The Crowd

B.W. Cook

The classy Lido Isle duo Marion Palley and Rhanda Phair are true miracle

workers. With less than 90 days of planning and preparation, Palley and

Phair, with able assistance from a dedicated crew, will chair the

inaugural Newport Beach Spring Antiques Show and Sale, in conjunction

with the Lido Isle Women’s Club, on May 12 and 13.

Elegant invitations were in the mail last week for not only the show,

which will feature many of the finest dealers in Southern California, but

also for the gala preview night affair slated for May 11 to benefit

Childhelp USA and Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. The

$100-per-person admission to opening night will raise money for charity

and set the tone for the show.

With the first-class taste level of Palley, Phair and others including

Karen Littlefair and Sharon McKinnon supporting the event, it promises to

be one of the smash success outings of late spring.

Besides quality antique furniture of French, English and American origin,

the show will feature early California art, prints, maps, books, silver,

porcelain, linens and textiles, chandeliers, lamps, painted pieces, and

even estate jewelry. A tent will be erected at San Remo Park on Lido Isle

to house the show, with the Lido Isle Clubhouse being turned into a cafe

on the water.

Tickets to the show are $12 at the door and $10 in advance. Special donor

patron packages are also available. This should be the start of a major

annual event in Newport Beach.

For more information, call Karen Littlefair at (949) 675-6838. Tickets

may be reserved by calling (949) 723-4700.

*

Paul Baldwin, another Lido citizen, has been recognized by the San Diego

Museum of Art honoring his late mother, Maruja Baldwin.

Baldwin attended a major-league art reception last week in San Diego

hosted by the museum board. A recent $1-million bequest and a 1988 gift

to the museum of a world-renowned collection of works by Toulouse Lautrec

collected by the late Maruja and Baldwin M. Baldwin, were the reason for

the celebration and the recognition.

“My mother, who wished always to be known only as Maruja, found San

Diego, the San Diego Museum of Art, and the wonderful people associated

with the museum to be some of the most rewarding and fulfilling people

and places she ever encountered,” Paul Baldwin said. “I hope I can carry

on the tradition and spirit of Maruja at the San Diego Museum of Art.”

*

The highlight of the social week in Newport was surely the appearance of

Julie Nixon Eisenhower at the Diamond Jubilee celebration luncheon of the

Assistance League of Newport-Mesa.

The very pretty and personable Eisenhower shared memories of the White

House with the crowd. She was neither political nor issue-oriented in her

delivery, instead focusing on the lifestyle side of the political bubble.

The crowd adored her, treating her as if she was one of their own. And,

in some ways she indeed was.

Kathy Harvey, Jan Murar, Teresa Pomeroy and Mary Fox represented the

league in organizing the sold-out luncheon at the Newport Beach Marriott

Hotel at Fashion Island.

Underwritten by generous Assistance League patrons, including John and

Donna Crean, Bruce and Jill Ayres, Jim and Susan Callas, Roger and

Joycelyn Gilbert, John and Mary Lynn Bergman Rallis, and many more, the

afternoon was a warm, family reunion of ladies who have served the league

and the county for many years.

One of the most charming anecdotes shared by Eisenhower was the story of

first meeting a young reporter named Jacqueline Bouvier. Julie was a

young child of 4 in 1952 when her father, Richard Nixon, served under

Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The Times Herald sent a young photojournalist named Bouvier to do a light

story on the children of Washington. Julie happened to be playing in the

family yard in Georgetown when Bouvier walked through the gate. She

introduced herself to the young child, took her photo playing, and asked

her one question.

“Do you play with Democrats?” asked Jacqueline Bouvier of the 4-year-old

Julie Nixon. “What’s a Democrat?” the child replied. The photo, and

question/answer ran in the Times Herald and has become a classic piece of

presidential Americana.

Julie Nixon Eisenhower turned to her captive crowd and said, “I’m still

trying to answer that question.” The audience, including Democrats,

roared.

* B.W. COOK’S column appears Thursdays and Saturdays.