Fresh Start on a New Social Calendar

If one of your big presents this week was a diary or a personal organizer it’s none too early to start jotting down some significant dates for 1986.

Jan. 26 for the first of the Sunday Night Supper Club’s dinner dances in the New Year. This one’s in the Beverly Wilshire’s Le Grand Trianon with Mrs. Robert Burns Coleman Jr. as chairman and Mrs. Chandler Harris and Mrs. Alec R. Jack as co-chairmen. The series benefits the Emphysema Foundation.

Jan. 30 when the Crittenton Center presents its First International Humanitarian Award to Madame Jihan Sadat, widow of the Egyptian leader, at a dinner at the Century Plaza. Sidney Poitier explains that Crittenton “mends broken children.” It deserves a lot of support.

Also on Jan. 30 Armand Hammer hosts a luncheon at the Century Plaza where the Hammer Prize Foundation will award its fourth $100,000 Cancer Prize to Dr. Steven Rosenberg of the National Cancer Institute and Dr. Tadatsuga Taniguchi of Osaka University.

Feb. 9 for the Marymount High School Alumnae Assn.’s sixth Loretta Wu Wong Scholarship Banquet helping to usher in the Chinese New Year at Madame Wu’s Garden. There’ll be a dragon parade and much clanging of the drums. The honorary chairs are members of the Harmon family--Tom, Elyse, daughters Kris and Kelly, both Marymount alumnae, and son Mark. And the dinner committee is headed by Alumnae Assn. president Susan Pellem Grody, Julie Pinckert and Marymount’s Sister Charles McAuley.

Feb. 15 for Frank Sinatra’s Valentine Love-In III in Palm Springs, a benefit for the Desert Hospital Foundation. The former Mrs. Carleton Coveny who married Santa Cruz attorney Stephen Wyckoff on Nov. 8 is the evening’s special events chairman.

March 20 when Vidal Sassoon is dinner chairman and producer-composer-arranger Quincy Jones the honoree for the 13th Annual Whitney M. Young Jr. Award Dinner at the Century Plaza. Sidney Poitier, Vidal says, will preside.

May 2 when the Americana Associates have the Baroness Edmond de Rothschild as the honoree at their Orchid Ball with Mrs. George Bales as chairman. As usual the Beverly Wilshire’s Ballroom will be blooming with cymbidiums from Associates founder Marion Malouf’s garden.

May 31 when the Luminaires Juniors of the Estelle Doheny Eye Foundation stage their annual round-up. This year Luminaires’ new president Mrs. Donald J. Hromadka says it will be a Cattleman’s Barbecue Bonanza.

The Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Los Angeles and its manager of consumer relations, Lucy Boswell, made it possible for 1,400 disadvantaged children to formally adopt Cabbage Patch Kids for Christmas.

Bears are Doug Hiatt’s thing at the moment. The interior designer arrived at Norman and Eileen Kreiss’ new Kreiss Collection showroom in a stretch limo, carrying a bear and wearing bear slippers. “Best shod feet in town,” host Norman commented. After lunch Doug and his bears (he donated one of them to Toys for Tots) set off followed by a caravan of Rolls-Royces to do his Christmas shopping on Rodeo Drive.

The Kreisses and their three sons--Mike, Bobbie and Tom--were launching their new space (built before the turn of the century, it originally housed a large marketplace for West Hollywood) with the first of a series of luncheons. Upstairs in the penthouse the tables were set with unfilled travertine candlesticks and bowls filled with curly cabbage and tall white lilies. Le St. Germain To Go laid out the feast--cold veal, an assortment of salads and dessert tarts. And the crowd checking out the new merchandise before they sat down to lunch included some of Southern California’s best-known taste makers--Jim Northcutt, who with partner Lou Cataffo will be redecorating the Beverly Hills Hotel; Phyllis Morris; Bea Korshak; Suzanne Turman and partner Harriet Stewart; Barbara Heyman; Pat Vazzana (he helped Nancy Reagan with the decor of the California ranch house); J. J. Fox; Lee Poll; Mark Hite; Irwin Stroll; Don Robinson; Hank Morgan (he wore a Christmas red sweater vest); Bill Lane; Ann McCulley; Sherri Schlesinger and a few more.

The crowd, all in a holiday mood, packed Dale Snodgrass’ Willowdale Gallery to sip and munch and chat about parties past and future. Making their way through the antiques were Sue (back from Hong Kong) and Marty Harwick with Bill and Alice Eisenberg (they all went on to celebrate Bill’s 75th birthday at the Beverly Hilton’s L’Escoffier); Contessa Cohn; Sachi and Larry Irwin; Anne Jeffreys Sterling; Rita Cruikshank; Lucy Boswell; Elaine Chichester; Suzanne and Dr. Joseph Marx; Dr. and Mrs. Robert Heebner; Dr. and Mrs. Arturo Duarte; Bob and Jane Kramer; Cheryll Clarke; Carol and Barry Kaye; Mimi Niklas and daughter Stephanie; former Councilwoman Peggy Stevenson; Dr. and Mrs. Richard Natale; Philip and Bernice Gershon; Robert and Liliane Wyshak and their daughter Robin; Molly Noble and enough more to make it a very cozy affair. Helping Dale greet her guests were husband, Charles, son Gene, daughter Marie and her husband, Steve Tramz. A few days later the Snodgrasses were doing some more holiday entertaining, this time at the Hong Kong Regent on Beverly Drive.

