Primates Put on the RITZ at Zoo : SAN DIEGO COUNTY

Saturday’s RITZ (Rendezvous in the Zoo) gala may have been for the birds, but it also was for the chimpanzees, the duck-billed platypuses, the hangnailed sloths and the other creatures who have come to call the San Diego Zoo their home away from the jungle, veld and rain forest.

More than 850 primates paid well to take a gander at the wild geese, timid toucans and cocky cockatoos that have made the zoo one of the planet’s prime entrepots for man and beast, with the result that more than $150,000 was raised toward the construction of a new enclosure for the zoo’s pygmy chimpanzees. RITZ also officially opened the summer social season, and was widely appreciated as a sort of festive monsoon that relieved the long dry spell of second-rate celebrations that had left circuit regulars gasping for a refresher course in how to party in high style.

RITZ specifically honored King Tut, the salmon-crested cockatoo who had been, until the previous day, the zoo’s official greeter since his arrival on March 25, 1925. Zoo officials claimed that the above-average avian has welcomed more than 100 million visitors to the park, which may explain why, in its first taste of retirement, the bird turned his back on the black-tie crowd and callously crunched bird seed when he should have been issuing caws of greeting.

Even so, the San Diego crowd proved that it has room in its heart for a cockatoo or two by clustering around Tut both during the cocktail hour and later, when the bird was given a triumphal parade through the open-air ballroom.

In its sixth annual incarnation, RITZ provided (as it always does) the opportunity for rare meetings between man and beast. The wandering Dorothies in the crowd chanted rather pointlessly for lions, tigers and bears--all these were kept at bay--but it was possible to have close encounters with llamas, camels, elephants, Clydesdales and miniature horses, since the zoo was determined to show its treasures at close range. Except during the first course of the dinner, fish were excluded from the proceedings.

RITZ opened in traditional fashion with a cocktail-hour meander through Primate Mesa, where man and monkey had the opportunity to observe one another at leisure and draw appropriate conclusions. The formally dressed participants in this annual stand-off had the better deal, though, because champagne was passed liberally and the hors d’oeuvres buffets yielded such notable tidbits as smoked oyster canapes and sizzling conch fritters. While monkeys have been known to ape mankind, none of these refreshments enjoy great repute on the simian table d’hote .

The dress code somewhat needlessly encouraged “jungle elegance,” which resulted in so many women in leopard prints that spots seemed to swim before one’s eyes; the invitations also, in honor of Tut, invited Egyptian garb, with the result that many Cleopatras and even several Rameses held center stage.

Dinner was announced separately by chairwoman Alison Tibbitts, who summoned the faithful to table from atop Walter the camel, a domesticated dromedary, and by the deep brass tones of a Japanese gong, which a zoo staffer pounded with unfettered delight. The meal was served al fresco in a starlit space engagingly decorated by design chiefs Dick Ford and Liz Smith to resemble an ancient Egyptian boit de nuit . Giant, lighted standards of cockatoo Tut in Pharaonic garb rose high above the tables and defined the ballroom. Best of all, if utterly unplanned, was a triumphant full moon that, in the sudden absence of June gloom, rode high above the party through the night.

The Wayne Foster Orchestra and a subsidiary Foster rock band called Sparkle alternated on two dance floors for the duration.

Guests had barely had time to dig into their interesting first course of vegetable terrine when master of ceremonies Rolf Benirschke announced the traditional parade of animals. Led by the zoo’s good-will ambassador Joan Embery, the parade commenced rather tamely with Embery driving a Clydesdale-drawn shay, but picked up when a zebra, a cheetah and a lemur joined the procession.

The parade reached its peak when Tibbitts and zoo board President Al Anderson careened into the ballroom atop Carol the elephant, who wore a double necklace of bells and jingled grandly as she sashayed among the tables. (Carol used her trunk to pick the winning ticket in the raffle for a 1989 Mercury Cougar, which led Benirschke, who shortly will leave his job as daytime host of a television game show, to wisecrack, “It’s just like ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ we’re giving away a car.” Gordon Bell of El Cajon held the winning ticket.)

A clever dessert of meringue cockatoos followed the cabbage-leaf-wrapped filet mignon entrees, and released the guests to alternately contemplate King Tut’s long career and to step out gamely to Foster’s stylish Big Band interpretations.

The guest list included Helen and James Davis; zoo director Doug Myers and his wife, Barbara; Ruth and Jim Mulvaney; Audrey Geisel; Dick Duffy; Judy and Chuck Bieler; Alison and George Gildred; Mary and Bruce Hazard; Judith Harris with Robert Singer; Tisha Swortwood; Betty Jo and Hal Williams; Junko and Larry Cushman; Dottie and Patrick Haggerty; Betty and Al deBakcsy; Mary and Dallas Clark; Eleanor and Art Herzman; Jane and Tom Fetter; Jan and Mike Madigan; Jeanne Jones with Don Breitenberg; Susan and Bill Rick; Beverly and Bill Muchnic; Georgia Borthwick with Tom Fleming; Marge and Fielder Lutes, and Tommi and Bob Adelizzi.

LA JOLLA--Earlier the same day, the San Diego County Mental Health Hospital Auxiliary cleaned up (as it were) at the second annual Black Tie Car Wash & Cafe, a sudsy, daylong frolic at which several score of the well-known meticulously scrubbed several hundred autos.

Auxiliary President Lois Kolender (whose husband, former Police Chief Bill Kolender, was among those wielding hoses and soapy rags), said the event was intended more to attract visibility for the hospital than to earn substantial funds, although at $15 a car the proceeds did amount to a respectable figure. The auxiliary works for the benefit of patients and provides therapeutic equipment, clothing and personal care items.

The car wash is the brainchild of chairwoman Nancy Hester, who also founded La Jolla’s annual “Off-the-Wall” street dance, given every August for the UC San Diego Medical Center.

While there is nothing unusual about a car wash per se, the Black Tie Car Wash is a definitely trendy variant, and Saturday’s edition occasionally tied up traffic along Girard Avenue as gowned and tuxedoed shills directed a string of luxury sedans and economy models into the parking lot of San Diego Trust & Savings Bank. There was a definite benefit to the experience, since cars did emerge sparkling, but the amusement value lay in the identities of the car wash staff, which numbered some of the leading political, business and social figures in the county.

Former City Councilman and mayoral candidate Bill Cleator worked side-by-side with philanthropist Joe Hibben, restaurateur Ron Zappardino and San Diego Symphony board member Linda Hooberman, and hotelier Ann Evans joined publishing consultant Janet Gallison in flipping burgers in the impromptu cafe. In the background, one-man band Ira Cobb set the mood by offering such tunes as “Come Away With Me Lucille, in My Merry Oldsmobile.”

The car washers played as they sprayed, and onlookers who wandered too close to the work area could find themselves suddenly drenched by a well-aimed hose. Cleator remarked that the job was not that different from serving on the City Council, and radio executive Paul Palmer said the washers had taken as their motto, “When we’re finished with your car, it will look a little bit better.”

Hester said there had been a few snafus. Just before the event began, the keys to the water outlet were lost, and three car alarms were set off during washing--but she added that the group was having fun and making money for the hospital, which she said was all to the good.

Among other volunteers were Anne Jones, Rob Butterfield, George Munger, Marilyn Cleator, Robin Mackenzie, Melanie Cohrs, Bob Cluck, Carol Vistrand, Vicki Eddy, Russ Willson, Lynn Kuerbis, Barry Levich, Ed Washington, Ed Self, Mac Canty and Maggie Coleman.