Greek odyssey for performing arts center

A belly dancer clad in a blue bikini and adorned in clanging gold coins slithered through the dining room, accepting gifts of paper money carefully stuffed into her topby appreciative men and women. It was just another midweek dinner on the O.C. social circuit.

Actually, it was anything but just another dinner. The glamorous gals of the Sound of Music Chapter of the Guilds of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, along with their debonair husbands, gathered at the swank Shady Canyon Golf Club recently to “Experience the Greek Odyssey,” as the event was called.

Homer would have been proud. It was a special evening in recognition of the underwriters for Saturday’s gala fundraiser, to be produced by the Sound of Music guild, one of the most active groups at the center.

The excitement began with a sunset reception in the graceful dining room of the club, designed to create a mood of old California. The hills of Shady Canyon are still rural despite the explosion of estate construction, and the aroma of newly mown hay permeated the air. The silence of the hills at night was punctuated only by the occasional cricket and the laughter of the crowd sharing a glass of wine at the end of a busy day.

The scene was set. Dinner was served. Introductions were made. Sound of Music co-chairs Danni Good and Diane Palumbo worked the room. Underwriting co-chairs Beth Hart, Irene Tomkinson and Stacey Von Berg announced an impressive tally, with nearly $200,000 raised for the gala, to be held at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach.

It’s the big annual fundraiser for the Sound of Music guild. This year’s theme is all Greek. Cartier, represented by the lovely Caroline Jones of South Coast Plaza, will again be front and center. Major donors include Pelican Point’s Sally and Randy Crockett and Harriet and Sandy Sandhu. Also lending hefty support are Stan Hanson and Eve Kornyei, Lori and John Loftus, Nancee and Dr. Richard Swenson, and Kelly and John Hague. Judy Pederson and Denise Tsujioka are chairing the Saturday evening gala in conjunction with auction chairs Laura Baratta and Erica Swensson. The Sound of Music gals hope to raise a six-figure sum for the center.

Also in the crowd for the underwriter’s dinner were Sound of Music members Jennifer Condas, Pamela Lowry, Shelly Elam, Leslie Concellieri, Tracy Martin, Grace Thelen, Linda Lamitie, Patsy Marshall, Kathie Porter and Paula Macko.