Society Confidential: Charles Pugh gets a jump on council gig

Susan Whitall and Chuck Bennett / The Detroit News

Which way to the president's office?

The day after Election Day, mere hours after the results were official, effervescent City Council President-elect Charles Pugh popped into City Hall to check out his new work environment. While we're impressed with such enthusiasm Charlie, your term doesn't begin for another couple months, dude. Pugh shook hands with everyone in the lobby, and somehow wiggled his way upstairs to the executive offices, where we hear a few council folks were taken aback by his early arrival. One member was heard to mutter, "Could he let us finish our jobs before busting in here?" Uh, maybe that's why he's starting early?

Aretha is everywhere

Add Aretha Franklin' s name to the roster of the Nov. 21 Motown gala at the Detroit Marriott. (Stevie Wonder and the Temptations are already on board.) Next summer, Sister Ree will start giving vocal lessons at the Westin Hotel in Southfield, and in New York; and she's accepting applications via her publicist at (718) 622-4100, or by e-mail, at gqprnyc@aol.com. We want to be first, she can bust us down and whip us into shape. The Queen of Soul's album "Aretha, A Woman Falling Out of Love" will be released first on the QVC Channel in January ("real music to romance, dance and party to," Franklin calls it). Produced by BeBe Winans , Gordon Chambers and the Queen herself, the disc includes a duet with gospel artist Karen Clark-Sheard .

Angels' Night turns devilish for Dumas

After a week of heavy campaigning with the mayor and a successful Angels' Night, city of Detroit Communications Director Karen Dumas returned to her Escalade at 2 a.m. Halloween morning to find it had been vandalized. It happened in the executive parking lot of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, a mere 27 feet (we measured) from the guard booth. These are criminals with big kahunas and no fear of God Almighty, surveillance cameras or city security guards.

Scattershot

We've been hearing a lot about ClandesDine , a word-of-mouth, double-blind, secret underground dining club that meets at offbeat locations around town to enjoy good food and wine. The deal is, if you're cool enough to be in, you already know about it. ... The proposed merger between the historic, downtown Detroit Athletic Club and Bloomfield Hills' Forest Lake Country Club was approved by the respective board of directors, as Crain's reported last week, but members of both clubs are being asked to vote yay or nay next, and we hear the boys in the DAC's Tap Room have been grumbling into their cognac about the deal. DAC members would have to pony up extra money to play tennis, golf or swim at Forest Lake. ... Yes, Tayshaun Prince is still a Piston, and he'll be at the new Boost Mobile store, 15109 Woodward in Highland Park at 2:30 p.m. Monday to present a check for $5,000 to his pet charity, the Gleaners Community Food Bank . Boost Mobile is donating the money to celebrate the opening of its first store in Metro Detroit, and fans are invited to come with a can of food to meet Prince and get an autograph.

swhitall@detnews.com (313) 222-2156 chuckbennett@hotmail.com