Bergeson Is Looking at Statewide Options

State Sen. Marian Bergeson for governor?

That was the triple-hot topic at a recent A-list party.

“I’m sure that’s why Sen. Bergeson chose not to run for Bob Badham’s congressional seat,” confided a gentleman with a reputation for generosity to politicians.

“Really?” asked his incredulous dinner partner, silver spoon poised.

During a telephone call this week to Bergeson at her Sacramento office, the question was posed: “Did you choose not to run for Congress because you plan to run for governor in 1990?”

Gentle laughter. “That’s not been in my plan. But if the opportunity came up, I would. I have considered running for a statewide office if the opportunity arises in 1990.

“But I expect the governor to run for a third term. If he does, I would strongly support him. And if there’s an opportunity to become lieutenant governor at that point, I would consider throwing my hat in the ring.”

Buck is Back: Chapman College President Buck Smith and his wife, Joni, are back from their one-semester sabbatical. Since they left in September, rumors have flown about their whereabouts. “We haven’t heard a word since they were gone,” moaned one college supporter recently. “Maybe they’re never coming back.”

“Guess that’s what happens when you get away for a little bit,” said Joni, who said the couple’s travels included a jaunt to the Japanese Alps after a meeting with the Nippon Business School in Tokyo. “Chapman College has a branch of the school on campus,” Joni said. Their travels also included studying with a group in Shanghai, a cruise on the Yangtze River, two weeks in Hawaii, the East Coast for Thanksgiving and home in Villa Park for Christmas.

“Buck is back and everything is just fine,” Joni said, laughing. “He’s still president of Chapman College.”

Talk About Monkey Business: Mary Sabatasso, wife of pizza magnate Lou Sabatasso, will visit Rwanda, Africa, with Marilyn Aringer, owner of Pacific Studios (the film production company that creates background magic for films such as “Nuts,” Barbra Streisand’s new flick).

Seems Newport’s Sabatasso and L.A.’s Aringer bumped into each other on an African safari last summer and learned that they shared a fascination for gorillas.

So, come June the women will tote cameras and go gorilla-tracking in the bush.

“I’ve always been fascinated by Dian Fossey’s work with gorillas in Rwanda,” said Sabatasso, who lives with husband Lou in bushy Big Canyon. “She had an exciting, hard life (and was later murdered) there.”

The women will take lengthy hikes into the scrub to study the primates in their “family situations,” said Sabatasso. “We’ll photograph them, touch them, become part of their families.”

And, Lou? “He thinks I’m nuts. He doesn’t want to get to know gorillas.”

Flight to Phoenix: Pals of Lois Driggs Cannon and former astronaut Buzz Aldrin are thinking about chartering a plane when the duo says “I do” at the Western Savings Corporate Center in Phoenix on Feb. 14.

The invitations are in the mail. Adorable. Chalk-white stock embossed with shooting stars and a moon hung with a red heart.

The big question is: Will Lois get her moon rock or not? (When the couple became engaged more than a year ago, there was talk that a nibble of the moon on which Aldrin had walked would be mounted on a ring for the socialite.) “I’m afraid that will have to wait,” said Cannon recently. “Apparently, it has to be OKd by a U.S. President.”

Meanwhile, Cannon said she’ll waltz down the aisle in white, and, for those who won’t make the trek, not to worry. “There’ll be plenty of parties when we get back.”

Super Duper: He’s at it again, that party-loving John Crean and his wife, Donna, who only last Sunday threw a demolition bash to make way for a 21,000-square-foot mansion they plan to build in Santa Ana Heights.

This time it’s a “Super Bowl by the Bay” party to be tossed Sunday at Mastrioanni’s Banquet Facility in Newport Beach.

On the guest list: Norm Crosby, Ruta Lee, Buddy Ebsen, Pilar Wayne, Mr. Blackwell, Jane Withers and husband Tom Pierson, Margaret and Carl Karcher, Sassy and Roger Luby, Theresa Cagney Morrison (Jimmy Cagney’s niece), Bob Citron, Vikki Vargas and Mike Nason, Toni Armistead, and Supervisors Don Roth, Thomas Riley and Harriett Wieder.

Forever Young: Judie Argyros, wife of developer and Seattle Mariners’ owner George Argyros, will turn 12 when she celebrates her Leap Year birthday Feb. 29. Lucky girl. Hear there’s a big birthday bash brewing for the beautiful woman who looks more like Vivien Leigh than Vivien Leigh ever did. (Frankly, my dear, George is beginning to look a little like Gable.)