A Festive Opening for Irish Hangout

Holiday fever manifested itself with some rather arcane but not unheard-of symptoms Saturday at the charity opening of downtown’s new Reidy O’Neil’s restaurant and hangout.

There were, for example, sporadic outbreaks of a cappella singing, especially in the Irish folk music vein and most notably when trays of small corned beef sandwiches made the rounds of the 500 or so party-goers. And there were endless red dresses and green neckties (virtually never paired on the same individual, however), which rendered the eatery’s holiday decorations redundant and made for a rather dashing tableau.

The opening benefited six charities that are very Irish, vaguely Irish or whose boards at least include members who know people who have eaten corned beef and cabbage, and guests were invited to specify which charity they wished to benefit when writing out their checks. It was a clever way to draw a crowd, especially because the six beneficiaries attracted highly distinct constituencies. They were the American Ireland Fund, Catholic Charities, the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre, San Diego Humane Society, San Diego Repertory Theatre and the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Co-chair Nancy Hester attributed her involvement partly to the Humane Society, since it is her pet charity; her yellow Labrador, Chelsea, is among the few pooches in town to occasionally make the society pages. “It’s great that so many community groups are benefitting tonight,” Hester said.

Partners Mike Reidy, Mike Neil and Leo Sullivan (the late Daniel Broderick was the fourth partner) took turns manning the door, though Reidy spent most of his time downstairs in the curiously named “The Lower Orders” room. Reidy and fellow part-time musicians Bill and Noel Hall, otherwise known as the In Case Trio, rocked out with the classic Irish Folk Top 40, gladdening ears with “I’ll Be the Wild Rover No More” and “Three Cheers for Old Notre Dame.”

The group began playing together in the mid-70s at the venerable but now defunct McDini’s, just to be able to hear Irish music on occasion. As calls to perform at parties and benefits rolled in with increasing frequency, they took the name “In Case Trio” in reference to the fact that they were available “in case” anyone needed musicians. The guests sang along at times, pausing occasionally to nibble caviar pastries, which some of them managed to crumble onto the shamrock-patterned carpeting.

The guest list included Christine and Fred Stalder, Stephanie and Bill Tribolet, Bill Waite, Jennifer Hankins, Rick Gulley, Ilene Steiman, Ted Odmark, Cuilly Burdett, Penne Horn, Jeanne Jones with Don Breitenburg, Junko and Larry Cushman, Midge and Ord Preston, Jane and John Murphy, Tom Lawrence, Linda and Frank Alessio, Sara Finn, Karen Kessler and Jane Pentelei-Molnar.

LA JOLLA--If the 1980s gave us the “power breakfast,” they also gave us the less-well-known but perhaps more intriguing “power tea.”

There aren’t many such occasions as yet, but one of the best established was repeated Dec. 5 by Jeanne Lawrence, who held her first major holiday tea at the Hotel del Coronado in 1983 and moved the function to her home last year. About 300 women, all recipients of the highly sought-after invitations, turned out for the late afternoon collation and power chat.

Because Lawrence shares the title of San Diego chief of protocol with Anne Evans (who attended the event), the guest list was headed by their mutual boss, Mayor Maureen O’Connor. It included major figures in local fund raising and philanthropy, as well as in business, the arts, law, medicine, education and politics.

Though teas formerly called for white gloves and discreet hats, many of the women turned out in flaming crimson and even in sequins--rather daring dress for such a moment, but this tea was in some ways the premiere women’s event of the year. The elegance was almost startling, and the groups in Lawrence’s drawing room and garden looked as if they had been walking moments earlier down the Faubourg Ste. Honore in Paris.

Servers passed continually with trays of champagne--tea was available, and some guests did drink it--which guests used to wash down the assorted rolled sandwiches, tiny pastries and the blinis with caviar prepared continuously at a table in the garden.

Though many of the women refered to the event as one of the choicest of networking opportunities, Lawrence said that she declined to see it in that light.

“I’ve given this tea ever since I put up the Victorian tree at the Hotel Del in 1983, because I wanted to do something for the women in this community,” she said. “It’s the one time that we all get to talk. It’s not a networking party, but it does bring women together.”

Among the women were Assistant U.S. Atty. Gay Hugo, the prosecutor in the Nancy Hoover Hunter trial; Sally Thornton; Jane Rice; Alice Cramer; Virginia Monday; Audrey Geisel; Mary Stiles; Gail Lichter; Shirley Millard; Ann Jones; Kay North; Berneice Copeland; Janet Gallison; Jane Halsey; Elizabeth Zongker; Bea Epsten; Rita Bronowski; Lollie Nelson; Karon Luce; Laurie Waddy; Jeanne Brace; Cheryl Kendrick and Dodie Garner.

The Assistance League of San Diego County, a philanthropic organization that benefits diverse groups within the larger community, gave its 15th annual Christmas Tree Dansant on Dec. 3.

About 400 guests attended “Nutcracker Fantasy,” a traditional holiday party with a twist--since copied by several other local groups--of an auction of fancifully decorated trees as its centerpiece. The trees, one of them titled “Faux Berge” as a coy reference to the exhibit of Faberge eggs at the San Diego Museum of Art, were displayed in the foyer of the La Jolla Marriott Grand Ballroom; the ballroom itself was populated by hordes of the tiny, wooden “Nutcracker” figures that seem to pour out of the woodwork every holiday season.

As a warm-up to the auction, the Bill Green Orchestra played “White Christmas” and other seasonal danceables while guests chowed down on butternut squash soup and chestnut mousse.

Chairman Pat Tapp described her party as one of the major funding sources for Assistance League projects, which include Operation School Bell, a program that clothes 1,500 needy school children annually. She added that while the event is no longer unique (the Children’s Hospital Auxiliary hosted the very successful “Fantasy of Trees” just five days earlier), she believes that it holds its own quite nicely.

“The competition has gotten great in the Christmas tree field,” said Tapp. “Ours aren’t underwritten by corporations or decorated by designers--they’re done by our membership, which really puts its heart into the work. We’ll raise more than $25,000 for our charities, so we feel that we can hold our heads high in the competition.”