A Stand-Up Gala Viewed Sitting Down
San Diego’s English Speaking Union chapter celebrated Twelfth Night in the very proper Walnut Room at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.
It was a stand-up affair, which proved to be very interesting when viewed while sitting down, the better to see the black ballet slippers and red dirndl worn by Henrietta Davies (“without the apron,” she explained), the kilts worn by Jack Campbell and matching tartan skirt worn by his wife, Christine, the combination of white socks and knee pants and black slippers worn by Rob Archer (who was passing himself off as a court jester) and the black shoes and tights worn with blue anklets and a short blue top by Effie Von Helmolt.
The Twelfth Night ritual is a kind of yule postlude. It is said to date from the year 567, with embellishments coming a thousand years later in the regime of Henry VIII. Festivities include presentations of the peacock pie (actually, a shallow mince pie purchased by Marion Maynard at Ralphs), the king’s cake (a fruitcake with a dried bean inside, which nobody found), and the queen’s cake, which was supposed to contain a dried pea but had a candied violet instead.
When the dust from the peacock feathers cleared, Jack Winans was proclaimed next year’s king and his wife, Bobbi, the queen because he found a candied violet. John and Barbara Sproul were this year’s king and queen.
Margie Price presided. Onlookers included Jack Bungay, John and Joyce Oliver, Eloise Stiverson, Aline and Quinn Hornaday, the Arthur Herzmans, the Al Sallys, the Lee Knutsons, Nancy and Tom Wedrick (they are new national patrons of the English Speaking Union) and Dick Thompson.
The English Speaking Union gets down to more serious business Wednesday when it presents Sir Patrick Wall, member of Parliament, at the San Diego Yacht Club. He will be the guest of Mrs. D. Rex Tallman.
Lenor Craig, who was born in Mexico City and has given tirelessly to so many San Diego organizations, was honored at a luncheon celebrating her new U.S. citizenship. Sally Bullard Thornton was the hostess. It was held in the new Chambrette restaurant, a place with Mexican Colonial leanings in its decor, at the Sheraton-Harbor Island West.
Among the guests were Leni Arnhym, who was born in Beirut but became an American citizen in 1941; Georgina Hodges Gale, who was born in Yuma, Ariz. (a city founded by one of her ancestors), although her parents lived in Tijuana at the time; Ruth Heinz Carpenter, who still claims to be a citizen of Pittsburgh; florist Alice Zukor, who shows leanings toward becoming at least a part-time citizen of Mexico (she provided table bouquets in shades of pink and mauve to match the room), and Emmy Cote, who has become a resident of Rancho Santa Fe, having left Point Loma, where most of the people present, including the honoree, still live.
The engagement of Lee Hill Carson to Tara K. Brenglinger of Columbus, Ohio, was formally announced at the annual holiday party given by the parents of the bridegroom-to-be, Dr. and Mrs. John Carson of La Jolla. An Aug. 17 wedding is planned.
The 11th annual Heart & Hand Ball, a benefit for the Home of Guiding Hands, takes place at the San Diego Hilton on Feb. 2, the same night as the Charity Ball at the Hotel del Coronado. Chairman Gary Montoya and his committee have arranged for a five-course dinner plus chocolate-dipped strawberries, which will be served during dancing to the music of the Hollman-Milford Orchestra.
The committee includes Brian and Belinda Bales, Jim and Irmtraud Bass, Dan and Joy McLaughlin, Lyle Gabrielson, Alan and Yordis Frostrom, Kathy Curran, Ray and Norma Johnson, Chet and DeOro Davis, Dora Place, Mary Montoya, Pat Bertness, Alice Zukor, David Lotzgesello and Harley Barrows. Call the Home of Guiding Hands for reservation information.
The 1985 Women of Dedication were introduced at a tea at the Raymond Peet home. They are Ruth Carpenter, Alison Gildred, Dorothy Helm, Dorothy Hom, Verna St. Clair King, Grace Klauber, Karon Luce, Ophelia Mayo, Virginia Monday, Anne Otterson, Betty Peabody, Lois Roon, Muriel Rosten, Eileen Shaw and Alma Spicer. The Women of Dedication luncheon with a Saks Fifth Avenue fashion show (guest designer David Hayes) takes place Feb. 15 at the San Diego Hilton.