Volleyball Exhibition Warms La Jolla Party

It is said that French has lost its status as the language of international diplomacy, but none of the 250 guests seated around Betty Summers’ tennis court had the least difficulty in understanding the orders barked by the French announcer to his compatriots on the National Volleyball Team of France.

“Vite, vite, il fait froid!” he exclaimed, which his shivering audience sympathetically translated as, “It’s cold! Let’s get this game over with and head back to the buffet!”

The French team and their opponents, the U.S. men’s volleyball team, took the cue, and the match concluded in a barrage of balls that bombarded the spectators like hail at a Kansas picnic. Everyone agreed that this minor inconvenience, which resulted in a few close shaves and several spilled drinks, merely added to the fun of being there.

Summers presented the evening as a benefit for the U.S. men’s and women’s teams, both of which call San Diego home. The men’s team captured Olympic gold in 1984, and won the 1985 World Cup championship. The proceeds from the exhibition match and reception will help send the team to the next world championship. That competition will be in Paris in September, and a member of the French team, after sizing up the American competition, said, “Oui, ca sera un jeu!” (Translated excessively loosely, that is: “Look out, the Yanks are coming!”)

Although the drafts blowing up from the sea made the evening unseasonably arctic (many of the women professed to envy the players their warm-up suits), the guests gave a summery welcome to the American and French teams. The camaraderie may have seemed the most enthusiastic near the Huo-Vila Caterers buffet tables (pates and such, but no quiche), where the cans of blazing Sterno raised the temperature by a degree or so.

Since the real competition was to take place the following night at San Diego State University, the two teams indulged in a relatively carefree, easygoing pair of games. Indeed, one American player remarked that it was hard to feel competitive toward a group of opponents who were also uniformed in red, white and blue. Certain formalities were observed beforehand, though; the anthems of both countries were sung, and the players, as tradition demands, exchanged token gifts before the first ball sailed through the air. Gift-giving apparently plays a certain role in the sport of volleyball, and among those on the receiving end of this pleasant custom was hostess Summers, who was awarded a kiss and a bouquet by U.S. team captain Karch Kiraly.

Summers, who appeared to enjoy to the hilt her role as a temporary sports promoter, said that her acquaintance with big-time volleyball is of relatively recent vintage. She explained that part of her enthusiasm has been inspired by the fact that her daughter, Linda, who attended the match, is a director of USA Volleyball Inc. Daughter Suanne Summers joined the family party.

Al Monaco, executive director of the U.S. Volleyball Assn., flew in from Colorado Springs, Colo., for the event and said he was not surprised by the heavy attendance. “This team is like San Diego’s Olympic franchise,” he said. “It’s one of the town’s hottest properties.”

Among those whose presence supported this point of view were event chairman Joe Purdie, Kim and Marilyn Fletcher, Frank and Sandi Kingery, Jerry Mandel, Larry and Ewa Robinson, Mike and Lynn Harland, Lee and Mary Rice, Harry and Dorothy Johnston, Ron and Marilyn Smith, John and Sandra DePuy, Fernanda Sammis, Dennis Jay, Dana Fahey, Rudy and Colleen Suwara, and Kent Brooks.

SAN DIEGO--The Children’s Hospital and Health Center Auxiliary does not claim to have gone into the business of making miracles happen, but it did produce several at its fourth annual fashion luncheon, “When We Wish Upon a Star . . . Miracles Happen,” which was given April 8 in the Mission Ballroom of the Town & Country Hotel.

Among these miracles:

- Police Chief Bill Kolender was enticed to not merely attend a fashion show, but to participate.

- Thirteen-year-old Jennifer Johnston, who in September became the first child west of the Mississippi to undergo (at Children’s, naturally) a revolutionary surgical procedure for scoliosis, was invited to participate in the event. The young Alpine resident, who dreams of becoming a professional model, would have been denied that dream had her condition not been treated. She took a spot on the stage to assist with the prize drawing that was one of the day’s several highlights.

Master of ceremonies Kolender attributed his presence partly to the fact that event co-chairman Lucy Means is his tennis coach. “I couldn’t stay away--how could you say ‘no’ to Children’s?” he asked. Kolender did seem pleased to have accepted the invitation; after casting a long gaze over the room, he declared: “Have you ever seen so many beautiful women in one room?”

Chairman Marcia Younie and her sizable committee gleefully agreed that they had never seen so many beautiful women in one room. The show attracted a record turnout of 999, a sell-out that resulted in net proceeds of more than $28,000. This sum will be given to the hospital for the benefit of its pediatric intensive care unit.

These 999 women certainly were the stars of the day, but they were not the only stars in sight; star-shaped balloons pinpointed the locations of raffle ticket sellers, silvery stars blossomed among the flowers in the centerpieces, guests received chocolate stars as party favors, and Robinson’s produced a stellar show that was crammed with entertaining interludes.

