Real Gems on Charity Circuit
November is the jewel-est month.
By the time of the turkey, all the rich and famous will be thankful that they had lots of chances to wear their very best diamonds and their very best designer duds--all, of course, for charity.
Winning the heat for almost-certainly best event is the Colleagues’ Nov. 16 fete with the American premiere of Valentino’s 1989 fashions. This is Kitchen Cabinet land and is a group of such heavy hitters that every single Colleague is listed as a chair, a co-chair, a member of the dinner committee or on the Colleagues Committee at Large, whatever that might mean.
Some of the less-well-known charities have a special sparkle, too, like the Nov. 13 reception at the Doheny Mansion of Mount St. Mary’s College honoring the four Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet who founded the House of Ruth 10 years ago. The House of Ruth is a temporary shelter in Boyle Heights just east of downtown Los Angeles that serves women and women with children “who are without any immediate resources to change their situation of homelessness.”
Back on jewel patrol--look for some great ones at the three-day luncheon for the City of Hope Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This year, the Woman of the Year tribute is a posthumous honor, going to the late Phyllis Morris, the celebrated furniture designer. The lunch is chaired by Lorraine Dennis.
The elections will be over, but the League of Women Voters Education Fund will be putting on a great nonpartisan finish Wednesday night at the league’s 68th birthday celebration. Judy Miller, a vice president of Braun & Co. and president of the Trusteeship for the Betterment of Women, and James F. Montgomery, Chairman and chief executive of Great Western Financial Corp. will be honored.
The women chefs around town keep coming up with terrific events--like the Nov. 13 tasting festival at the Biltmore, a joint venture of the Women’s Culinary Alliance and the Assn. for Women in Architecture. Billed as a “gala celebration of food as architecture, architecture as food,” the night promises views and the possible purchases of fabulous gingerbread structures and a lot of other goodies. Yum.
When the California Special Olympics celebrates its 20th anniversary Nov. 12 at the Beverly Hilton, the legendary Smokey Robinson does the entertaining honors. And, receiving the thanks of CSO supporters, will be the evening’s honoree--Olympic gold-medalist Rafer Johnson. Paying tribute to Johnson will be other Olympic stars--like Bruce Jenner, Bob Mathias, Bill Toomey and Milt Campbell. The CSO is responsible for more than 300 sporting events each year, a schedule that culminates with the annual Summer Games.
Dorothy Kirsten French and the adorable Robert Wagner host a day at the races Nov. 12 at Hollywood Park, benefiting the John Douglas French Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease. Genevieve McSweeney is the chair.
Sports aficionados can commute back and forth, between the track and the renovated Marina City Club. There, next Friday and Nov. 12, the third annual Joan Rivers Celebrity Tennis Classic and Auction for cystic fibrosis will be held. Organizers have lined up great corporate sponsors, like American Airlines, Arco and Great Expectations, along with the Health and Tennis Corporation--and the whole thing takes a party turn with the auction ball Friday night.
This is a crowd much more used to sedentary pursuits, but the authors and others who will turn out Thursday at the Beverly Wilshire for the ninth annual Authors and Celebrity Award Day will also be something to watch. The event benefits the Brandeis University National Women’s Committee, L.A. Chapter, and among the panelists are Judith Krantz, Arianna Huffington, Charles Luckman and Bill Stout--a lively group.
Also set for Thursday, an event that combines two favorite passions: culture and shopping. The Art Museum Council presents its Galleria, at Colorado Place, all day long. Fifty visual artists will be selling everything from functional furniture to environmental and sculptural art, hand-woven clothes, and one-of-a-kind holiday gifts. Georgia Rothenberg, Audrey Greenberg and Laura Maslon have put it all together.
