B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

If you doubt that one individual can make a significant difference in

life, then you did not attend the Hoag Hospital 2001 Sweetheart Ball on

Saturday evening at The Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach.

OK, it’s a charity ball not a nuclear conference to save California

from the power crunch. However, I have found that in any realm of life,

from the most serious to the most sublime, the talent and the vision of a

single person can make or break whatever the goal or purpose might be.

For Hoag Hospital and community members who gathered to raise funds to

support the Hoag Heart Institute, this profound difference came to the

Sweetheart Ball via the vision of presenting sponsor Jo Qualls and her

employer, Tiffany & Co.

The Yorba Room at The Four Seasons is one of the most elegant rooms in

town to throw a dinner for 500 of your best friends. Naturally, it is in

demand, with back-to-back functions year-round. There are people, such as

Qualls, who look at the space and say, “We can do something original in

here.”

She turned the place upside down and created magic. We’ll get to the

details in a little bit.

First, however, Qualls’ touch was made possible by the selfless

dedication of ball co-chairs Anne and Robert Badham, along with the love

and generosity of this year’s honorees, sweetheart couple Maralou and

Jerry Harrington. The quartet attracted a full house of donors to ensure

the financial success of the fund-raiser.

Let us not forget that these dinners are about bringing in funds for

charitable and civic endeavors. Many organizations depend on the success

of such dinners. They are not just icing on the social calendar.

The Harringtons are important members of the community. They are often

first to stand up and be counted on for funds and other support for a

major range of significant causes, from science to the arts. They serve

on boards. They chair events. They underwrite parties, allowing charities

to maximize profits to be used for community purposes.

Therefore, when Hoag Hospital chooses to honor a couple such as the

Harringtons, they are in effect thanking them for their superior level of

support, as well as counting on their community standing to attract a

full and generous crowd to the ball.

As in years past, when couples such as John and Donna Crean, Charlene

and Hans Prager, Nora and Charley Hester, Diane and Michael Stephens,

Marie and Bob Gray, Clarice and Norm Dahl, Lin and Al Auer, and Patti and

James Edwards have danced the first dance at the Sweetheart Ball, the

reception for the Harringtons was warm and gracious.

Actually, the first Hoag sweetheart was Newport’s Nora Jorgenson

Johnson. Johnson fronted the first ball in 1992. This year, she was front

and center once again to support Hoag, attired in a floor-length gown of

flowing creme and golden silk organza trimmed in dyed-to-match Marabou

feathers.

Devoted husband Jim Johnson, a respected, retired physician, joined

his socially prominent bride for the Harrington evening, beaming as Nora

delivered a moving and inspirational benediction, directly from the

heart, to set the tone for the evening.

Now to some of the details created by Tiffany’s Jo Qualls. First, the

ballroom was turned around, with the focus toward the west rather than

the standard northern wall of the hotel, anchoring the orchestra and the

podium.

The effect was very New York in the sense that the ballroom seemed

larger, longer and somehow grander. The Johnny Crawford orchestra was

positioned on an elevated riser at the far west end of the room.

Musicians wore white dinner jackets with black tie and red valentine

roses on their lapels.

The Harringtons enjoyed a head table, rectangular in shape, at the

center edge of the dance floor. A triad of different shaped vases of red

roses adorned the long table, covered in a red silk cloth over white

underlay, and hundreds of velvet rose pedals were sprinkled around the

china service.

Family and friends of the Harringtons -- including father Meldrim

Burrill, Pat and Eugene Hancock, Joan and Tom Riach, and Elizabeth

Colyear Vincent -- joined the honored couple for the affair.

Round tables filled the remainder of the ballroom, the chairs covered

in red slipcovers. At each couple’s place setting was a blue Tiffany box

tied in white ribbon containing a red crystal heart to commemorate the

occasion.

The dinner was daring, not your standard filet, but rather Osso Bucco

served over a lemon and herb pasta accented with Italian squash,

asparagus and baby carrots. Even the desert was special, with the ladies

and the gents being served different items, which naturally stimulated

sharing. What better message to convey at a Sweetheart Ball?

Everything worked. The timing of the party was flawless, with speeches

and fund-raising not taking away from the enjoyment.

Maralou Harrington said it all when she approached the microphone

wearing a slinky, floor-length black knit gown and told the assemblage of

Newport society that were it not for the skill and care of Dr. Joel

Manchester and the Hoag Heart staff, they would not be the honored

couple.

“You saved my husband, Jerry’s, life,” she told the crowd barely

holding back emotion.

Applauding the Harringtons and Hoag Hospital were Zee Allred, Pat and

Dick Allen, Robert and Jacqueline Dillman, Carole and Robert Follman,

Elizabeth and Walter Hanson, Marilyn and Dick Hausman, Suki and Randy

McCardle, Ann and Robert McLean, Ginni and Bob Robins, Dave and Ellyn

Snowden, Sheila and Ygal Sonenshine, Diane and Michael Stephens, Ann and

Mike Howard, Billur Wallerich, Catherine Thyen, and Al and Lin Auer.

A major highlight of the evening was the solo performance by violinist

Drew Tetrick. A very special event on the Orange Coast, with every detail

examined and produced by people who make a difference for Hoag Hospital

and the entire community.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.