Snow’s the Thing at Horton Grand

One of life’s little surprises lay in wait last Thursday on the block of Island Avenue that fronts the Gaslamp Quarter’s Horton Grand Hotel.

Snow, 20 tons of it, coated the sidewalks on this quiet thoroughfare, thick as icing on a Victorian tea cake.

The work of man rather than Nature, the snowscape nevertheless was drifted against the old brick walls of the hotel as prettily as if molded by a blizzard. The credit goes to Union Ice Company General Manager Scott Cernansky.

The snow was a kind of expansive greeting card to the 300 guests attending The Country Friends’ “A Time for Giving,” a holiday high tea given for the benefit of the pediatric cancer units at Children’s Hospital and UC San Diego Medical Center, and for Project Talk, a therapy center for children with impaired hearing.

Although most guests had been told to expect the white coverlet that blanketed the street, the sight still came as a shock, albeit a delightful one. High-heeled shoes trod carefully on the slippery pavement. A smiling San Diego sun and mild breeze went to work on the snow the instant it was laid, but since 20 tons is, after all, no little amount, it lasted through the afternoon.

A group of youngsters from All Hallows Academy had been invited to frolic in a tiny snow-covered lot just across from the hotel’s main entrance. These California kids soon learned that the wet snow was perfect for packing into good, solid snowballs, the kind that can be lobbed at distant--and moving--targets. A pair of sleighs also decorated the scene, bearing armloads of stuffed animals and toys the guests brought as presents for children at the hospitals and Project Talk and at the Salvation Army Children’s Center.

The masterminds behind this wintry celebration, Alma Spicer and Phyllis Parrish, arrived decked in layers of Victorian lace and velvet, taking up a position in the street between the Salvation Army Christmas Brass Quartet and the chestnut roaster manned by hotel chef Ernst Wally. (The roaster, deemed an absolute necessity to the scene, had to be rigged by Bill Spicer, the co-chairman’s husband. “There isn’t a lot of demand for these in San Diego,” remarked Alma Spicer, who added that the warmth it generated helped to offset the chill rising from the snow.)

Guests found the Winter Wonderland theme extended to the hotel interior. A masterpiece of a tree, a 20-foot confection of lace ornaments and cloth flowers hung on powdered branches, rose in the lobby, and entertainers, including a 15-voice children’s choir, performing a full repertoire of carols, circulated through the crowd.

The main event, of course, was the tea, and it was served everywhere on the first floor--in the courtyard, in the reception rooms, in the lounge--except, oddly enough, in the Chinese tea room. The formal, old-fashioned repast included all the traditional foods--scones with Devonshire cream and freshly prepared strawberry jam, tiny sandwiches and finger pastries. Because the event was to celebrate the holidays, guests also were encouraged to indulge in small glasses of sherry poured by junior hostesses.

Country Friends President Mary Ann Fitch officially greeted the guests, standing in for the vacationing honorary chairman, Johanne Wenz, who is the group’s founding president. Among those in attendance were Diane Blackburn, Carol Magoffin, Pat Wood, Joan Higbee, Marianne Hafferkamp, Karen Woods, Bess Lambron, Elizabeth Sears, Sue Teasdel, Pam Allison and Dian Peet.

Moscow State Ballet principal dancer Stanislav Issaev was the man of the hour at the formal dinner given Friday in the Westgate Hotel Fontainebleau Room that preceded California Ballet’s opening-night performance of “The Nutcracker” at the Civic Theatre.

The dancer, accompanied by his interpreter, Henrietta Belyaeva of the Soviet Ministry of Culture, swept briefly through the dining room on his way to the theater, and bowed deeply as the hundred guests raised their glasses in a toast to his prowess on the boards. Unable to speak to his audience in its native language, Issaev used his smile to express his gratitude and the pleasure that he took in visiting San Diego. Belyaeva later thanked the crowd on his behalf.

