Gala Art Benefit With a French Flavor

Stars do make a benefit shine. There’s great star quality in upcoming events. Not only will the Jean Patou Haute Couture Collection designed and presented by Christian Lacroix be on the marquee, so to speak, when the Costume Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the French Committee for Trade Exhibitions Abroad (in conjunction with the French Trade Commission in Los Angeles) have their gala celebration and dinner dance, “A Salute to French Impressions,” Oct. 30 at the Beverly Wilshire, but, honored guests will be His Excellency the Ambassador of France to the United States Emmanuel de Margerie, and his wife . . .

Camilla Chandler Frost, civic and arts leader and chairman of the executive committee of the County Museum of Art board of trustees, will be in the spotlight Nov. 5 at the Century Plaza when the Los Angeles Arts Council stages its seventh annual Armand Hammer Award Luncheon. She’ll be honored for her outstanding contributions to the cultural life of Los Angeles. Abigail Van Buren will be master of ceremonies. Arthur Groman and Saul Warshaw are luncheon co-chairmen. . . .

Pitzer College is switching its National Issues Forum to the fall. Robert E. (Ted) Turner will give what is labeled as a “major address” at the Oct. 21 dinner honoring civic leaders Ernest and Jean Hahn. The bids are out from trustees and Dr. Chadwick F. Smith, chairman, for the Beverly Wilshire, and they specify “not black tie.” . . .

Warren Littlefield of NBC, Steve Mills of CBS and Gary Pudney of ABC are the raison d’etre for the Los Angeles Friends of National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine Entertainment Industry Division Humanitarian Award Dinner Dance Oct. 23 in the Beverly Wilshire Ballroom. Terry F. Campbell of First Interstate Bank is dinner treasurer. . . .

Los Angeles attorney Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, a UC Regent and former congresswoman and county supervisor, will be feted as Good Scout of the Year Oct. 29 at a testimonial luncheon at the Beverly Hilton. Proceeds from the $150-per-person affair will benefit scouting in South-Central Los Angeles. . . .

Emmy Award winners Sharon Gless and Fay Kanin will be saluted by the American Women in Radio and Television at the 32nd annual awards luncheon Oct. 25 at the Beverly Wilshire. Gless receives the 32nd “Woman Performer” Genii Award; Kanin, past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and writer/producer, gets the “Woman Behind the Scene” kudos. . . .

Racing, Racing:

Clement and Lynn Hirsch were right up front in the Directors’ Room at Santa Anita Park when the Oak Tree Racing Assn. hosted opening day and a magnificent luncheon for an exclusive crowd. Hirsch is serving his 18th season as president of Oak Tree, the non-dividend paying organization which earmarks its profits for thoroughbred enterprises related to research, care and breeding.

It was a sporty, attractive crowd: Harry and Diane Rinker of Newport Beach (she’s a new member of the Angels of the Arts, the group of 100 members dedicated to the new Orange County Performing Arts Center, the counterpart of Los Angeles’ Blue Ribbon), John and Annabeth Elmore, Joe (he’s Cecil B. DeMille’s grandson) and Barbara Harper (she wearing a DeMille heavy gold medallion), Bob and Betty Strub, John and Betty Mabee of San Diego, Virginia and Mike Sandler, Michael Morphy, Sallie Colmery, Benjamin and Ellen Felton, Jimmy Kilroe, Mrs. David C. Seager, Jack and Maggie Robbins, Patty and Fred Duckett, Dr. and Mrs. Jopseph Messler, Raymond and Dorothy Rogers, Lou and Susan Rowan, Dr. and Mrs. Henry Chavez (he’s racing commissioner), the William T. Pascoes III, Harold C. Ramser (he’s an Oak Tree director). Now, it’s racing for the month, leading up to the Super Bowl of horse racing--the Breeder’s Cup Day, which Oak Tree hosts Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park with more than $10 million in purse money.

Pertinent Fact:

We should have told you that the sensational opening of the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa wasn’t any ordinary opening: It was a benefit--netting, says executive director Thomas Kendrick, $1 million plus.

