Toys, Black Ties Mix at Annual Bachelor Bash

Thirteen jolly, would-be Santas, all in black tie and mostly not pudgy, closed ranks last Thursday at the Hotel del Coronado to host the ninth installment in what has become the largest of San Diego’s annual private affairs.

This baker’s dozen of hosts--a clubby agglomeration of lawyers, physicians and business types--shares the common trait of bachelorhood and changes its roster whenever members marry or simply drop out. Noted singles-party-givers Tom Groff and Joe Harmon helped to found the event, which drew 1,400 guests to the Del’s Grand Ballroom, and were on hand Thursday together with such other long-time hosts as Terry Teudt, Glenn Freed and William Woods.

Each host is entitled to send more than 100 invitations, and most go to names pulled out of little black books and to bachelor buddies; virtually all of the invited attend, and the result is widely regarded as the most glamorous mixer of the year.

The glamour, though obviously entered into with a will, is by decree. Invitations state, without equivocation, that tuxedoes are mandatory , and a squad of no-nonsense doormen enforces the rule. Since the event also is billed as a benefit for children, invitations further note that admission requires each bearer to bring an unwrapped toy.

“We run this party by the ‘Three T’s,’ ” said Harmon. “That means anyone who wants in has to have a tuxedo or evening dress, a ticket and a toy.”

The three T’s were religiously observed Thursday evening. Although few in this crowd attend such Establishment spectacles as the Charity, Jewel and Monte Carlo Balls, they dressed the part; they dressed, in fact, to the roots of their careful coiffeurs, not only to be seen but to be looked over. In the lobby, a few of the older hotel patrons who watched the passing parade seemed astonished by the number of very young women in full-length furs and beaded gowns.

“I couldn’t have dreamed of affording that when I was their age,” commented one well-turned-out matron.

Admission also required presentation of the ticket mailed with the invitation, a measure required to keep the already immense event from assuming unmanageable proportions.

“We had to cut back on the guest list a little bit this year,” Harmon said. “More than 1,500 came last year, and it was too many. The point is that the party is hosted, but a lot of people think they can buy tickets. That’s not the case, since it is a private affair given for the hosts’ friends and business associates.”

In other years, in fact, tickets have been sold by recipients, a practice the hosts said they deplore but can do little to control.

The party-givers--whose ranks included Don Peterson, Jeff Platt, Michael Flynn and Tom Dixson expected to collect about 1,400 toys, all to be turned over to the Salvation Army for distribution throughout the county. Arriving guests arranged the toys on the stage in a vast semi-circle, and there were rows upon rows of bears--Teddies, mostly, in Papa, Mama, baby and Goldilocks-sized versions--along with rag dolls, lions, kittens, unicorns, horses, tigers, Spuds MacKenzies, bears, bears and more bears. This stuffed menagerie watched silently as the scene gradually developed from polite social whirl to frenetic whirlpool, all driven by a disco beat.

The host list also included several newcomers to the event. They were Mark Wiesner, Jim Mahoney, Jon Cavan and Bill Evans.

SAN DIEGO

The Logan Heights Family Health Center, a community-centered health-care provider in Barrio Logan, hosted its fourth annual holiday cruise Saturday and jammed the two decks of the Lady Hilton with a capacity cargo of 150 supporters.

The river-boat-style vessel, decked out in full seasonal dress and sporting a lighted Christmas tree on its bowsprit, took its passengers for a leisurely tour of Mission Bay that coincided with the annual Mission Bay Parade of Lights, the reflections of which gave the dark waters the appearance of a cut-glass punch bowl filled with holiday spirits. Guests divided their attention between the lower-deck buffet and the upper deck discotheque.

The event replaced, for December, the celebrated monthly “Spirit of the Barrio” tamale luncheons given at the center for a disparate group of civic activists, elected officials and business people. Many regulars among that group, however, signed on for the event, which center spokeswoman Judy Lutz said will be enshrined on the organization’s calendar. “These people are our friends, and we like the chance to really celebrate with them once a year,” she said.

Proceeds were earmarked for the center’s capital campaign, which paid for a recently completed wing that on its ground floor houses a women’s health clinic. The campaign now will direct its funds toward outfitting the rest of the addition to house optometry, health promotion and health-care for the homeless clinics.

The guest list included Judy and Walter Scott, Nancy and Hildo Hernandez, Kathleen Mikitka, Linda and Alan Harshberger, Margarita Carmona, Bea and Chuck Gonzalez, Jan and Steve Halliday, Jean Meade with Mark Arrollado, Carol Sarna with Howard Cornell, Linda and Hal Brown, and Cynthia and Robert Griego.