Fund-Raiser Did Their Hearts Good
At the Heart Ball, the medallions of veal, the angel hair pasta and the chocolate heart-shaped shells filled with chocolate mousse may not have met every requirement of a low-cholesterol, healthy-heart diet. But they were wolfed down with relish. For perfect digestion, the crowd depended upon “Love Will Keep Us Together” with the Captain and Tennille and a stage show with lots of great hits.
Linda Posner of Claremont, wife of cardiologist Christian Posner, wanted an elegant and romantic ball to raise funds for heart and blood vessel research at USC and UCLA. She and co-chair Malen Hoffman of Beverly Hills and advisory chairman Jaclyn Tilley Hill of Whittier seemed to be getting that wish.
Nearly $25,000 was tallied in the live auction conducted by Bob Abell, who cajoled $8,750 for the station wagon donated by Pacific Coast Ford of Oxnard and $4,500 for a prominent table for 10 at next year’s Heart Ball. Maurice and Mary Grunberg kept a close eye as the Baume & Mercier diamond watch went for a bargain $2,400.
The silent auction did splendidly, too, particularly on the furs donated by Sompers. Lew and JoAnne Coppersmith paid $2,400 for a leather-lined ranch mink jacket, Betsy and George Link $7,000 for a black mink coat, Edmund Butts $1,250 for a black fox, Terry and Joe O’Donnell $6,000 for a ranch mink valued at $12,000.
Elsewhere, real estate magnate John Cushman was bidding up $50 worth of tennis balls (“I need some”), and new American Heart Assn. Greater Los Angeles Affiliate Inc. board member Bruce Coffey and his wife, Marty, took a shine to the grandfather clock, which they got for $700 and will send to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands for the house they’ve just purchased on Grindstone Harbor. They’re transforming it into a Danish abode with stenciled flowers.
Heart is well-supported by the rank and file of corporate Los Angeles. Co-dinner chairman Albert A. Thiess, managing director of Cooper & Lybrand, and his wife, Willa (of Pacific Palisades), hosted two tables. The other co-chair of the dinner, Richard J. Stegemeier, president and CEO of Unocal, opted for the Inaugural festivities in Washington, but in absentia hosted two tables, including Neal (Unocal’s senior vice president) and Marge Schmale and Donald and Joan Hanley, Dr. Reynold and Lee Schmidt and Thomas and June Sleeman.
Avery International’s Charles Miller and his wife, Carolyn, a former Heart Ball chairman, took three tables, and among their guests were Dick and Jany Pearson, Pam and David Banks, Donna and David Schultz.
More hosting tables were Maurice DeWald of Pacific Palisades, Liz and John Argue of La Canada Flintridge, Phyllis and Dr. David Cannom (president-elect of the Greater Los Angeles Affiliate) of Palos Verdes and Jane and Phillip Williams of Pacific Palisades.
Sixty pretty Gamma Phi Beta sorority members at UCLA stood in the rear as Captain and Tennille did their show and provided some nostalgic sighs for songs like “Come In From the Rain.”
It looks as though there’ll be a net of $200,000.
ONWARD, UPWARD: Mrs. Henry (Ginie) Braun is a new member of the Doheny Eye Institute. And now the board has authorized the formation of a new annual gift club, the Doheny Ambassadors. Board members William H. Doheny Jr. and George Argyros are calling it The Ambassadors. They’re collecting annual support at gift levels beginning at $1,000 from both individuals and corporate charter members.
NICE HONOR: Steve Allen will be at the piano tonight after he receives the Golden Bell Award at the Portals 33rd anniversary celebration at the Beverly Hilton. Portals provides psychiatric rehabilitation for the homeless mentally ill.
At the dinner dance, Allen will appear with a coterie of friends for a light nostalgic roast. Foster Brooks, Tim Conway, Andy Williams, Tommy Smothers and Tom Poston will all rally with emcee Gary Owens. And Henry Shead and his Orchestra are coming in from Las Vegas.
Honorary dinner chair Daniel J. Travanti and dinner chair Ronald Mandelbaum expect to net $50,000 for the cause.
GALAS: Dr. Franz Cede, former ambassador to Zaire and now the consul general of Austria in Los Angeles, and his wife, Anna Maria, will be in the spotlight at the Gala Viennese Opera Ball on Feb. 4 in the Grand Ballroom of the Regent Beverly Wilshire. Also to be honored are Austrian trade commissioner Herwig Renner and his wife, Monika, and director of the Austrian Tourist Bureau Peter Katz and his wife, P.J.
Viennese operetta star Melanie Holliday will fly from Austria to perform with Jonathan Mack, a star of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera. Robert Propst, Lea Finkelstein, Mady Shone, Marie Fisher-LeMarr, Ricci Fox, Edeltraud Winik, Arnold Ruthenburg, Muriel Klapper and Manon Washburn are on the ball committee to raise funds for the Viennese Culture Club Auditions for young opera singers . . . St. Nicholas Cathedral has engaged Bob Gail’s big band for its 41st annual Sweetheart Ball on Feb. 11 at the Beverly Hilton. Debutantes will be presented.
HEARTS, FLOWERS: Valentine magic with Designer Diane Freis is planned by the Los Angeles Arts Council at a Valentine’s Day Party on Feb. 14 in Beverly Hills. Champagne and hors d’oeuvres will precede the fashion show at 450 N. Camden Drive.
WESTERN TOUCH: The new Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum has sparked a rash of Western invitations. The latest, in black and bronze, comes with a brass star button laced with leather for the Arcs Auxiliary Gala Evening on Feb. 4 at the museum. The affair is black-tie. Clark Keen’s Orchestra will play during cocktails and dinner.