Trees Branch Forth as Hope for Children
Dianna Broady sounded rather like a department store executive at the gala preview party she chaired Tuesday for the five-day Fantasy of Trees benefit at Sheraton Harbor Island.
“I’ve been doing Christmas since April,” she said with a tone of cheerful resignation. “In fact, since this is the fourth year for Fantasy of Trees, I feel like I’ve been doing Christmas year-round since 1987.”
With Thanksgiving finally in the background, the Christmas season has struck--and with a vengeance that belies the period’s gentle tone--at this most eventful celebration of holiday decor sponsored for the benefit of Children’s Hospital and Health Center by the hospital’s immense, countywide auxiliary.
As one might reasonably infer from the benefit’s title, the chief feature is a collection of Christmas trees. There are 27, most of them decorated according to the extravagant fancy of professional designers. The trees are augmented by nearly as many wreaths, a collection of gingerbread houses and other seasonal decorations. Most items are subject to silent bidding, but some will be offered tomorrow at a live auction. The highest bid carries off a tree. Last year, a tree that included a diamond tennis bracelet among its ornaments fetched a bid of $9,000, which probably made it the costliest decoration in any of the county’s living rooms.
All of the benefit’s myriad happenings--if truth be told, this is more a spectacular than an event--are being held in the Sheraton’s Exhibit Hall, a multipurpose, basement space that at other times serves as a parking garage. For Fantasy, however, the hotel spread carpeting, and overall event chairwoman Barbara Ann Watson and her committee further disguised the hall to suit Fantasy’s 1990 theme, Winter Wonderland.
For Tuesday’s opener, Broady talked Sheraton executive chef Bob Brody into inventing a coffee drink called Santa’s Fantasy. Amaretto, cherry brandy and vanilla ice cream spiked the basic brew, which was stirred with a candy cane swizzle, and those who tried it said it had the kick of a reindeer. Santa strolled among the 300 guests handing out extra sugar canes to those for whom one never is enough.
The preview looked ahead to a flurry of events that continue through Saturday. Several are sold out, but tickets still are available for Friday night’s dinner-dance, which costs $100 per person.
On a more affordable level, anyone who wants to see the trees or shop in the auxiliary’s holiday boutique may attend open houses today, from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. or 5-8 p.m. Open house tickets are $3 and are available at the door.
Fantasy of Trees concludes Saturday with an 8:30 a.m. breakfast with Santa. It includes a puppet show, roving elves and photographs with Old St. Nick and Mrs. Claus. Tickets are $15 per person. For information on any of the events, call the Children’s Hospital Auxiliary at 495-4988.
Watson said that a total of 6,000 people are expected to visit at least one of Fantasy’s various functions.
“I didn’t get my gray hair from this event, but it’s been a challenge,” she said of the unusually demanding logistics presented by a five-day benefit. “They netted $86,000 at last year’s Fantasy, and we’ll do at least as well. The people attending know that they’re doing something for the children at Children’s Hospital.”
The miniature forest includes a number of spectacular trees, including one, titled Gilded Renaissance, in blazing gold and crimson lit by the dancing flames of electric candles. Other notable trees include Mexican Fiesta, so bedecked with paper flowers and foil snowflakes that the tree underneath is virtually hidden from sight; the elegant Megumi No Ki, (or The Giving Tree), a Japanese fantasy that looks like something out of a period Art Deco living room on New York’s Sutton Place, and Ski Switzerland, a rather simply decorated tree donated by Swissair. The kicker to this particular fir is that the purchaser also will receive a ski trip to Switzerland that includes business-class air tickets.
Fantasy of Trees committee includes auxiliary president Sunny Golden, Sue Stadler, Marsha Bouman, Susan Johnson, Laurie McKeown, Connie Gorman, Grace Allen, Jan Baranowski, Meg Sesko, Lois Lucas, Gene Jensen, Sharrie Woods, Lou Turner, Judy Cliffton, Trudy Snell, Debbie Dulgar, Darlyn Davenport and Sharon Guadagnola.
The season actually will offer several more tree festivals, including the immensely popular multievent Christmas Tree Lane, to be given by the Escondido Boys and Girls Club at the Rancho Bernardo Inn the weekend of Dec. 7. For those already looking past the Christmas holiday, several major events will close the month and year.
The Holiday Bowl’s annual Poinsettia Ball, given as a prelude to the game (this year’s contest, between Brigham Young University and Texas A&M;, will be played Dec. 29 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, will be Friday, Dec. 28, in the Marina Ballroom of the San Diego Marriott. This year’s theme is Fantasy Under the Sea. The black-tie affair will feature magicians, the Bill Green Orchestra, a sports-related comedy act performed by ESPN television personality Roy Firestone and dancing to Lil’ Elmo & The Cosmos. Tickets are $150 and $200 per person. For more information, call 283-5808.
It is difficult to believe that the decade of the 1960s is now so antique that it actually can be viewed and celebrated with nostalgia, but some of those who survived the era intend to do just that at “The Happening,” a New Year’s Eve gala to be given at the San Diego Museum of Art by the Contemporaries, a young professionals’ organization formed to support the museum and its exhibits of contemporary artists. The event begins at 8 p.m. and offers the option of black tie or ‘60s attire, for those who still own bell bottoms. Period music will be played by the band Rockola, and artworks created for the party will be auctionned. A paint booth will allow guests to create their own psychedelic works, and there will be a buffet dinner, raffle and champagne toast at midnight. Tickets are $60 and $75 per person. For more information, call the San Diego Museum of Art.
A New Year’s Eve gala will be given by The Whittier Friends, a professionals’ organization that supports the Whittier Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology of Scripps Memorial Hospitals. Once Upon a Blue Moon, to be given at the Sheraton Grande Torrey Pines, will begin at 8 p.m. and will include a Big Band, a jazz band, casino games and an hors d’oeuvres buffet. Dress is black-tie. For more information, call the Whittier Institute.