The poinsettia-banked party room at the Rangoon Racquet Club was where Grace and Merrill Lowell brought together family and friends for a festive little holiday repast. After the Scotch eggs and the cheese everyone got down to the serious business of ordering.

After dinner when the conversations were at their peak, Christopher Matsumoto had a hard time keeping his eyes open. “These days he finishes up at Flower Fashions at midnight; I get home at 7 p.m.,” explained his wife, the former Kathy Finley. Chris perked up considerably when the birthday cake arrived with one candle and everyone began to sing “Happy Birthday.” Contributing to the chorus were Doris Finley and Karl Dargis, Jessica Vitti and Philip Salet, Paul and Faye Matsumoto.

As the Lowells’ group left, proprietor Manny Zwaff, a slim Santa Claus, wished them all happy holidays. And there were more cheery exchanges as they ran into George Roberts, back from Europe, and Terrence Young, who were waiting for their cars.

Tim and Nancy Vreeland and Marilyn and Harry Lewis chose the same Sunday for their holiday open houses. The Lewises’ did it in their beautiful new Hamlet Gardens in Westwood Village on the site of what was once Marion Davies’ millinery shop and later Wil Wright’s ice cream parlor (the Gardens opens officially today). The Vreelands welcomed their guests in their chic Westside apartment.

At the Vreelands we had Betsy Bloomingdale, Bettina Chandler, Lee Minnelli, Jill Cartter, Dwight and Dona Kendall, Jayne and Henry Berger, Peggy Parker and Walter Grauman, Nick and Felisa Vanoff, Myles Lowell, Tamara Asseyev, Mary and Brad Jones, and lots of others. And at the Hamlet Gardens there were, among loads more, Dana and Cubby Broccoli, Mike and Linda Curb, Adrea and Victor Carter, Sidney Sheldon, Marcia and Larry Israel, Nat Dumont, Contessa Cohn with Terry Leone.

The Social Scramble: Lunching at the Bistro--Jean Smith with Harriet Zukas, Chardee Trainer and Marjorie Miller, the latter two the newest members of the Colleagues. Over at the Bistro Garden Mrs. Earle Jorgensen lunched with Mrs. William A. Wilson, wife of our ambassador to the Vatican, Mrs. William Winans and Mrs. Mervyn LeRoy. At another table Mrs. Gabriel Barnett was hosting a little farewell lunch for Jeanine Levitt (she was leaving for Australia) with Lady Dodge and Hillevi Schine.

Now that Ma Maison is no more, all of genial Frenchman Pierre Groleau’s pals have followed him to L’Ermitage. Among those in the recent lunch bunch: Joanna Carson who’s become a regular; Joanna Shimkus; Carroll Righter, the astrologer; Grace Robbins with actress Sandra Currie; Ed Hookstratten with Vin Scully; Jacques Camus; the Henry Bergers.

Esther Wachtell and Claire Segal were celebrating Nancy Vreeland’s appointment as coordinator for special events at the Music Center over lunch at Le St. Germain.

The California Overseas Bank’s president, James McNally, and his wife; bank vice presidents Sol Soteras and Debbie Robbins; Sol’s date, Barbara Lande, and Debbie’s husband, Hal, were all toasting the New Year over dinner at Chasen’s. And at a nearby table were Mike Curb, his sister Linda Curb and her dashing beau, the Duke de Sabran Ponteues, the older brother of the Duchess d’Orleans.

Judy Simon, Marsha Caden, Annette Shapiro lunched at the Regency Club with Marianne Porter, executive vice president of the Southern California Affiliates of the American Diabetes Assn., and Lorraine Wilson, executive director of the ADA’s Los Angeles chapter talking about their “no event” fund-raiser soon. Said Judy Simon: “It’s the first time in 13 years we haven’t had a movie premiere. . . . So we’ll send out elegant invitations and there won’t be a party.”

Over at Morton’s where a sparkling Christmas tree dominates the dining room, Pia Zadora was dining with her manager, Tino Barzie, fight manager and impressario Don King, Wink Martindale (Pia’s husband, Meshulam Riklis, was home sick); Joanna Carson, looking very Chanel-ish, was with a group of women friends; Linda Evans was at another table. Peter Morton, making his usual rounds, revealed he was off to Australia on Christmas Day to get things going on a Hard Rock Cafe in Sydney.

In London, the Royal Roof of the Royal Garden Hotel is the newest place for chic gatherings. The hotel overlooks Kensington Park Gardens and the palace where Prince Charles and Princess Di and Princess Margaret live. And that’s some view.

Margaret Gardner, who heads up Rogers & Cowan’s European operations, hosted a luncheon there for Henry Brandon, former Washington correspondent for the London Sunday Times, who had just received the Commander of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace. Brandon’s wife, Muffie, and their daughter Fiona; Margaret Jay (her ex-husband, Peter Jay, was British ambassador to the United States); Baroness van Zuylen, who flew in from Paris; the Michael Packenhams and Mrs. James Adams, wife of the London Sunday Times editor, were all there.

A few days later James Brown, the hotel’s general manager, brought together for the first time the U.S. cultural attache Anne Collins, who is from Los Angeles, and her Russian counterpart, Gennady Fedosov, at a dinner that celebrated the success of the Geneva summit meetings.