Issaev spent only moments at the affair, but his manager, Olga Smoak, attended the entire event and proved to be the surprise star of the guest list. Despite her Russian-sounding name, Smoak is a Panamanian (married to a South Carolinian, no less) whose fondness for the ballet led her first to learn the Russian tongue, then to represent several of that country’s leading dancers when they appear abroad.

Smoak mentioned that her business has taken her to Russia no fewer than 65 times in the last 10 years--she calls herself a “commuter on the Moscow Express.”

The beauty of ballet, she said, is that it is a nonverbal art form. “The ballet is an art that doesn’t need words, that can cross international boundaries without effort,” Smoak said. “It is expressed by the body and the soul. When the ballet talks, the human soul talks.”

California Ballet artistic director Maxine Mahon agreed with that assessment, but bemoaned the fact that several of her dancers were temporarily incommunicado because of injuries; two had broken feet, and three were suffering sprains. But she did say that having Issaev to dance the role of the Cavalier in the Tchaikovsky classic was “quite a triumph.”

Leonor Craig, president of the ballet’s auxiliary and co-chairman of the dinner, also said Issaev’s presence was quite a notable feather in the organization’s cap. “It’s not just that he’s a wonderful dancer,” Craig said. “To have him here proves that whatever the differences between his country and ours, culture and art can bring us together.”

California Ballet Vice President Peter Frank and his wife, Carol, arrived at the dinner to find that Peter had been assigned an unanticipated chore: to stand in for Mayor Maureen O’Connor on the Civic Theatre stage and present Issaev with a key to the city.

Also attending were Diane, Marilyn and Gay Metzler; Bette and Stan Counts; Carol and Paul Vadnais; Gina Zanotti; Carol and Mary Schrader; Lee Crimmins; Ed Watkins; Rachel and Judson Grosvenor; Merle Lotherington; Karen Salzmann, and Rose Mary Taylor.

CORONADO--San Diego Opera Director Ian Campbell and author and nutritionist Jeanne Jones were honored as Man and Woman of the Year by Charter 100 at the annual holiday dinner-dance the women’s networking organization gave Dec. 14 for 200 in the Hotel del Coronado Coronet Room.

Charter 100 is a sort of women’s alternative to the informal “good ol’ boy” networks of businessmen and professionals operating in most large cities. It counts quite a number of the county’s more prominent women as members. The group holds casual meetings during the year but always reserves the Christmas season for a black-tie blowout to celebrate the successes of the year and pay tribute to high achievers within the organization and in the community at large.

The awards this year were given--and accepted--with a certain amount of tongue-in-cheekiness. As she introduced Campbell, who sang in the Australian Opera before moving to the management side of the house, Man of the Year Award presenter Shirley Millard remarked, “Ian wanted to be a singer in the worst way, and he was.”

Campbell rose to the barb quite nicely, however, and after thanking the group for the award, said, “I think it takes a great deal of courage for a group from this city to award this honor to a native of the world’s greatest yachting country.”

Audrey Geisel’s presentation of Jones was somewhat more solemn.

“Keeping up with this Jones is impossible,” she said. “Since 1972, she has put out 17 books. She is many things--an author, a lecturer, a spa consultant, a columnist in 300 papers. But beyond this, she is a person we all can identify with--a mother, a daughter, a friend.”

Jones’ acceptance speech turned mainly on the mutual benefit and support offered by the members of Charter 100, which stresses accomplishment as a primary goal. “As a team, we’re always strong,” she said.

Among those sharing in the meal of sauteed shrimp, and duck breast in a curry sauce, were Sue Stephens Cox with Francisco Marty, Karen Delaney with Peter Meissen, Madelyn Engle with Jerry Helgeson, Joy and Jim Furby, Donna and Hal Roll, Dotti Howe with Ron Oshlund, Susan Thompson, Susan Gail with William Austin, Elizabeth and Bill Zongker, and Elizabeth Brafford with L.J. Cella.