FIRST OFF . . .

The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens has announced a $590,000 windfall. The bequest is the gift of a frugal couple who worked for 40 years as gardeners on a San Marino estate and left their life savings to the Huntington. Lester and Wilma Harrell lived simply, saving what they could from their modest wages to invest in blue-chip stocks and reinvest the dividends. Lester Harrell was an American Rose Society judge who did volunteer work at the Huntington during the years before his death in 1981. When his widow died last year, she willed their combined savings to the San Marino institution. The Huntington plans to use the money to maintain its roses and to establish an All American Rose Selections test garden.