Local Delegates Going ‘First Class’ to Atlanta

It may be the Democratic National Convention, but a few local delegates plan to travel to Atlanta “Republican style,” says Audrey Redfearn, a delegate who will board a Delta jet on July 16 with rancher Richard O’Neill, an alternate, and delegate Howard Adler, former Orange County Democratic Party chairman.

“We’re going first class all the way,” she says. “We’ll take a limo to the airport, fly first class, then take a limo to the hotel. The rest of the time, we’ll all be very Democratic.”

David Stein, a Laguna Beach developer, has made plans to fly his two drivers to Atlanta to usher him back and forth, via limousine, from his posh digs at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead. Stein, who only last week noshed in L.A. with pal Gary Hart, also will keep a stocked motor home on standby for friends. (Deep background: Stein met the Massachusetts governor, Michael S. Dukakis, last year at Norman Lear’s house. And, yes, Stein is still schmoozing with Mary Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Ethel and Bobby Kennedy.)

O’Neill and Redfearn, the rancher’s administrative assistant, will hole up in separate rooms at the Westin Peachtree Plaza. “It’s closer to the convention,” Redfearn says. Adler will lodge at the Buckhead.

Saying the Kennedy women set a new fashion standard eight years ago by wearing “silk dresses and Reeboks,” Redfearn has decided to dress stylish-but-comfy as well for her nights on the convention floor. She will wear some high-stepping huaraches purchased at Neiman-Marcus and chic cotton knits. “Atlanta is going to be hot and muggy,” she says. “I want to be comfortable and cool.”

The trick for all of the delegates is deciding which parties to attend. Stein, on the Democratic Party’s A-list for years, will most certainly show at Larry Lawrence’s (he owns the Del Coronado Hotel) reception at the Fox Theatre honoring Gail Kirk, wife of Paul Kirk, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Another social must is the reception tossed by Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young for California Assemblyman Tom Hayden at the Atlanta Hilton.

O’Neill, California Democratic chairman from 1979 to 1981, plans to attend the Lawrence and Young affairs. But he will also spend time exploring Atlanta’s battlefields. The rancher, who, with his sister Alice O’Neill Avery is on the Forbes 400 list, is an all-out Civil War buff.

Flower power: Flowing ethnic gowns smothered with flower petals and fresh blooms will star at the “Centennial Celebration Ball,” the gala that officially kicks off Orange County’s 100th anniversary celebration. The black-tie affair will be staged at the Disneyland Hotel on Aug. 13 with proceeds going to the Orange County Centennial Inc. scholarship fund. Tickets are $100, and 45 of the 100 available tables have already been sold.

Highlighting the affair will be a Floral Dress Parade featuring models in costumes representing North and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia.

Designing the Asian costume will be Modesto Busto, visual display designer for Roger’s Gardens in Newport Beach. Busto’s costume will feature a Chinese coat done up with carnations and orchids, he says. The pageant will not be a competition. However, there will be a People’s Choice award, Busto says. Susan Busby Bartlett of South Laguna and Judy Hemley of Newport Beach are gala co-chairwomen. Barry Cole’s orchestra will play for dancing.

Going for the Gold: Helen and Harry Reinsch, a consultant with Bechtel Power Co. in San Francisco, will open the doors of their second home, an 18,000-square-foot Mediterranean manse situated on the cliffs in South Laguna, to raise funds for the Southern California Acro Team on July 24.

The event marks the kickoff of a $3.5-million fund-raising drive for SCAT, groomer of Olympic hopefuls. Guests, at $250 per couple, will be invited to sip cocktails and dine on hors d’oeuvre specialties from the Ritz-Carlton, the Rex, Le Meridien, Bangkok Four, Zeppa and 5’0 inside the antique-studded home as well as view a new collection by Beverly Hills designer Leon Cliyne. Event organizers hope to raise $40,000.

Confirmed to attend: Heidi Miller, board chairman of Heidi’s Frogen Yozurt, an ex-SCAT gymnast; Ritz-Carlton manager Henry Schielein; developer Jim Peters; ex-Rams player Jack Youngblood, and Olympic gold medalist Kathy Johnson, a SCAT gymnast who won the silver and bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics. Chairing the event is Monarch Bay’s Jerilyn Rimel, director of development for the SCAT endowment campaign.