Fashionable support for Chapman University

B.W COOK

Martinis were served. Guests danced cheek to cheek. It was the start

of a very romantic evening. An incomparable setting provided by hosts

Twyla and Charles Martin set the tone for an end-of-summer gathering

for the Fashionables in support of Chapman University.

On the oceanfront cliffs above Emerald Bay, some 200 glamorous

patrons arrived at the formidable Martin estate, a Georgian-inspired

stone manor by the sea.

The dinner party was set up on the sloping lawn above the Pacific

facing north and west into the sunset. This was surely O.C. at its

best. A dance combo of Chapman musicians played on, its music

emanating from the Martin’s Orangerie, erected on the far

northeastern edge of the property. In the background, the coastal

hills began to twinkle as the lights of evening flickered. Adrienne

Brennan, Newport’s raven-hair beauty in a red cocktail dress, was

escorted by Ron Jackson.

The evening’s committee included a Newport foursome -- Eve

Kornyei, Rusty Hood, Chris Sulivan and Leslie Cancelliere. What a

team. Power and panache -- the night reflected their touch. Catered

by Adam Navidi, the Martin’s personal chef of choice, the party

unfolded with the style of Gatsby. Everything was elevated just one

notch above superior.

It was an evening to honor Chapman University, and in particular

the Chapman school of film and television. Dean Bob Bassett and his

wife, Janell, attended the affair along with an appearance by Chapman

President Jim Doti and his wife, Lynne Pierson Doti, two of the most

beloved O.C. citizens out and about. Part of the evening presentation

included the screening of Chapman students’ short films in the Martin

theater.

As dinner was served, guests, including Sandra Brodie and Peter

Kaufman, Ollie Hill and Julian Morgan, Sue and Dave Hook, Whitney and

Jerry Mandel, JoAnne and Gene Mix, Nancy Burnett and Glenn Miller,

Christie and Grant Bettingen, Linda and Ron Beale and Mary Dell

Barkouras and Tom Johnston were seated at round tables draped in

black linen out on the gray stone terrace of the estate.

Longtime friends of Chapman, such as Gloria and Ray Osbrink, Diana

and Ed Sterling, Elizabeth Vincent, Vesta Curry, Noddie and Bill

Weltner and Margaret Richardson were also in the dinner crowd sharing

conversation and their connection to Chapman.

At the root of the social agenda is the all-important need to

financially support the university. The Fashionables, one of the most

generous of Chapman donor groups, has pledged $500,000 to support the

new school of TV and film. The funds will go to the creation of a

state-of-the-art board room that will be part of the Chapman Studios,

helping the university become one of the nation’s leading schools of

media in the nation.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.