Friends of Fine Arts Raises Funds for USC

All the ladies who have them no doubt will be wearing their coveted Jean Louis gowns when the Friends of Fine Arts at USC celebrates Jewel Gala II on Feb. 1 at the Beverly Hilton.

For the “24-Karat Extravaganza” the dinner committee is featuring a retrospective of the couturier’s work, produced by June Van Dyke.

The golden evening honors George Charles Page, the benefactor. And it will be a major fund-raiser. Tables of 10 are going for $25,000. Such a gift assures the donor a scholarship in his name for a fine arts student, whereas tickets for $250 and $500 will be just for fun.

John S. Gordon is dean of the school. Jewel Gala II underwriters include Mr. and Mrs. Happy I. Franklin, the Armand Hammers, Fred Hayman, Gale Hayman, the Harry Liffs and the Eric T. Staniecks.

Working the dinner committee are Mmes. Kennedy B. Galpin, Harold Borden, William A. Feathers, Gale Hayman, Donald Hicks, James D. Hodgson, Frances Klein, Harry A. Liff, Charles K. Mair, Merrill Lowell, Cornelius J. Pings, Robert C. Westmyer and many more.

Bobbie Gavigan, volunteer programs director at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, tells us “Everything is on go” for the CARES Horse Show, previewing Feb. 9 with a benefit dinner.

USC’s Traveler will start the proceedings at the Equestrian Center. More than 700 horses from around the country will compete.

William Shatner and his actress wife Marcy are honorary chairmen. He’ll ride in the show along with other celebrities and some of the best riders and horses in the nation.

CARES, the medical center auxiliary, has Mrs. Donald Petit and Mrs. Allen W. Mathies Jr. as co-chairmen.

The show is dedicated to the memory of CARES founder, Mrs. Lester T. Hibbard (Betty Ann), first president. A perpetual trophy for the American saddle-bred five-gaited championship, in her name, will be presented at the benefit. Her many friends plan to make it an annual.

Involved are Mmes. J. Howard Payne, Louise C. Ball, Irving Gordon, Harold Tsuji (CARES president), Lawrence Jones, Harold H. Howland, Edward H. Barker, William Galloway, Paul Decker, Richard Gavigan, Reginald Floyd, Richard Miller, Louis J. Lombardo Jr., A. Franklin Turner, John M. Weiner, Nancy Armstrong and Nancy Castillo, and also Arden L. Day Jr., Stuart Kadison and Gregory Fant.

C. John Burk of the biological sciences department at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., shed winter snow and spoke to the joint meeting of the Smith Club of Pasadena and the Pasadena Garden Club this week at Caltech.

Later, Smith Club president Marilyn Brumder and other alumnae took him to lunch to quiz him on his research in ecology, floristics and the biogeography of wetlands and coastal areas.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Affiliates are about to begin selling premium California wines under an exclusive Los Angeles Philharmonic label.

An eclectic group gathered recently in the Music Center Board Room to choose the new Philharmonic Vintage Selection. We don’t know whether the selection was a democratic process, but giving a vote were Philharmonic board chairman Rocco C. Siciliano; composer Toru Takemitsu and Mrs. Takemitsu, in town for the world premiere of his piano concerto, “Riverrun”; Philharmonic principal guest conductor Simon Rattle; chef/restaurateur Wolfgang Puck; businessman/wine expert Jerry Magnin; president of the Philharmonic Men’s Committee James Cheney, and chef/restaurateur Bernard Jacoupy.

Their choices will be unveiled at a gala preview Feb. 6, backstage at the Pavilion. You know the wine will sing.

Latino achievers are in the spotlight Saturday at the fifth annual Hispanic of the Year Awards at the Ambassador. CAMINOS magazine names the winners, the four top vote-getting names in different categories, including art, business, community development, education, entertainment, labor, law, media, politics, science/medicine, social service and sports.

Among nominees are Raul Rodriquez, award-winning float designer for the Pasadena Rose Parade; Katherine D. Ortega, U.S. treasurer; Paul Gonzales, U.S. gold medalist in boxing for the 1984 Olympics, and Tichi Wilkerson, publisher and editor-in-chief of the “Hollywood Reporter.”

One of the 52 candidates will be named Hispanic of the Year.

More than 900 are expected to attend. Edward James Olmos will be master of ceremonies.

Cookie time. The Girl Scouts will be knocking at your door (and loyal parents will be pushing sales at the office) Friday through Feb. 10, taking orders for those tasty confections at $2 a box.

A sugar-free Cheddar cheese cracker and a caramel-chocolate cookie bar are available. Deliveries are in March when the Scouts also sell cookies at various locations.

Funds go to the troops, but Scout leaders say the experience also teaches girls how to meet the public, be neat, tidy and courteous.

Opera diva Dorothy Kirsten will be honored by the Palm Springs Opera Guild of the Desert Saturday evening at a black-tie gala. Among fans are Mark Donner, chairman; Joseph Heller, his co-chairman; Al Bushman, sponsor, and Hendrick DeBoer, president. Tickets are $150.

Pierre Cossette, long-time friend of Bob Newhart, produces the show Sunday evening at the Beverly Hilton toasting Newhart and his 25 years in show business. He’s being honored as Man of the Year by AIMS (Auxiliary of the Multiple Sclerosis Society).

The telephone, we hear, is the show theme: It launched Newhart’s career because he taped long telephone calls between himself and a friend and used the tapes to audition. The tapes ultimately provided Newhart with a job as a Chicago TV man in the street. That led to Warner Brothers records for his first comedy album, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” then to nightclub engagements and his television series (with Emmy and Peabody awards) and Las Vegas.

Toyota hosts the event, so all proceeds will go directly to MS research and those who suffer from the disease.

AIMS chairman is Harriett Lederman. Mireya Jones is dinner chairman, and Ellie Bingham, entertainment.

Exclusives of the Oscar de la Renta spring collection are promised by Neiman-Marcus of Newport Beach for the American Cancer Society of Orange County black-tie affair Sunday at the Newport Meridien Hotel.

As ball chairman, Beverly Thompson-Coil is upping profits with a sealed-bid auction atop the $150 tickets. Other organizers include Sassy Luby, Barbara Harris, Joan Stevens, Mary Ann Miller, Chris Lindsey, Ruth Jensen, Michael Perkins, Barbara Stewart, Beverly Minney and Belinda Barnett.