Jewel of a Ball Thrilling to 880
Las Patronas lit a Roman candle that launched the 44th annual Jewel Ball like a rocket and sent the sold-out crowd of 880 guests ballistic.
San Diego County’s premiere fund-raising sorority invited its many supporters to “Bella Sera,” but gave them a night to remember instead. The Italian theme was the inspired conceit of chairman Susan McClellan, who at the start of Saturday’s ball said: “I wanted elegance, and Italy connotes just that. ‘Bella Sera’ means ‘beautiful evening,’ and that’s the feeling we want people to have all night.”
By evening’s end, McClellan seemed to have had her wish granted, since she frankly admitted, “This is the best party I’ve ever been to!” Given the sheer extravagance of the frothy, seven-hour-long frolic under the stars at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, it was hard to disagree with her.
Most of the time, Las Patronas’ Roman holiday took a Venetian theme, although it was Venice gone uptown by way of Motown, Times Square and Hollywood. More than any Jewel Ball in memory, this was an “entertainment ball,” headlined by singer Rita Coolidge and her orchestra and bracketed fore and aft by the Leonard Neil orchestra from Los Angeles, cabaret singer Robert Benjamin (who flew in from Trump Plaza in Atlantic City) and San Diego’s own “Pieces,” an a capella trio that specializes in giving the low-down on high life through the medium of jazz age ballads. No matter in which direction guests turned, there was no escape from the music--but none of them tried very hard to get away.
The Jewel Ball basics haven’t changed much since the first gala, given in 1947 as a benefit for a post-World War II fund called China Relief. Every year on the first Saturday in August, the 50 members of Las Patronas (who sign on for seven-year stints) take over the tennis courts at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club and construct an open-air ballroom surrounded by painted sets and defined by a theme whose whimsy flies as far afield as the chairman’s imagination. The work of building the ball, at a rented warehouse, begins in January. Sometimes clouds roof the scene, sometimes the moon and stars, but the open-air fantasy setting always is imbued by a special romance that over time has made the Jewel Ball the one to beat for anyone who wants to sponsor the party of the year.
The “Bella Sera” sets outlined an antique Venice as seen from the grand ballroom of the Doges Palace, which, oddly enough, gave guests the sense of being indoors despite the gangs of furry clouds and fuzzy stars that held a shoving match overhead.
Tiny lights sparkled above representations of Byzantine churches and merchant princes’ villas like constellations in the sets’ painted skies, and more miniature bulbs twinkled in the Venetian arch-shaped centerpieces of ivy, roses and star-gazer lilies.
Because Coolidge, unlike several of the big-name entertainers considered for the evening, agreed to allow dancing during her performance, the size of the dance floor was doubled--although as one La Patrona noted, “We doubled the size of the dance floor for Rita Coolidge, and it wasn’t enough.”
As always, the pool in the adjacent terrace was crossed by a bridge, this year covered in faux brick and stone to look like Venice’s famed but baleful Bridge of Sighs, which leads from the ducal palace behind Piazza San Marco to an out-of-use dungeon.
At dinner time, guests who lingered too long over cocktails were herded across this bridge by Las Patronas humming an unfamiliar tune that just may have been named--you never know--”Get Along Little Doges.”
Because the Jewel Ball is not only a tradition but a top-ticket party, guests tend to take stances from the critical to the hyper-critical, but this year, Las Patronas found themselves luxuriating in the cushy swells of an ocean of unrestrained praise. Anyone who had been able to collect a dollar for each time he heard the phrase “This is such a beautiful party” would have departed the event considerably enriched.
One long-time supporter said that “Bella Sera” was the installment that “will take the Jewel Ball into the ‘90s,” and another said, “Twenty years ago the Jewel Ball was the ball, and it still is today.”
A pair of cockaded carabinieri at the club entrance (the young men who played the roles struggled mightily to maintain straight faces as guests streamed past) introduced the Italian theme, which continued in the “Venetian” marketplace set up around the pool.
Besides the traditionally opulent shellfish displays, various buffets offered pasta with lobster and caviar, Nicoise-style pizza and a dozen other hors d’oeuvres, and top Italian vintages were offered at a wine bar. Later, the same scene was converted to dessert buffets, a cappuccino bar and a cabaret; all, according to co-chair Lynne Hall, as part of the effort to break the usual Jewel Ball pattern.
“We wanted ‘Bella Sera’ to be unpredictable, with more music, more to see, more to do and more places to go,” Hall said.
But the main place to go was the ballroom, where caterer Tony Kopas served Caesar salad and vitello ai funghi , both well-received. Coolidge swept on stage about the time the entree arrived and immediately threw the dance floor into a state of gridlock; she sang personal standards like “Higher and Higher,” but really sizzled when she launched into the Peggy Lee classic “Fever.” La Patrona Gray Kristofferson and her husband, Kraigher, Coolidge’s former sister-and-brother-in-law, were among those dancing.
Another Jewel Ball tradition that sells a lot of tables is the beneficiary list, which changes every year. The custom is to select five or more major beneficiaries that will be granted $10,000, $20,000 or even $50,000 each, and about 50 minor charities. Among the organizations chosen as major recipients of “Bella Sera” funds are Episcopal Community Services, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Center for Children and San Diego Hospice.
Including proceeds from “Bella Sera,” the 43 Jewel Balls have earned some $4.4 million for a roster of more than 100 charities. At the ball, Las Patronas President Sandy Melchior said, “I believe in my heart that the charities are what have kept Las Patronas going for 44 years. If we just gave fancy parties, that wouldn’t have sustained us.”
The guest list included ball designer Andrea Bjeldanes and her husband, John; Andie Case with actor Cliff Robertson; Doris and Dirk Broekema; Tricia and Bill Kellogg; Nancy and James Baldwin; Ingrid and Joe Hibben; Sally and John Thornton; Gail and Bob Lichter; Richel and Tawfiq Khoury; Katy and Mike Dessent; Lee and Frank Goldberg; Betsy and Doug Manchester; Janine and Patrick Frega; Kelly and William Lerach; Elizabeth and Bill Nichol; Barbara and Ed Malone; Cheryl and Ron Kendrick; Hilary and Tom Brady; Julie and Bill Fiss; Judi and Dick Freeman; Melesse and Bob Traylor; Susie and Tom Armstrong; Betsy and John Anthony.
