Caltech and Associates Mark 60th Year
The Associates have been true to Caltech. Caltech has been true to the Associates. Both have kept their pledges of 60 years ago when a group of men, surrounded by the Huntington’s superb collection of English paintings, vowed to “aid and advance the welfare” of Caltech, and the institute, in turn, vowed to serve as an intellectual and cultural center for the Associates--a place where they might gather for private meetings with distinguished scientists and international leaders, and keep up on world and scientific affairs.
It’s worked out well. The Associates now boast 1,081 members. Just last year alone, the Associates contributed $1,743,717 in unrestricted funds to Caltech, its President’s Circle contributed $3,694,315. Doesn’t that total $5,438,032?
So, now it’s time to celebrate. Bring on the Art Deco Band (for 1920s tripping the light fantastic). Rig the canopy on the Athenaeum lawn. Polish the silver in the Italian Renaissance-style Athenaeum (the faculty club) dining room. Think platinum, the rare metal used to mark 60th anniversaries. The date: Oct. 9.
Erich Block, director of the National Science Foundation, will talk on “Science and Engineering in a Competitive Age” for this thoughtful group.
Six widows of founding members (there were 100 amassed by Nobel laureate Robert A. Millikan, chairman of the Caltech Executive Council, and they were selected as “100 of the most influential people of Southern California”; Henry M. Robinson presided over the first meeting) will be honored, as well as 42 children and 58 grandchildren who live in the Southern California area.
Widows at the anniversary will be Mrs. John E. Barber, Mrs. Russell H. Ballard (widow of the first president), Mrs. Harry J. Bauer, Mrs. Lawrence B. Brooks, Mrs. R. H. Moulton and Mrs. Reese H. Taylor.
Caltech trustees or wives of trustees, who are descendants of founders and will be honored, include John Gilbert Braun, son of C F Braun; honorary life trustee Mrs. Norman Chandler, widow of Norman Chandler whose father was Associates founder Harry Chandler; Mrs. F. Daniel Frost, granddaughter of Harry Chandler; Mrs. Stephen Onderdonk, wife of trustee Stephen Onderdonk and granddaughter of Fred S. Albertson; Mrs. Francis Pesenti, granddaughter of Mr. Braun, and Mrs. Richard R. Von Hagen, wife of trustee Richard R. Von Hagen and daughter of R. B. Lloyd.
Ol’ Blue Eyes is back for the third time to spark the Crystal Ball on Oct. 23 at the Beverly Hilton. Frank Sinatra will host the affair. And there’s a goal of $1 million for the star-studded soiree, set by St. John’s Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica to benefit the new St. John’s Cancer Center.
Peggy Lee, comedian Tom Dreeson, Irv Cottler and his orchestra, and Murray Korda and his Monseigneur Strings have agreed to perform, which is making gala hostess Dolly Green very cheerful. Also, Nancy Reagan, Los Angeles’ most sought-after honorary chairman, will take that title again.
Powerhouse chairmen planning the event are Mrs. Robert H. Adams Jr., Mrs. Earle M. Jorgensen, Mrs. Virginia S. Milner, Mrs. Frank Sinatra, Mrs. William Wilson, Mrs. Jack Wrather. Vice chairmen will be Mrs. Corwin D. Denney, Mrs. William H. Doheny, Mrs. Henry E. Singleton, Mrs. Norman Sprague, Mrs. Charles B. Thornton and Mrs. Rodney F. Williams.
To emphasize how exclusive this is: Tickets are $2,500 per person.
The pink flamingos were wonderfully groomed, the waterfalls were gentle, the woolly monkeys were curious about the onlookers. In general, the animals were looking at the people for the wondrous Beastly Ball Ginny Milner so carefully executed for nearly 550 the other evening at the Los Angeles Zoo.
It was a multi-highlight evening. Perrier and wine, with walks past the rare Golden Monkeys, Jing Jing and Mei Mei, here from China due to the generosity of Dr. Armand Hammer and the Occidental Petroleum Co. Trustee Camron Cooper (she donated $10,000 for the upkeep of a clouded leopard in the auction), Dan Woolley, Nancy and Bill Burrows and Bob and Ann Wycoff were fascinated. So were Marion and Earle Jorgensen. A few opted for an elephant ride. All passed the cages where assorted zoo rarities were on exhibit for viewing to swell the adoption bids later in the evening. Here, Jimmy and Gloria Stewart were holding animal court.
