By Wini Moranville

If you love big, splashy parties with great food and well-dressed people, but no one in your crowd feels like throwing such a bash, take a look at Flashdine Des Moines, this year Sept. 4.

Every unveiling of a new issue comes with a swell party hosted by friends of dsm magazine. Today's event, for the September/October issue, will be a doozie.

Our hosts this evening, from 5 to 7 p.m., are Chaden Halfhill and his creative team from Silent Rivers Design + Build. Our party site is a former Sherman Hill neighborhood grocery, the Green & Main building on the northwest corner of 19th and Center streets. Silent Rivers is revitalizing the building as a women's clinic.

It's free, it's fun, and with valet parking, it's easy. In addition to old and new friends, you'll see art shows on all three floor levels, with catered food and bar offerings in the adjacent courtyard as well as wine and desserts on the second-floor level. And the unveiling of our new magazine cover at

6 p.m.? Expect something big. Big. We hope to see you after work.

Restaurant Week continues to satisfy Des Moines' appetite for great food at a special price. It started last weekend, continues through Sunday, the 28th. Participating restaurants are listed here, and each has created enticing meals, apart from their regular menu fare, just for this limited-time event. The deal is the same everywhere: $28 for a three-course  dinner; the same price, $28, buys lunch for two.

Also, the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau will have a drawing for $600 worth of fine dining and beverages. To be eligible, you need Restaurant Week receipts from four participating restaurants. Staple the receipts together with your name, address, phone number and email address, tuck them in an envelope and mail or bring them to dsm magazine, 100 Fourth St., in the Old Depot building downtown.  Winners will be notified by email by Sept. 9.

At last Saturday night's Gatsby Gala, the terrace and gardens of the Salisbury House sparkled with 220 partygoers decked in sequins and fringe, feathers and pearls, bow-ties and tux tails, all reveling underneath centuries-old trees that had seen it all before.

Des Moines native Cloris Leachman is back home this weekend. A genuine star of film and television, Leachman will be back on the boards at the Des Moines Community Playhouse Saturday, Aug. 27 at 4 p.m., where she and lifelong friend Eddie Rissien started their careers and will now join the ranks of Playhouse Legends. The event includes an hors d'oeuvres reception, cash bar and a glimpse of history. Click here for $25 tickets.

Across the street from the theater, Leachman and Rissien will join in a free public conversation at Roosevelt High School Sunday, Aug. 28,  at 1 p.m., hosted by John Busbee, the host of KFMG's The Culture Buzz. They'll discuss their  long friendship and their different perspectives on the entertainment industry -- Leachman's as an actor and Rissien's as a producer.
 
Finally, at 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28, at the Des Moines Social Club,
Leachman will be the guest of honor at the second annual ceremony of her namesake prize: The Cloris Leachman Excellence in Theatre Awards. The awards recognize on- and off-stage talent and promote local theater. The event is free and open to the public. For details, click here.