FHS Events Chair CeCe Black, and Raphaël Trapp, Consul General of France in Miami. Notable attendees also included New York Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, alongside multiple FHS board members and supporters.
Later in the evening, FHS Executive Director Jennifer Herlein spotlighted the organization’s Education Program, which supports undergraduate and graduate students through internship opportunities in France and the U.S. The program became a focal point of the night’s giving, with a record-breaking paddle raise led by Brett Sherlock, an international consultant at Christie’s. Proceeds from the Palm Beach Gala and the season’s events support FHS’s mission to preserve shared French architectural and cultural heritage through restoration grants and educational initiatives.
The organization’s upcoming calendar includes its Annual Presentation in Paris on March 17, the April in Paris Luncheon in Palm Beach on April 6, the Dîner des Mécènes in Paris on May 20, and a Summer Soirée in the Hamptons on July 17.
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