Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette photos Greensburg artist Charles "Bud" Gibbons stands in front of his painting "Winter" at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art Friday night. Click photo for larger image. More Seen event coverage in the Seen Photo Journal

Warm and fuzzy would be an apt description of Friday's black-tie gathering at Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg.

Officially, it was the 20th annual dinner meeting of the Westmoreland Society, a special fund-raising group within the museum. The evening's honoree arrived early and stuck around until almost 11 bells.

Throughout, he was the center of attention, enduring photo ops, countless handshakes (at one point, folks actually formed a queue), and chatter laden with compliments. His smile was ever-present, and those aware of his hearing problem knew to lean in when they talked to him.

When his turn came at the lectern, he delivered his own accolades and even shared a family secret.

It was quite a turn, quite a night for Richard M. Scaife, publisher-owner of the city's other daily and, in the eyes of the Westmoreland Society, a "distinguished collector and patron" worthy of its annual Distinguished Gold Medal Award. The red, white and blue beribboned medal was presented by JoAnne Boyle, society president, and Jim Duff, director of the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, another museum that the 73-year-old Pittsburgh native has given to generously. Said Duff of Scaife: "He gets a terrific thrill from art."

Barbara Jones, curator of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, James Duff, director of Brandywine River Museum and Judith O'Toole, director and CEO of the Westmoreland. Click photo for larger image.

Judith O'Toole, the Westmoreland's director/CEO, beamed when Mr. Scaife called the Westmoreland "an elegant jewel that adds luster to Greensburg and Westmoreland County." The building's two paneled rooms, he revealed, had been donated by his late sister, Cordelia Scaife May.

"Cordelia made gifts anonymously; it was her way of doing things." The rooms, he said, came from the family's Pittsburgh apartment and their Ligonier estate, Penguin Court. His own latest purchase for the museum was the large Otto Kuhler oil, "Steel Valley, Pittsburgh," on view in the foyer.

A radiant Ritchie Scaife helped lead the applause for her husband.

Joining in, among others, were the Frick's Bill Bodine, Bill Boyd, Jane Roesch, Ranny and Jay Ferguson, Diana Jannetta, Harvey Childs Jr., Anne and Jack Robertshaw Jr., Jane and George Greer, Harley Trice, Bob and Marcy Gilliland, Gwen and Chriss Swaney, Jere Gallagher, and Bill and Linda Boxx, who, at evening's end, slipped Ms. O'Toole a $50,000 check from the McKenna Foundation for the museum's Art Acquisition Fund.