Peter and Kathleen McCoy (he was the auctioneer later in the evening) went over his notes. Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. president Marcia Hobbs did the welcomes. The former Carol Cudlip (a former Beastly Ball chairman) and her husband, W. G. Mitsch of Fort Worth, were up from Palm Desert, where they’ll winter. Betty White (she paid $3,000 to finance a sulphur-crested cockatoo for one year) had the “Golden Girls” in tow--Estelle Getty and Rue McClanahan (in a poodle costume). Chairman Milner was surrounded with friends Betty and Bill Wilson (he’s former ambassador to the Vatican and they brought their house guest, Cardinal Baum of Rome), Mignon and Bill Winans, Gwynn and Natalie Robinson, Dr. John Chandler, Jim Wharten, Bill Frye, Doris Fields, Connie Wald, Maxine and Bill Ridgway. The Bill Burruds, the Chuck Trainers, Tina Sinatra and Father Maurice Chase were among those joining the Stewarts, she in a sweater with a zebra face. “I just wanted you to know I tried, too,” said Ginny Milner, pointing to the leopard head on her blouse. But a gold lion’s head medallion was the thing to wear: There were several dozen, at least.
Slim Francie Brody got past the tempting duck pancakes and the banana fritters with powdered sugar, which the chairman plopped in a straight line en route to the cat and bird shows. Rupert Allen didn’t, nor did most.
Heroes of the night were Frances and Joseph Shalant, who bid $25,000 for a lowland gorilla. But, the birds almost stole the show. The red-tailed hawk wouldn’t budge from his cage. And when the macaws were to perform, they became disoriented because of the twilight and flew into the trees (they returned within the half hour). But the Andean condor, Leadbottom, did fine, thank you, jumping from stump to stump.
It was a fun respite for Lyn Vandegrift and her escort, Greg Winfield, for David Jones and Lester Rutledge of Houston, before they all headed to the top of the hill for dinner under a canopy of white lights. Nat and Betty Jo Charnley sashayed back in their white Gatsbys. A young crowd including Reese Taylor (he handsome in a full safari suit) and his fiancee, Mary Daly; Bob and Marcia Shuwarger; Chandra and Brian Leck, and Cindy and Lunsford Laverty were keyed to a late evening. Trustee Duane Wood, escorting Birgit Bergen from Munich, was another in a safari mood.
Chairman Joni Baker is counting toward $40,000 net from the Kidspace Museum’s Endless Summer party last weekend at Lawry’s California Center. Patti and Stewart Smith bought the gigantic stuffed bear and an enormous toy certificate. Bob and Betty Takeuchi purchased the shiny 1954 MG convertible donated by Tom and Pat Ellison--about $10,000. Phelps and Beverly Wood bought Marilyn and Jud Roberts’ house at St. Malo for a weekend, and the Roberts, in turn, purchased Papa’s Western Bar-B-Q party for 50 for $900. Ben Reiling won the heated bidding for a blimp ride. Joan and Mike Cathcart were swimming in ice cream. Bud Hoover, Kidspace trustee, and Barbara were among the most loyal competitors, prompting Ann Barrett to eulogize on loyalty. More in the crowd were Dan Baker, president Jane and Kris Popovich, Tink and Jim Cheney, John and Tempe Brooks, Pam and John King, Carson and Kaholyn McKissack, Barbara and John Poer, Rosemary and Norman Mitchell, Cathie and David Partridge, Bud and Cherie Wegge (who attended the Polytechnic High football game earlier watching son Mike, along with Holly and Dave Davis). Mike and Kathy LeRoy managed to bus 20 to the USC football game, and still attend the party for Kidspace. The Pasadena museum, they’re boasting, had 100,000 visitors last year.
The popular Jess Marlows have sold their Pasadena home to Chuck and Carolyn Miller for a reported $1.3 million.
Friends of Reconstructive Surgery Research plan a gala “Evening With Julio Iglesias” on Thursday evening at the Hollywood Bowl. Later, says Bernice Gershon, founder, the champagne will flow at the Bistro Garden before chocolate souffles. The group supports Dr. Lars M. Vistnes, head of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. Tickets are $175.
D’Elegance: The 11th annual Santa Barbara Concours d’Elegance is slated for Saturday. Expect a festive three-day weekend with social gatherings at a Montecito estate tour. Crane School of Montecito will sponsor the event on the open expanses of the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club in Carpinteria. The featured car this year is the Porsche.
