$300 Block Party : Annual Rodeo Drive Event Raises Money for Cancer Research

A block party was held Sunday on a street in Beverly Hills called Rodeo Drive, and as might be expected, this one was different from the standard, bring-your-own-wieners, meet-the-neighbors, short-pants-only block parties known to most of America.

For starters, it cost $300 to attend.

“It’s silly when they’re paying $300 a head just to get in,” one of the bartenders said, “but we made a lot of money.”

The bartender in this instance was Shelley Winters, and the money was to finance cancer research through an unusual charity formed by the friends of a woman who fell victim to the disease in 1968.

More Than 2,500 Guests

The event, staged on Rodeo Drive for the 15th year in a row, attracted more than 2,500 paying guests. They ate exotic foods, listened to Japanese drummers, watched flamenco dancers and, at an auction, bid on furs, jewelry and a Jaguar convertible. Many stayed into the evening for a show headlined by Don Rickles.

“I come every year and this year I’m going to do a little entertaining,” said the comedian, who had done another benefit show the night before. “I’m getting a little tired of charity,” he added, apparently in jest. “I wish they’d chip in and pay me.”

Actors impersonating W. C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy and Marilyn Monroe roamed tables set up down the middle of the famous thoroughfare of pricey shops, and a belly dancer wriggled atop a table piled high with Middle Eastern delicacies.

The event was sponsored by the Concern Foundation for Cancer Research, an organization that pays no one except its administrator. It was founded by 14 Westside couples who were friends of a woman who died of cancer in 1968.

“Concern has raised in excess of $11 million since then,” said Marty Golden, president of the group.

He said the money largely is spent on grants of as much as $100,000 to help young scientists research ways to increase the body’s immunity to cancer.

“Our donors are largely Westsiders, affluent people who could afford to just write checks but they’re not only going to give money but also come out and do the work themselves,” he said.

Starting at 5:30 a.m., the volunteers erected an entrance gate designed to look like a train station for the luxurious Orient Express. Aided by Naval ROTC students from UCLA, they set up hundreds of tables and five food pavilions.

“We look forward to it every year,” said Martin Appel, a Beverly Hills attorney who brought a tableful of children and grandchildren to the event.

‘More Informal and Sociable’

“For most fund-raisers, you go to a hotel, put on a tuxedo and black tie and sit at a crowded table,” he said.

“This is more informal and sociable. It wouldn’t work as well if it wasn’t in Beverly Hills. Being on Rodeo Drive adds a sort of cachet. It helps bring out the celebrities.”

Other movie and TV actors who tended bar included Jack Carter, Dianne Ladd and Lee Meriwether, who spilled a drink and said, “Thank God I don’t have to do this for a living.”

Organizers originally thought that the event would also bring out freeloaders, since a listing in The Times indicated that it would be open to the public without charge.

They stationed extra security, but no problems were reported with gate-crashers.