White embossed invitations called the opening night at the new Bloomingdale's Stanford store an “Exclusive Gala.” The Oct. 8 evening lived up to its billing. Co-chairs Nanci and Gary Fredkin and Eve and Ross Jaffe welcomed 250 guests to the evening gala in the glamorous, new, smart store that featured a performance by students from the Stanford University music department, a delicious dinner by McCalls, a sensational performance by Alexa Ray Joel and, of course, shopping. The benefit evening raised at least $100,000 for the Consortium, which is led by a volunteer board of directors representing local researchers associated with Stanford, UC-San Francisco, SRI International, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, and the California Department of Public Health.

The statistics on autism are alarming: approximately 1 in 68 children is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

…Everyone fell in love with singer, songwriter and musician Alexa Ray Joel, who is the daughter of singer Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley. She wore her mother's one-of-a-kind vintage Ralph Lauren dress. Joel accompanied herself on an electric piano, playing her original song, “Night People.” She also performed her gospel interpretation of Randy Newman's “Sail Away,” and “Just the Way You Are,” by her father. A standing ovation accompanied by a chorus of guests taking cellphone photos ended her performance.

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Photo credit: Drew Altizer Photography