Pertinent Dates:

The Peninsula Fair, one of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Affiliates most popular fund-raisers, weather permitting, will be enjoyed by 75,000 families Sunday, and will raise more than $500,000 for the orchestra. Nancy Holtshouse is chairman. On her committee of 150 are many of the original Peninsula Committee members of 1972: Corinna Smith, Marlene Iverson, Joanne De Luce and Marge Cleveland. The fair is an all-day music festival on the campus of Chadwick School in Palos Verdes. In addition to two Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts, expect jazz, country music, dance. . . .

The Los Angeles Flower Show at the Los Angeles State and County Arboretum in Arcadia opens with pre-preview fanfare Oct. 16 when the board of trustees of the California Arboretum Foundation gathers a mini-crowd for a private tour of “Fall Fantasies” and a look-see at the ground breaking of the arboretum’s new water conservation project. It’s to stir up interest in the arboretum’s master plan. Regular paying first-nighters will be queuing up a few minutes later. . . .

Pasadena Guild of Childrens Hospital did so well with its annual Treasures and Trivia Sale last year at the Old Home Laundry Building at 432 S. Arroyo Parkway that members have opted for a repeat. Shirley Struble is chairman of the 10 a.m.-to-4 p.m. event Oct. 26. She and Carol McGhee, June Banta, Marie Jones, Bobbie Galpin (guild president) have been leading a giant crusade for those saleable wonders: jewels, antiques, china, silver, linens, toys, books. . . .

Au Courant : Mary Maples Dunn, new president of Smith College, is in town for her first visit with Southern California alumnae. Involved in arrangements are Timi Anyon Hallem, Barbara Bloome Greene, Mary-Lou Kiley, Nancy Morse Knight, Dolly Reed Wageman, Katherine D. Gillespie, Lucinda Prewitt, Mary Wainright Reinhardt. Events include a buffet at the Regency Club, a luncheon at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, dinner at Huntington Library, tea at Newport Harbor Art Museum. . . .

Affiliates of UCLA will have Dr. Robert P. Gale (who’s made trips to the Soviet Union to help with bone-marrow transplants for Chernobyl victims) in the spotlight at their membership tea today. Rue Pine is president. Scholarship chairman Ann Plauzoles will be present to honor scholarship recipients. . . .

Past Perfect: The California Museum Foundation and Americana Dance Theater joined the Presidents’ Council for the California Museum of Science and Industry Tuesday evening for the opening of the De Mille Film Festival and the new IMAX films “Skyward” and “We Are Born of Stars.” Supporters including Mark Taper, Ernest J. Loebbecke, Harriet and Charles Luckman, Ross M. Blakely, Dickinson C. Ross and Ken Kitamura were hosts. . . .

Lucy Hubbard spoke on “The Changing Role of Women in India” when Town and Gown of USC hosted a luncheon meeting Tuesday at Town and Gown on campus. She’s former First Lady of USC, The group is USC’s oldest women’s support group. . . .

Coronet Patronesses of The National Charity League, Los Angeles Chapter, entertained at their traditional Parents Party for parents of Coronet debutantes. The party was at the home of Valerie Miller in Hancock Park.

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Western Regional Auditions are scheduled Nov. 14-15 at Bovard Auditorium at USC. Volunteers staff the auditions--singlehandedly. They convened at the Bel-Air home of Mrs. Marshall Sevin to make plans. Kathryn Fauble of San Marino is Western Regional chairman, and she’s named Lynn Day and Molly Gorman, both San Marinans, as co-chairmen to coordinate the auditions. Finalists compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to compete in the finals at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Harriet Peters and Sharon Drake, both of Arcadia, chair the Los Angeles district audition at USC Oct. 23-25. Both judges and finalists will be honored with a reception Nov. 15 post-finals by USC President and Mrs. James H. Zumberge and Dean and Mrs. Larry J. Livingston.

Circle in Red:

The Pasadena Historial Society will “Stroll through the Past” Sunday, celebrating Pasadena’s 100th birthday on the grounds of the Fenyes mansion. Roger Gilson, chairman, is planning 1886 period entertainment, box picnics and docent tours of the mansion. Benefactors include the James H. Cheneys, Marjorie B. Dickinson, the Hugh Macneils, Elise M. Marvin, Mary and Gordon Naff and Theodore L. Pletsch, as well as Arthur E. Raymond, T. H. Donnelly, Johanna E. Tallman, Alice Frost Thomas and Mrs. H. Phelps Wood II. . . .