‘Big Kids Party’ Supports Museum

“Now it’s time for dinner. Will you please go wash your hands?”

When Jeanne Barnes made that announcement in the back yard of Bob and Martha Fluor’s Newport Beach home on Saturday, not one party-goer budged.

Well, of course not. Kids will be kids. And these “kids”--turned out in everything from pinafores to pantaloons--just kept on slurping their snow-cone margaritas and tossing down their hot buttered popcorn.

What’s the Orange County party circuit coming to? To the annual “Big Kids Party” staged by the Guild of the Children’s Museum at La Habra, that’s what.

Here’s a summer bash that begins with guests hanging out at a “lemonade stand” and ends with them playing Simon Says. Here’s a bash that treats guests to hamburgers ‘n’ hot dogs donated by Carl’s Jr.; cookies cooked up by Mrs. Fields; truffles donated by Nordstrom; and enough Dreyer’s ice-cream bars to sink the Good Ship Lollipop.

Here’s a party that’s fun . “It’s almost a shame to waste it on adults,” said party co-chairwoman Missy Fleet, bustling about the Fluor compound.

Almost. But not quite. Proceeds from the $50-per-person affair benefit the county’s only hands-on museum for children, said party co-chairwoman and guild president Barnes. “This party helps make people aware of the museum and brings in money to help La Habra subsidize it,” she said.

As for the bash’s “kiddie” theme, Barnes whispered, “It’s sure gotten us a lot of publicity.”

We know why. It’s a scream to see highfalutin folks like Fluor-Daniel executive Bob Fluor dressed way down in casual cottons. Not to mention gala-chairwoman types like Eva Schneider (usually painting the town in a cloud of silk) gadding about in a rainbow-colored T-shirt with watercolor tattoos on her cheeks.

“I love this party,” said Fluor. “It’s so casual and relaxed. And all I have to do is step out my back door.”

When guests arrived, they could bid on auction items or have their faces painted with watercolors. If they were hungry, there was the popcorn, along with mini-burritos and chips and salsa. Thirsty? The snow-cone margaritas were a super hit. Dinner included freshly cooked corn on the cob. Favors included autograph books that were really ad books. And the centerpieces were elegant but not quite what you’d see at the Ritz: silver trays spread with sand and topped with plastic pails and shovels.

Museum director Cathy Michaels said about 200,000 children visit the museum annually.

“We go by the old concept that children learn by doing,” said Michaels, an ode to Disneyland (“I grew up in Anaheim,” she explained) in Mickey Mouse ears and shoes. “That’s not a concept you usually see in a museum. We offer children a chance to learn about the world in a safe environment.”

Also on the scene: Peggy and Bob Woiwod, who sipped libations on the Fluor children’s swings (“We’re not swingers,” Bob joked. “We’re just trying to renew our youth”); Diane Griffiths, who dressed as Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” (“These were my red pumps,” she said, staring down at her home-sparkled ruby-red slippers); Nancy Wagner, who came as Glenda the Good Witch (“I’ve been called ‘witchy’ at work,” she said. “I wanted people to know that I’m a good witch”); Bernice and Bill Hird; Fred Schneider; Margie and Tom Gephart; Louise and Marc Pomeroy; June Donovan; Reta and Ham Hawkins; Eve and Henri Foussard, and Marcia Giesler.

Social Scoops: Invitations are in the mail for the gala opening of the Patty and George Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach. Festivities on Sept. 8 will include a cocktail reception and a sit-down dinner. Walter Gerken is honorary chairman of the event, which is being presented by the Sandpipers, a support group of the Hoag Hospital Foundation. . . . The Ritz-Carlton will be the site of a high tea staged by Chanel on Aug. 10. The gathering is being organized to honor the committee that will stage the gala opening of Chanel at South Coast Plaza on Sept. 9. Jeanette Segerstrom is honorary chairwoman. Gayle Anderson and Donna Bunce are co-chairwomen. . . . Watch for the private Center Club in Costa Mesa to celebrate its fifth anniversary this fall with a gourmet soiree.