Constitution Revelers Get Out the Red, White, Blue

That lady whose torch lights New York Harbor was not the only centenarian in the country to be given a red, white and blue reception during Fourth of July week.

Nearly 400 members and friends of the San Diego County Chapter of the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution ambled down to the Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park for a celebration on Fourth of July eve to kick off the more than three years’ worth of festivities that will culminate in 1989 with the 200th anniversary of the Constitution.

This early-evening blowout, which was hidden away in the courtyard that is the hole in the doughnut-shaped museum, sent out several kinds of homing signals that proved useful to strangers to this corner of the park. Anyone with a moderately functional nose could have found the party from a good half-mile away--the aroma of sizzling barbecued ribs and chicken sailed around the park like a ship laden with spices and perfumes.

The ears, also, could home in on this party easily enough, thanks to the Navy Band San Diego, which dropped anchor just outside the museum’s entrance and serenaded arriving guests with an appropriately stirring selection of marches. This band, however, was just a sort of clef to the musical groups that waited inside; the Patrick Henry High School Marching Patriots entertained with patriotic melodies, and later, the Navy’s Port and Starboard Combo played for dancing. (Obviously, when a party hopes to hop to all these Navy drums and basses, it helps to have a little Navy brass on the steering committee, and this one had plenty, including Rear Adm. Bruce Boland and Vice Adm. James E. Service.)

Nor was uniformed brass the only sort in the spotlight that evening. Party chairman Janie Newell arranged for a roster of speakers, all on patriotic themes, that was a blue-ribbon roster indeed, and included Reps. Jim Bates, Duncan Hunter and Ron Packard, as well as state Sen. Wadie Deddeh.

The Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution was established by Congress in 1983 and will continue to function through 1989. Retiring Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger is chairman of the commission, whose major goals are to heighten awareness and deepen understanding of the Constitution, the freedoms it guarantees and the civic responsibilities upon which its preservation depends.

Thousands of organizations across the country have been promoting the commission’s goals, and the San Diego County chapter already has scheduled a series of events, including boat and hot air balloon races, air shows and a ball, that will culminate with a parade on Sept. 17, 1987.

Joan Bowes is chairman of the San Diego County group, and her committee includes Judges Earl Gilliam, Jack Levitt and Elizabeth Riggs, County Supervisor Susan Golding, Charles W. Hostler, Philip Klauber, Author Hughes, Jack Morse, Fern Murphy, Tom Sefton, Gene Yee, Gordon Luce, Joe Francis, Louarn Fleet, Wanda Kaufman, Robert Golden and Kenneth Thygerson.

Among those assisting with the kickoff celebration plans were Reba Brophy, John Vandegriff, Ann and Bob Plachta, Eleanor and Al Mikkelsen, Sally Fuller, Patsy Gaynor, Virginia Gaburo, Ruth Summitt, Vicci Taft, Charlene Meenan, Barbara Ozeroff, Jeannie Groebli, Janie Collins and Mara Pollack.

LA JOLLA--Meanwhile, on the Fourth of July, the rockets’ red glare and the bombs bursting in air brought smiles to the face of terrorism expert Mary Duncan.

Safely ensconced with about 30 close friends in her penthouse apartment high above La Jolla Cove, the San Diego State University professor and author (she is working on a book-length “expose” of evangelist Terry Cole-Whittaker) cheered loudly as La Jolla’s now-annual fireworks extravaganza exploded in the heavens above the dark Pacific. Her buddies, several of them immigrants from other lands for whom Independence Day holds a special significance, cheered too, their energy fueled by the lavish, international-themed buffet Duncan had spread before the sparkling show.

This was an artsy crowd, and the guests’ descriptions of the sometimes Rorshachian meanings the star bursts held for them were colorful. The list of those who work directly in the arts included film maker Carroll Blue, Shakespearean scholar and dramaturge Gideon Rappaport and playwright Manny Peluso, with his wife, Lucy.

Among the guests who were born abroad were Alma Joyce Lynch, a member of the Irish clan that counted author James Joyce among its number, and banker Bob Turner, who was born in Germany and in 1956 became, at age 7, the youngest person ever to take out his own United States naturalization papers (the law previously had required that individuals seeking the status of naturalized citizenship be at least 18).

Others attending this holiday rendezvous were Joan Hoffman, Michael Carter, Jonathon Saville, Ricardo Guerro, Faye and Richard Russell (Richard Russell publishes the Dow Theory Letter, the oldest financial report in the country), developer Joseph Tuana, Christine Gere, poet Natasha Josefowitz, Herman Gadon and Bruno Geba (a former Olympic ski instructor who taught the late Shah of Iran how to tackle the slopes).

Earlier in the week, several hundred supporters of the La Jolla Playhouse warmed up on barbecued beef and beans before feasting on a program of jazz served up by cornetist Nat Adderley, singer Nancy Wilson, saxophonist Kenny G. and a lively supporting cast of notable jazzmen. Event benefactors stayed around after the show to share champagne and pastries with the performers.

Billed as “A Tribute to Cannonball Adderley,” the June 29 fund-raiser benefited La Jolla Playhouse. The late Cannonball, with his brother Nat, wrote the score for the theater’s first production of the season, “Shout Up a Morning.” Most of the patrons who crowded the Mandel Weiss Center for the Performing Arts had already seen “Shout,” which closed that day with a matinee, so for them the moment became a musical double helping.

Event chairman Dorothy Johnston certainly savored the moment; armed with a camera, she paused just long enough from her duties as unofficial party photographer to ask, “Isn’t this a fun, exciting way to kick off the summer? I can never get enough jazz!” Also working on the event were co-chairman Joan Jacobs and committee members Jill Bradburn, Janet Cadenhead, Nancy Hester and Mac Canty; it fell to Canty’s lot to trim dozens of stalks of torch ginger, an exotic, brightly colored plant, into the musical notes that decorated the alfresco dining tables.

Olga Adderley, Cannonball’s widow, and producer-arranger Quincy Jones shared the duties of the honorary chairmanship. Among the guests in attendance were Rita Bronowski; playwright William Hauptman and his wife, Marjorie (Hauptman’s book for “Big River” earned him a Tony Award last year); William and Virginia Chasey; Roger and Ellen Revelle; Arthur and Molli Wagner; Willard and Jean VanderLaan; Paul and Jinx Ecke; Mary Williams with Ted Graham; Bob and Carol Randolph Caplan; Paul and Barbara Saltman; Nancy Gentry, and Craig Courtemanche with his daughter, Lisa.