Sherry Grindeland / Times staff columnist
Two couples' shining moment: meeting stars at N.Y. premiere

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Rubbing elbows with Julia Roberts and Julia Stiles last week was worth every cent of the auction donation.

Mimi and Gary Schulze of Mercer Island purchased a trip to New York City, premiere seats for the movie "Mona Lisa Smile" and a chance to attend the premiere party afterward. The trip was an auction package at last month's St. Monica Parish Auction.

"St. Monica's is a small church on Mercer Island and I couldn't believe they were getting this as an auction donation," Mimi Schulze said. (A parent in the school has a sister who works in Hollywood.)

As Schulze enthusiastically bid on the item, her daughter — an alumna and a teacher at the parish school — said, "What are you doing?"

What she was doing was buying and buying big. She bid determinedly, ending up with the package for $5,500. Another couple, David and Susan Toomey, paid the same amount when the auctioneer announced there was a second package available.

While the couples loved both the hotel (Four Seasons in Manhattan) and the movie, it was the party that made the evening. The outgoing Schulze led the way through a crowd of more than 1,000, found Roberts and Stiles and met both. They had pictures taken with Holly Hunter and shook hands with many stars.

"It was the best evening," Schulze said. "The movie was great, too. It is a good chick flick."

Thank you: Just in time for that family gathering — check out Corinne Gregory of Woodinville on NBC's "Today" show tomorrow morning.

Gregory founded The PoliteChild, a program that teaches etiquette, good manners and proper social behavior. Her classes are being taught to toddlers, kids and teenagers in 12 schools and youth organizations in Seattle and three in Palm Springs, Calif.

Tomorrow she will discuss holiday manners and how to keep children under control at the dinner table.

Locally the "Today" show can be seen on KING 5.

Holiday humor: Things will rock 'n' roll when Carnation Elementary School students, parents and community volunteers present a holiday musical at 7 tonight.

Principal Doug Poage is the director and choreographer, and music teacher Doug Higgins is the musical director of the production. Look for Santa, Mrs. Claus and the most famous elf of them all — Elfis.

The name of the production is "Elfis & The Sleigh Riders."

Well-found: The October Salmon Days may be a pleasant memory for attendees, but the organizers are just wrapping up the event.

One of the final tasks is emptying the lost-and-found bins — always filled with surprises, said Robin Kelley of Issaquah, director of the festival.

• Eyeglasses: Unclaimed glasses go to the Issaquah Lions Club.

• Retainers: "Parents and dentists must be frustrated by the number of these we find," Kelley said. Unclaimed ones get dumped. Ditto an upper plate (false teeth).

• Cellphones: "We turn them on and search for owner, sometimes by the last number called," Kelley said. "It's like Sherlock Holmes."

• Wallets: They usually contain identification. Sometimes the festival staff ends up mailing wallets.

Two people got important things back from last year's festival because Issaquah is a small town.

At the 2002 Salmon Days, someone left behind an expensive camera. No one called about it, so the staff developed the black-and-white film. When they picked up the pictures, they recognized a local attorney.

"We phoned him and luckily it was his camera," Kelley said.

At the same festival, a credit card with an unusual last name was in the lost-and-found. It was the same name as an Issaquah police officer's, and the card belonged to his wife.

The staff is still trying to locate the owner of a nice jacket. The clues are the child's name and age.

For the rest of the clothing, time has run out.

Unclaimed jackets, sweaters, sweat shirts, socks and shoes are being donated to the Issaquah Clothing Bank.

By the way, Kelley recently attended the International Festivals and Events Convention in Anaheim, Calif., where Salmon Days won six awards — three firsts, one second and two thirds.

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com

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