Jean Hahn served as the event’s honorary chairman. Also present were Auxiliary President Linda Katz, Children’s Hospital President Blair Sadler, Joanne Warren, Joyce Klein, Linda Alessio, Sandra Vecchione, Dorothy Flynn, Carol Dickinson, Ovie Cowling, Susan Hoehn, Betty Bass, Connie Desha, and Carol Alessio, has has been named chairman of the 1987 Charity Ball, which also benefits Children’s Hospital.

The committee included Barbe Breylinger, Carol Nash, Leslie Meads, Rickie Sevadjian, Catherine Blair, Kris Roston, Roxi Link, Sherrie Woods, Darlene Smith, Mary Lou Hart, Joyce Young, Sharon Shea and Marianne Alhadeff.

LA JOLLA--When Mary and Irby Cobb take over a restaurant for dinner, they really take the place over.

This duo not only invited 70 pals to Gustaf Anders for a chic champagne supper, but also brought along their own paintings and Oriental vases, as well as Indian shawls to sling across the walls. They also installed a dance floor and combo in the bar, which they decorated with hundreds of gold and white helium-filled balloons. The ribbons that hung down from the balloons seemed like so many lengths of spaghetti dangling from a pasta tree, but they did nothing to deter those guests in search of the caviar station.

This was a dinner with a purpose: the solicitation of underwriters for the Monte Carlo Ball, “Visions of India,” Aug. 9 at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art for the benefit of that institution. The emphasis on fund-raising was slight, however; when guests sat down to dinner, they found a letter from ball chairman Emmy Cote that outlined the categories of sponsorship available to those who wished to help. (One level of patrons will be known as “Adorable Punjabs,” and as if that title weren’t enticement enough, Cote promised that each A.P. will forever have his image anointed with oils and camphor. Sounds like a deal.)

The Cobbs wrote a jolly little carte du jour that started with Santa Barbara prawns, moved on to fresh green pea soup, continued with veal loin stuffed with Stilton cheese, and concluded with vanilla ice cream in mango sauce.

The mango sauce, of course, paid homage to the “Visions of India” theme assigned this year’s Monte Carlo gala, which is something of a departure from this party’s traditions.

Cote was on hand to discuss her plans for the event. “It will be an evening of fantasy, and I hope everyone will wear a sari or a turban,” she said. It would be cheating to reveal too many details, but anyone who expects the museum to look something like the Taj Mahal will not be disappointed, according to Cote.

Monte Carlo co-chairman Liz Yamada attended with her husband, Joe; also present were Vicki and Haley Rogers, Fran and Ed Marston, Lois and George Osborn, Nancy Podbielniak, Reuben Andrews (who is busy at work designing sets for the party); Dorene and John Whitney, Jeanne and Bill Larson, Jacque Powell, Heather and Jack Metcalf, Marne de Silva, Liz and Chris McCullah, Martha and George Gafford, Luba Johnston, Joan and Ira Katz, Sue and Charles Edwards, Anne and Abe Ratner, and museum director Hugh Davies with his wife, Sally Yard.

SAN DIEGO--The 550 guests who boogied and be-bopped down at the Santa Fe Depot Saturday night all agreed that they shared something in common: They all had been young once.

That may have been one of the motivations that prompted this crowd to turn out for “Fiesta Grande,” a spiffy--and spoofy--fund raiser given for the benefit of The Children’s Museum of San Diego.

“Fiesta Grande” took its Mexican theme seriously, but spoofed it at the same time. Margaritas flowed while mariachis played, and guests stood in line for their share of a buffet that included chilis rellenos and beans, but the first and last party sight they caught was of the donkey stationed at the entrance, next to which they could, Tijuana-tourist style, pose for a photograph.

The Children’s Museum opened in temporary quarters at the La Jolla Village Square mall in 1983, and this party ranked as its largest fund-raiser yet. Co-chairmen Dan McAllister and Gretchen Groff-Mitchell anticipated proceeds in excess of $20,000, which may provide seed money for a move to a permanent site.

“We want a more central location,” said Groff-Mitchell; McAllister hinted that downtown looks promising.

Museum board President George Driver was on hand to participate in what one reveler called a “Yuppie Jewel Ball.” He suggested that while he was impressed by the turnout, he was concerned that the museum is not well-known.

“We want to have as many kids a day in that museum as it can possibly hold,” he said.

The Santa Fe Depot was stuffed with about as many kids--big kids, that is--as it could hold, and the scene looked and sounded like a noisy family fiesta in a Guadalajara garden. The decibel level only increased when the Duck Tail Revue bounced onto the stage and led the group in a frenetic ‘50s revival.

The committee included Betty Blair, Fred Thompson, Eva Sanchez, Biff Leonard, Sandra Baisch Sanders, Katy La Pay, Harlene and Lou Scanlon, Tom Groff, Fred Blecksmith, Steve Sullaway and Ernie Buckley.