An Early Harvest for Cal Poly Program
Bob H. Suzuki, president of Cal Poly Pomona, had compliments for Harvest Auction chairmen Rick Nicholas and Doug Cavanaugh at the fourth annual event Aug. 2 at La Villa Consolata, Joanne Wallace’s Holmby Hills villa.
“They’re responsible for 250 auction items, 1,000 letters and 2,000 photo calls.”
Jim and Carol Collins, who with Richard and Mary Alice Frank, have been instrumental in supporting the Cal Poly Pomona School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, almost 25 years old now, thought the event might raise $300,000, as in the past. The Franks founded the auction.
Several hundred people balanced wine glasses and bid on silent auction items around Wallace’s indoor lap pool. Then they sashayed to the lawn, where white-clothed tables were set for dinner, served after dark following the 32-item live auction.
Cavanaugh was hero of the night: He bid $21,000 for the Zimbabwe safari. Tom Goff got it last year for $19,000.
Auctioneer Bruce Kaiser elicited big bids: Fess Parker, $3,800 for the Caribbean adventure; Al and Phyllis Berger, $1,200 for a Sonoma wine country tour; Eva and Bill Fremont, $4,500 for the Ireland trip; Dick and Martha Birmingham, $3,000 for the Mackinac Island, Mich., vacation; Elizabeth Burns, $1,400 for a Labrador puppy; the Franks, $8,000 for golfing in Virginia and West Virginia at the Homestead and Greenbrier; and Kevin and Dawn Kincaid, $2,500 for the Mauna Lani Bay jaunt to Hawaii. Mike Berry paid $3,800 for In-N-Out burgers to serve a party of 399.
Joining in the fun were Jim and Linda Hornbuckle (he’s dean of the school), Clark and Audrey McQuay and Doris and Jim Summer, who were about to leave for the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado--the trip they bid on last year--and Chris and Dick Newman.
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Top Brass: Diana D. Brooks, Sotheby’s CEO, will join Andrea L. Van de Kamp, chairwoman of Sotheby’s West Coast, for the Aug. 18 reception and private viewing in Beverly Hills of “Highlights From the Collection of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor.”
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The Bachelors: Thomas Jay Blumenthal, who staged the last two stunning fancy-dress Bachelor’s Balls, has been elected president of the board of governors, inaugurating the group’s 93rd year. Aram Peter Kezirian Jr. will take on next year’s ball chairmanship and also serve as vice president. Others on the board will be Patrick Aidan Hickey and James Porter Scott Shotwell. Serving as governors are William Bessolo, Lawrence Chaffin III, Derrick Coleman, Michael Flynn, Oscar Islas, Stephen Janes, David Ludwick III, Travis Reed III and past presidents Steven Leland and Robert Forward Jr.
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Tearful Supporters: We’re told there wasn’t a dry eye in the room after the moving speech by Beth Lowe, past president of Children’s Institute International, recalling Anna Murdoch’s long history of unselfish devotion to children. “She always put the children first,” said Lowe, with a hug for Murdoch.
Murdoch was honored “for her many efforts on behalf of vulnerable youngsters” at the July 24 dedication of the Anna M. Murdoch Education and Training Center at CII. She will succeed Lowe as president of the board of trustees. Gayle Wilson is on that board. Murdoch was instrumental last year in staging the National Forum on Children and Violence, which featured 29 seminars and attracted 1,000 professionals.
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Bohemian: The Center Theatre Group’s Entertainment Council is tossing a bohemian-style party on the Music Center Plaza on Sept. 19 at a benefit gala for the Center Theatre Group’s preview performance of the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Rent” at the Ahmanson Theatre.
Cast members and Hollywood celebrities are expected in droves. The party benefits new play development.
Film executive Sid Ganis and Nancy Hult Ganis and producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will co-chair.
Others on the committee are Joan and Allan Burns, Chuck and Ava Fries, Patricia Glazer, Susan Grode, Howard W. Koch Jr., Nancy and Alan Livingston, Barbara Marshall and Robert Zemeckis.
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Untarnished: Piero Selvaggio plans to celebrate the silver anniversary of his popular Valentino restaurant Aug. 17 with cocktails and dinner benefiting Share Our Strength, the national anti-hunger organization that mobilizes industries and individuals to contribute to fighting hunger. SOS has distributed more than $40 million to 800 organizations since 1984.
Arnold Peter of Universal Studios and Michael Mitchell of Motown Record Co. are honorary co-chairmen.
Waiters on the patio will present Mumm Cordon Rouge and a silver anniversary drink featuring Campari. Chefs Angelo Auriana of Valentino, Luciano Pellegrini of Posto and Hector Lopez of Primi, with guest chef Roberto Donna of Galileo in Washington, D.C., will prepare the four-course dinner. The “sophisticated-casual attire” request on the invitations raises the question: What’s sophisticated?
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Ferragosto: Following Italy’s custom of commemorating midsummer with lavish celebrations on Aug. 16, hundreds will also observe Ferragosto in Newport Beach at Tutto Mare, in Fashion Island. Mimes, dancing and auctions will bring in funds for the Orange County Chapter of Childhelp USA, which combats child abuse.
Elsewhere on the Social Circuit
* Can you feel those Midas touches? The Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, as tangible proof of their mission to St. Anne’s and its mission to meet the challenges of adolescent sexuality, pregnancy and parenting, have donated $2.74 million for St. Anne’s endowment. Says Tom Owenson, president, “It’s a magnificent contribution” . . . The Concern Foundation raised nearly $1 million for cancer research at its 23rd annual Block Party on July 12 at Paramount Pictures’ New York Street back lot . . . Carolbeth Korn of Beverly Hills has given $100,000 to the UCLA School of Public Health, helping to kick off the school’s $15-million campaign for a new building . . . Supporters of Project Angel Food raised $175,000 to feed people with AIDS at their July 12 celebration.
* The Coronet Debutante Ball Board hosted its annual summer luncheon Aug. 2 at the Bel-Air Country Club.
