Lavish ‘Christmas Tree Lane’ a Winner for Escondido Youth

Christmas pounded on the doorposts of 14 fortunate families early Sunday morning.

At each household, residents threw open their doors to find delivery men laden with armloads of packages and an eight-foot Christmas tree decorated by a North County design expert.

These avalanches of seasonal loot were not unexpected by their recipients, however, since each of the families had held a winning ticket in the holiday raffle conducted the previous evening at “L’Allee des Arbes de Noel,” an extravagant fund-raiser given at the Rancho Bernardo Inn for the benefit of the Boys’ and Girls’ Club of Escondido.

“L’Allee des Arbes de Noel” is just another way of saying “Christmas Tree Lane,” but the committee that organized the fifth of these annual events decided to give it a markedly French accent. Thus, the menu erupted into a voluptuous multi-course feast, the entertainment was borrowed from the musical “Gigi,” and many of the trees that form the focus of the event owed their trimmings to Gallic inspiration.

According to its sponsors, “Christmas Tree Lane” has come to be known as the highlight of Escondido’s annual social calendar, and the cream of the local haute monde always turns out en masse for the two days’ worth of festivities. This year, 330 guests jammed the Bernardo Ballroom for the dinner dance that capped the event, and more than $40,000 was raised.

The previous day, the luncheon and fashion show that typically kick off the fund-raiser had to be supplemented by an early-morning champagne brunch to accommodate the hundreds of guests who wished to participate in “Christmas Tree Lane.”

It is the trees arranged the length of the hotel’s open-air arcade that give this party its raison d’etre, and not only in terms of spirit and theme. The raffle tickets that offer guests the chance of winning one of these beauties bring in an exceptionally large portion of the events’ overall proceeds. For this reason, the trees themselves are made valuable, through both the handmade decorations lavished upon them and the extravagant presents under them.

At Saturday’s dinner dance, the flocking sprayed on several of the trees almost became unnecessary--had the rain-soaked wind scouring the arcade been much colder, it surely would have turned to snow. As it was, minor flooding threatened to spoil the gifts sheltered beneath the branches of a few, although quick action prevented this. The crowds seemed barely to notice the weather as they surveyed such holiday statements as Kay Byrne’s “A Romantic Interlude” (a pine, spray-painted black, trimmed with gilded ornaments and garnished with the accouterments necessary for a cozy evening for two) and Susan Durrant’s “Christmas Fan-tasy,” which justified its name by festooning a softly glowing flocked tree with dozens of lacquered fans.

Inside, the scene changed from wintry bluster to the amusing fantasy of a Parisian park at Yuletide. Each table boasted an unusual holiday centerpiece, and greenery hung from the chandeliers, but what gave the decor its tongue-in-cheek success were the scenes of Paris in winter that had been laid over the paintings of the Spanish grandees that usually stare haughtily from the ballroom’s walls. This mirthful bit of disrespect fueled the general tone of the evening.

The Boys’ and Girls’ Club was represented by several of its most youthful members, all of whom belonged to the club’s Performing Arts Group. During an intermission in the dinner, the youngsters put on a floor show that included, among other acts, two little girls dressed as Christmas trees who sang a welcoming song. The crowd, which generally exhibited signs of being a rather noisy group, gave its attention so completely to this duo that their tiny voices could be heard in the farthest corners of the room.

The children, of course, were flesh-and-blood reminders of why the guests were present.

“All our work is for the children,” event chairman Diana Morris said. “The monies we raise pay for all the programs not covered by state funds. Our whole point is to keep latchkey kids off the streets, and to make their lives better.”

Jeri Hughes, the club’s community services coordinator, added that a portion of the funds from “Christmas Tree Lane” always are earmarked to purchase vans that shuttle kids from school to club to home. “No child in Escondido has to go home to an empty house,” she said. “We provide them with a supervised place to play after school every afternoon.”

Arie and Anneke DeJong headed a guest list that also included Escondido Mayor Jim Brady; John and Sandy Armstrong; Harvey and Kathy Mitchell; Carlton and Eileen Appleby; Boys’ and Girls’ Club founder Lefty Mitchell and his wife, Dorothy; Terry and Theresa Kennedy; John and Debbie Daley, and Bob and Ruth Mangrum.

Among committee members were Christal Carter, Lorna Olson, Janean Strip, Jan Rudolph, Carol Dudeck, Ruth Bledsoe, Terri Dahmer, Mary Ann Eagleson, Dena Davis Holtz, Janace Miller, Judith Seale, Susie Snow, Jocelyn Souter and Angie Timmons.

SAN DIEGO--One of the more popular catch phrases on the party circuit is “dancing for disease,” which means the act of buying tickets to a fund-raiser for the malady of the moment, regardless of one’s feelings about it. But it must be said that some such causes are much more popular than others, and consequently have little difficulty attracting supporters and their money.

Apropos the sparse turnout of 200 patrons at the San Diego Mental Heath Assn.’s Dec. 4, “An Evening with Pearl Bailey,” association President Chris Walt said: “Mental health is not the most popular of causes. People would prefer to forget the problem exists.”

Walt, an attorney, has had considerable experience with the cause; as a member of the staff of the late Assemblyman Frank Lanterman, he helped write much of California’s mental health legislation.

The 200 guests at the Sheraton Harbor Island’s Champagne Ballroom had a heck of good time, though, thanks not only to Bailey’s post-dinner show, but also to the efforts of Celeste Holm, who served as master of ceremonies. The noted actress, who among other accomplishments has been knighted in Norway and jailed in New York, had a little trouble just getting to town; the fog that obscured Lindbergh Field the previous evening forced her plane to circle for three hours before the pilot finally headed for Los Angeles. Holm concluded her description of the ordeal with the comment: “Thus for me, San Diego is the pinnacle of achievement.”

But the actress seemed in sparkling good humor, especially when she thanked the audience for its support. “Every civilization is measured by the consideration it shows its unfortunates,” she said. “Just by being here, you all show how much you care.”

Bailey’s entrance was big, bold and brassy--the singer is far from shy, and her first act on stage was to call for her eyeglasses so that she could inspect the audience and see just who was there. Satisfied with what she saw, she launched into a performance that began with Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” and ended almost two hours later, when she invited Audrey Geisel to join her in a soft-shoe routine.

In reference to her own efforts on behalf of mental health, Bailey said: “You give of your money, you give of your time, you give of what God gave you. I just love people.” And although near the end of her performance Bailey remarked, “I’ve had so much fun I should have taken the money,” the truth was that Bailey not only refused the fee offered her, but even declined to let the charity pay her expenses. In fact, she even recruited a few guests for the party, namely a pair of Arabic-speaking hotel guests whom she spotted in the hallway that afternoon while inspecting the ballroom. Overhearing their conversation, she greeted them in their own tongue and persuaded them to buy tickets to the concert.

As several guests noted, the attendance list may have been small, but it was also select. Among those present were Betty and John Mabee, Betty and Al DeBakcsy, Beverly Kelts with Cuilly Burdett, Jean Jones with Dick Duffy, Norma and Ollie James, Amy and Brute Krulak, Betty Alexander with Howard McCandless, Jane and John Murphy, Kathy and George Pardee, Beverly and Bill Muchnic, Sally and Evan Jones, Gina Zanotti, and Roger Conlee.