A Grand Send-Off for Wilmington Floriade
Serious lovers of gardens and flowers come from all over to London in May to stroll through the Chelsea Garden Show for ideas or just sheer pleasure. The Friends of Banning Park are presenting their first garden show, a Floriade, at the Banning Residence Museum in Wilmington on May 4 and 5, but they have high hopes that one day their Floriade will have the same prestige, fame and drawing power as the London show.
The Floriade gets a grand send-off May 3 with a Premiere Party at which Louis L’Amour, the prolific and best-selling chronicler of the Old West, is the honored guest. A strange choice for a flower show? Not at all. The Premiere Party, Mrs. Richard Call and Mrs. Elliot Field, Floriade committee members, remind us, is a benefit for the restoration of the “finest stagecoach barn west of the Mississippi.” It’s still standing right on the grounds of the museum and it should make L’Amour feel right at home. You bet, pardner.
The party, generously underwritten by Neiman-Marcus, has Mrs. V. Shannon Clyne as its chairman. That evening the guests, wearing “festive attire” (if they’ve paid attention to the invitation), will view competitive plant and flower exhibits, admire the professional floral displays, listen to some fine music, feast on a bountiful buffet and stroll through the museum. It’s a heck of a value for $150 per person. For the next two days, the Floriade will be open to the public between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The competition and the displays will show off the best of local talents, among them Stanley Kersten, Tod Matthews’ White Gates, Fred Gibbons’ Flower Fashions, Crossley’s David Wittry, David Jones, Jacob Maarse, Andrade/McKee, Charles Bergesch, Milo Bixby, Lee Stumpf of Kipling’s Flowers, Liz Merrill, Marinoff’s, Randy Marmer and more.
Mrs. Robert J. Banning and Mrs. William Goodan are co-chairing the Competitive Flower Show Committee. And among those serving on the over-all Floriade Committee are Mrs. Charles Babbitt, Mrs. Anthony Liebig, Mrs. Kenneth T. Norris Jr., Mrs. Thomas Rowan, Mrs. Vernon Underwood, Mrs. James Anawalt, Mrs. Patrick Frawley, Mrs. Henry E. Singleton, Mrs. William Russell Smith, Mrs. Thomas Wachtell, Mrs. George Fritzinger, Mrs. Richard A. Hotaling, Mrs. Joseph Vaccaro and Mrs. Robert A. Brant Jr.
We’re inundated with royal news from Monaco. First we learn that Princess Caroline will christen the Sea Goddess II, sister ship to the gloriously luxurious Sea Goddess I, when it arrives in the port of Monte Carlo at the end of her maiden voyage on May 11. The celebrating will continue on into the evening when Prince Rainier joins his oldest daughter at a candlelit dinner at the Hotel de Paris.
And just Wednesday, Della Koenig gathered together a group of chums upstairs at the Bistro to discuss the second Princess Grace Foundation gala. The first one, you’ll recall, was a weekend affair in Washington that began with a White House reception and ended with a luncheon at the State Department. Now the benefit (for scholarships in the arts) moves to Los Angeles and Della and Mrs. Cary Grant are co-chairing it. The gala will take place sometime in November, but the date has still to be chosen. The original date, Nov. 9, turned out to be the same date chosen by President and Mrs. Reagan for a state dinner honoring Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana. “We certainly don’t want to conflict with that affair,” Della said wisely.
Everyone at the luncheon volunteered to take charge of something--from Mrs. Frank Sinatra to Veronique Peck to Ruth Berle to Ginny Mancini, who managed to make her wishes known even though she had laryngitis. Also offering their help were Virginia Oppenheimer, Terry Stanfill, Lee Minnelli, Maggie Louis, Grace Robbins, Nancy Livingston, Judy Quine and Frances Pincus.
Prince Albert and his sister Princess Stephanie will definitely show up for the ball. Prince Rainier and Princess Caroline are maybes. Leslie Bricusse and Jack Haley Jr. will produce the evening’s show. Liza Minnelli is entertainment chairman. And MGM has volunteered one of its big sound stages for the party. It’s only a beginning. But it’s not bad.
Does Glen (Rhinestone Cowboy) Campbell know that Bob Hope is treading on his glitter? Ol’ Ski Nose, making his first appearance at a Boomtown extravaganza (this year it’s on May 18 at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium), will team up with SHARE’s dazzling array of dancing Rhinestone Cowgirls. The Cowgirls have been rehearsing for weeks. Hope doesn’t need to. And he’s sure to sparkle. Also making his debut as Boomtown producer is Gary Smith. Edye Rugolo is Boomtown chairman. You know by now that SHARE stands for Share Happily and Reap Endlessly, and that the talented members work tirelessly to help support the Exceptional Children’s Foundation pre-school and special education classes, sheltered workshops for the older retarded, recreational programs, a resident home and an art center for the gifted retarded.
Two long-time members were welcomed back to the fold and a new member also was warmly welcomed last week when the Colleagues, who support the Children’s Institute International, held an important luncheon meeting at the home of Mrs. Earle Jorgensen.
Helping Marion Jorgensen host the group were Mrs. Norman Sprague Jr., Virginia Milner and Mrs. Armand Deutsch. Inside there were white phalaenopsis and outside the white Alaska azaleas were in full bloom. A very pretty sight.
Returning to their former status as active members were Mrs. Robert Adams, who first joined the Colleagues in 1957, and Mrs. Grover Asmus (actress Donna Reed who is now Miss Ellie on “Dallas”), who joined the well-dressed, hard-working group in 1973. The newest member of the group, whose main fund-raiser is a once-a-year Glamour Sale (this year’s is set for May 11 at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium), is Mrs. Hoyt Leisure.
On last week’s agenda was the Glamour Sale, which, according to Erlenne Sprague, has “loads of beautiful furniture . . . a batch of glamorous furs--more than we’ve ever had--and big donations of silver and crystal.” Master florist and decorator David Jones will act as adviser on how to make the Civic Auditorium look less cavernous. Among those adding their comments were Mrs. Lemuel Hall, Glamour Sale chairman; Mrs. Byron Vandegrift, sale finance chairman, and Mrs. Jack Foreman, who is in charge of membership.
Still others lunching on tortilla casserole, mixed green salad and homemade strawberry ice cream served with strawberry sauce and brownies were Jill Cartter, Marji Brandeis, Eleanore Phillips Colt, Onnalee Doheny, Lupe Hinckle, Mrs. Peter F. Joyce, Alice Hartfield, Noorna Eversole, Jayne Berger (a two-time president), Mrs. Frederick Maison Jr., Mrs. Glen McDaniel, Mrs. A. Maxson Smith, Mrs. Philip Reed, Mrs. Ray Stark, president Mrs. Henry Thompson, Jean Trousdale, Mrs. Chase Morsey, Mrs. Donald Petroni, Mrs. Gwynn Robinson, Margaret Pereira and a few more who’ll work from dawn to dusk on sale day and then unwind over dinner in the new room at Jimmy’s.
Still in the tentative state is a fall luncheon being planned around a very famous woman. We’ll give you just a hint. She’s a Colleague, an honorary member since 1962. And that’s about all we can say until we get the word.