Center Theatre Group Volunteers honor 18 new members at a tea Sept. 30 at the Beverly Hills home of the group’s president, Roberta Haft. A highlight will be the appearance of Mark Harelik, the playwright/actor whose first play, “The Immigrant” is enjoying its West Coast premiere at the Mark Taper Forum. The Volunteers directors planning the event include Kelly Schiffer, Wendy Brooks, Kim Peterson, Gail Newman, Ellie Goldman, Roseanne Slotkin, Beth Pressman, Helen Abbott, Ellen Price and Coty Faulkner.
Sisters for Haven House will shower Haven House with a benefit luncheon and fashion show by Bullock’s Pasadena on Oct. 15 at the Pasadena Hilton.
The evening was perfect harmony when Enrique Loewe, chairman of Loewe, S.A., hosted cocktails at the Loewe Boutique in Beverly Hills to honor the Young Musicians Foundation. The boutique is one of the more recent additions to Rodeo Drive; the firm is known internationally for its couture leathers in Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, Belgium and England. Loewe arrived from his home in Madrid for the event. There, too, were YMF president Donna Schifren and the Tom Kormans (Pam was co-chaired the party). Among guests, Dan Karsh, Henry and Jayne Berger, Helen Chaplin, Don and Judy Tallarico, Ernest and Veronica Chambers, and Shelby Conti, co-chair. Later, some of the crowd gathered for a supper upstairs at the Bistro.
Bustling city:
AFI Associates of the American Film Institute present the West Coast premiere of a new documentary film “Directed by William Wyler” (a film portrait of the man and his work) Oct. 1 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Wine and cheese later.
Les Bider, chief operating and chief financial officer of Warner Bros. Music, chairs the premiere event for the newly formed Young Executives Group of Share Zedek’s Medical Center Jerusalem on Thursday. It’s a preview of the new Blake Edwards movie, “That’s Life.”
The Pasadena Mental Health Center comes of Age (in Pasadena’s centennial year) with a 21st birthday Friday evening at 1495 N. Lake in Pasadena.
“Divine Wine ‘86,” which translates dinner, dancing and wine auction, will benefit the International Student Center at UCLA on Saturday at the home of Jacqueline and Paul Monash in Beverly Hills. George Greif, chairman, World Organization of Wine, heads the honorary committee. Marilou Lockwood is dinner chairman with assistance from Colette Boehm, Virginia Cobey, Rita Dashew, Inez Asher Hirsch, Jackie Dubey, Mrs. Monash, Sharon Sindell, Joan Wrede and others.
President Jean Schuur has invited Sister Magdalen Coughlin, president, Mount Saint Mary’s College, to speak to the Luminaires of the Estelle Doheny Eye Foundation when members meet Wednesday at the Bel Air Bay Club Upper Club.
The Bel-Air Guild of Childrens Hospital hosts its 36th annual September Serenade Ball, “Carousel Fantasy,” Saturday at the Bel Air Country Club. Mrs. Adam Boserup is taking reservations.
Dennis Weaver and Valerie Harper, co-founders of Love Is Feeding Everyone, plan a gala opening night of “Art for Life,” a gallery show to benefit the hungry in Los Angeles. International artist Guillaume Azoulay will donate 10 art pieces for auction during the celebrity benefit Thursday at the IAC Fine Art, 806 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Navy Bells saluted their 20th anniversary this week at a luncheon at the Hollywood Roosevelt. President Edna Ralson was in charge.
And more: The dedication of the Max Factor Family Foundation House, a group home for the developmentally disabled, is Tuesday morning at the United Cerebral Palsy/Spastic Children’s Foundation’s Caro Hatcher Habilitation Center in Chatsworth. The foundation provided a $300,000 grant. The Keck Foundation gave $50,000.
Today marks the Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society Home Tour. Homes on Muirfield, Rossmore and Plymouth will be toured before the evening Roaring ‘20s Party and a return to the Jazz Age. Docents will be in period costume. Mario Martinoli caters the dinner.
An evening of moonlight magic at Hearst Castle in San Simeon is planned by the board of trustees, California State Parks Foundation, this evening. Also, Roaring ‘20s attire. Films from the private collection of William Randolph Hearst will be shown.
Past perfect:
New French Consul Gen. Bernard Miyet was feted by the Los Angeles-Bordeaux Sister City Affiliation headed by Thomas B. O’Keefe. . . . Friends of Mexican Development Foundation Project Nuevo Leon benefited from the dinner-dance Cannon Films hosted to premiere Franco Zeffirelli’s “Otello.” . . . A champagne reception and celebrity polo kicked off the American Polo League’s fall season sponsored by Cadillac this week. The new ultra-luxury Cadillac Allante, a two-seat convertible designed by Italian stylist, Sergio Pininfarin, was unveiled.
