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Alumni Gathering Makes for ‘A San Diego State of Mind’

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Quite by chance, Le Meridien hotel helped the organizers of Saturday’s 12th annual San Diego State University alumni awards gala with the thankless and typically tedious chore of herding VIPs from a private cocktail party to the general reception.

The allures of the VIP reception, given in one of the hotel’s plush villas, were sufficient to induce a feet-of-clay state in the gathering of university and Alumni & Associates principals and honorees. The majority of the guests had gathered on a lawn that offered a particularly inviting view of the Coronado Bridge and the bay’s obligingly cheerful waters, and seemed reluctant to move along to the hotel ballroom until the sprinkler system, activated by a timer, sent them jogging across the grass like a covey of startled quail. The scene was amusing to witness, and apparently amusing to experience, at least in the opinion of SDSU alumnus Tom Gable, who wisecracked, “At some parties, when they want you to move on, they dim the lights.”

Slightly damp but otherwise none the worse for wear, the VIPs ascended to the St. Tropez Ballroom, where they joined the rest of the 500-plus guests at the event’s first sellout. According to alumni director Richard Talmo, the awards dinner is the most important annual fund-raising event on the alumni calendar.

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Wendy Blair, a 1973 graduate, chaired “A San Diego State of Mind” and arranged such happy details as the centerpieces assembled from campus memorabilia and the presence of the SDSU Jazz Ensemble, a collection of more than 20 musicians and singers who could easily outplay most of the city’s professional orchestras.

“I think SDSU was wonderful and nice to ask me to put this on, and I’m sure that one day I’ll be rich and able to donate money back to the school,” Blair teased. Her husband, San Diego Union columnist Tom Blair, served as master of ceremonies.

The program commenced during the dinner of roti de boeuf a l’Aztec and chocolate-marbled cheesecake. Outgoing alumni board President Bernie Rhinerson informed the audience that, at a strength of more than 100,000, the the local SDSU alumni association represents the largest nonprofit organization in the county. University President Tom Day then commented that May is a particularly pleasant time of year for the school’s faculty and administration because “commencement is at hand, and we can all run for the hills.”

A thoroughly detailed, painstakingly produced video presentation introduced the event’s nine honored alumni, who represented the seven SDSU schools, the Imperial Valley campus and the alumni in general. The roll included San Diego City Manager John Lockwood, businessman Jack Goodall, educator Ron Bolles, engineering whiz Russ Common, community activist Mateo Camarillo, Imperial Valley attorney Mercedes Zaragoza Wheeler, biologist Linda Maxson and entrepreneur Luis Nogales.

The Alumnus of the Year award was given to banker Tom Carter, who received a standing ovation as he approached the podium. The San Diego native surprised the audience somewhat by extending his remarks beyond the usual words of gratitude to comment on problems facing the area. Among the solutions he suggested were combining the city and county governments into a single entity, and regarding Tijuana as important to the area’s economic life as San Jose is to San Francisco.

Previous recipients of the Alumnus of the Year award include Old Globe Theatre executive producer Craig Noel, television personality Art Linkletter, Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce President Lee Grissom and Richard T. Silberman, the businessman and chief of staff to former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. who recently was indicted on money-laundering charges.

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Channel 10 newsman Jack White conducted the traditional banquet-closing auction, at which symbolic footballs that entitle successful bidders to participate in interesting off-field proceedings at SDSU games sold for as much as $600 each. A baton, which the purchaser will use to lead the fight song at the Oct. 21 homecoming game against the University of the Pacific, also sold for $600.

The guest list included incoming Alumni & Associates President Art Flaming and his wife, Gwen; Tracy and Tom Stickel; Cheryl Ayers with fiance Ron Kendrick; Lynn Stedd-White; SDSU Vice President for Academic Affairs Albert Johnson and his wife, Susan; Judy Carter; City Councilmen Ron Roberts and Bob Filner; Maureen and Emil Ghio; Linda and Mel Katz; Barbara Bry and Patrick Kruer; Betty Hubbard; university President’s Council Chairman Norma Assam and her husband, Dr. Sam Assam; Richel and Tawfiq Khoury; Jo and Tom Hazard; Police Chief Bob Burgreen, and Patty and Bob Payne.

SAN DIEGO--Part of the funds that enable the 338,000 client visits made annually to the 31 countywide Episcopal Community Services programs was raised at Saturday’s May Faire, the 62nd anniversary dinner-dance and auction given by the charitable organization.

About 400 ECS supporters, led by the Right Rev. C. Brinkley Morton, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, gathered in the San Diego Marriott main ballroom to bid on a silent auction of more than 100 unusual packages, including smocking lessons for four, a somewhat premature Christmas tree decorated with exceptional angel ornaments (an ECS dinner dance tradition), and a home-video package that, given the event’s religious association, included tapes of “Ben Hur” and “The Ten Commandments” along with a sack of popcorn and a hot-air popper.

“May Faire is given to help the least, the lost and the last,” said chairman Joyce Pedlow, echoing the ECS motto.

ECS spokesman Patt Casey described some of the services that will receive funding from the event.

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“ECS has the county’s largest employment program for the homeless, and we’re currently trying to expand our services to both homeless men and women. We’ve recently added a ‘sheltered’ workshop, at which a woman who’s never had work skills can develop them, and we emphasize teaching what it requires to keep a job. This is a real problem for a lot of homeless people who want to be self-supporting and independent.”

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