Santa Monica Hospital Set to Open Norman Pavilion

Volunteer blood pressure is getting a summer test for all these hospital fall do’s. Be alert for some special September dates. Santa Monica Hospital Medical Center is planning lots of festivity for its 60th anniversary and the long-awaited opening of the new Merle Norman Pavilion. One is the Sept. 14 black-tie gala for hospital patrons, business and civic leaders and medical staff. Six restaurants--Scratch, Michael’s, Gilliland’s, Camelions, Gladstone’s and Bob Burns--will donate their catering services. The Los Angeles Doctor’s Symphony will entertain. And, in a special pre-gala champagne toast in the hospital board room, J. B. Nethercutt, CEO of Merle Norman Cosmetics Inc., and other top donors will be feted.

On Sept. 23 prominent Los Angeles community leaders Max Palevsky and Sheldon Andelson will co-chair a fund-raiser for the neonatal intensive care unit and the establishment of a new Loss Counseling Center. It’s at the Santa Monica Pier. And, there’s more: a public open house Sept. 21 with tours between 1-4 p.m. of the Merle Norman Pavilion, another fund-raiser at a private residence for the hospital’s Rape Treatment Center and the festival celebration between 1-5 p.m. Sept. 7 for hospital employees and representatives of key community groups such as the police, firefighters and paramedics.

Then, that Senior Prom date for Huntington Memorial Hospital’s Senior Care Network is Sept. 27. Supporters are putting on lots of pressure for donations of $1,000, which will gain patrons BMOC (Big Man on Campus) and Prom Queen status. A donation of $500 rates Senior Prom Trotter, $250 gets Junior Year Abroad, $100 rates Sophomore Class, and anything up to $99 gets Freshman Party Hopper. That night the crowd dances to the Charleston, waltz, twist, rhumba, Watusi, jitterbug, break, Geritol jump and varsity drag. Throw in a tango. Mrs. James C. Caillouette is patron chair.

In La Jolla, the intrigue is directed toward the 10th anniversary Monte Carlo Ball, dubbed “Visions of India” this year, but chairman Emmy Cote is loath to divulge too many details, preferring secrecy for fun. The board of trustees of the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art hosts the event Aug. 9. To give you an idea, cocktails will be in a “Court of Shalimar,” dining will be in “Shangri-la,” and dancing will be in the “casino.” From Vicki Rogers (who recently with her husband Daley hosted a dinner party at the U.S. Grant Hotel to honor James and Inga Miscoll and Leonard Virginia McRoskey of Los Angeles before taking them to the Old Globe Theater in San Diego) we hear the goal is $200,000 net. Some members have been taking tango lessons in anticipation. Ruben Andres is designing 15-foot murals for the affair. Elizabeth Yamada, wife of the internationally known landscape designer, is co-chairman and in charge of the Village Bazaar. More involved are Marne de Silva, Anne Ratner, Joan Katz, Ingrid Hibben, Martha Gafford, Elizabeth McCullah, Irene Allis and Linda Hooberman. The ball has raised more than $1 million in its history.

Several Regency Club members hosted a reception and luncheon last week at the Regency Club for their Serene Highnesses Prince and Princess Diskul of Thailand, touting the Royal Orient Cruise on Oct. 30-Nov. 21 from Hong Kong, to China, Manila, Borneo, Malaysia, Bangkok, where the prince and princess will greet travelers (he’s a university professor of Thai history and culture). Jody Jacobs, in whose name the invitations were issued, was unable to come down from Sea Ranch for the affair, so Bonnie Kyle and Wally Cedar took over social duties for the 30 or so attending, including Loretta Young, who sat on the prince’s right, Curtis Kent, Ted Graber (White House decorator for Nancy Reagan), Sasha Irwin, Arthur Spitzer, Joan Magnum, Doris Fields Heller, the Maurice Harwicks, Dale Snodgrass, Harriet Deutsch, Caroline Ahmanson, Effie and S. J. Gaido, Frances and Happy Franklin, Mrs. Rodney Williams, Helen Chaplin, John Bowles with daughter Normie, Harriet Weaver, Frances Brody and Harold Stream. The cruise costs $4,290 per person at the top of the line.

Past Perfect:

Patricia Hearst and Rosemary Tomich, aided by Eva Gabor, Guilford Glazer and Sherry Lansing, were very instrumental in the success of the Mary Rose Nautical Ball. Armand Hammer, president of the Society for the Archaeological Study of the Mary Rose Inc., was in the Soviet Union, so did not attend as chairman, but Michael and Dru Ann Hammer were there. Several hundred others turned out, at $250 per person, to benefit the conservation of the ship, which is located in Old Portsmouth, England. Among supporters, the Ray McCulloughs, the Stephen R. Onderdonks, the James Regans, Lloyd Rigler, the Irving Stones and the Michael Yorks. The grand prize--two round-trip airline tickets on British Caledonian Airways--went to Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Hartz. . . .

Sevryn Ashkenazy, proprietor of L’Ermitage and Bel Age, and Jayne Levant, executive director of Small Luxury Hotel Assn., hosted a soiree this week on the Roof Garden of the Bel Age to fete prominent hoteliers from across the country gathering in Los Angeles. . . .

The Marvin M. Mitchelsons entertained at a dinner in their Hollywood home saluting soccer superstar Diego Maradona of Argentina, who led his team to victory in the World Cup Championship. One hundred dined on Greek delicacies and Italian wines catered by the Athenian Gardens Restaurant. Soccer stars Paolo Rossi and Bruone Conti of Italy; Michel Platini of France and Paul Caligiuri of UCLA attended, along with Coach Franz Beckenbauer of West Germany. George Taylor of the World Organizing Committee came from New York with Mrs. Taylor. . . .

The Donald T. Sterlings are hosting the black-tie 85th birthday celebration Saturday to honor philanthropist George Page. It’s dinner and cocktails in their Beverly Hills home.

Upcoming:

Family Service of Long Beach is saddling up for its third annual Family Service BBQ on Saturday . . . Comedienne Lotus Weinstock will perform at the 10th anniversary dinner of the Darrell McDaniel Independent Living Center Friday at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys . . . International Guiding Eyes sponsors a chili cook-off Aug. 9 at its 6-acre guide-dog facility at 13445 Glenoaks Blvd. in Sylmar. Betty White and Shelley Duvall are among 30 celebrities judging chili samples . . . The United Order of True Sisters hosts a luncheon at the Ramada Hotel in Beverly Hills Aug. 6 to raise funds for Ronald McDonald Camp for Good Times . . . Anne Adams and Richard Cooper are co-chairmen of “An Evening in White” Saturday on the Millbank Estate in the historic West Adams district. It’s the second annual event to support AIDS Project Los Angeles . . . Carroll Righter and his Astrological Foundation plan a Leo Party on Sunday honoring the advisory board.