Starry Eve for Kroc, the Needy

The stars that twinkled in Joan Kroc’s eyes at the massive St. Vincent de Paul Village gala and fund-raiser given in her honor Saturday were more than a reflection of the glittering “celestial” decor that, for the night, made Marriott Hall at the San Diego Marriott a place of great elegance and drama.

Among the sold-out attendance of 910 that packed the giant room for “Thank Our Lucky Star” were Kroc’s galaxy of bosom buddies, including Notre Dame University President Emeritus Father Theodore Hesburgh, advice columnist Abigail Van Buren, Mayor Maureen O’Connor, newspaper publisher Helen Copley, actress Mercedes McCambridge, The Times editorial cartoonist Paul Conrad and St. Vincent director Msgr. Joe Carroll.

The city has grown too large for a complete Who’s Who roster to be in any one place at the same time, but the list was reasonably complete in its inclusion of representatives of major local corporations, cultural and charitable institutions (many of them recipients of Kroc largess), and movers and shakers in the arts and politics. McDonald’s corporation, which Kroc controls, not surprisingly, sponsored several tables, but a table also was purchased by FoodMaker, parent of the rival Jack-in-the-Box restaurants.

Kroc herself arrived quietly in the company of her daughter, Linda Smith, and Smith’s former husband, Jeremy Kapstein, and, like other guests, followed the path of foil stars that littered the red carpet and led toward the Champagne reception in the foyer. The ballroom remained roped-off during the reception, but guests who sneaked past the ropes were treated to the sight of actress Rhonda Fleming seated at the piano in conference with band leader Bill Green, while Dear Abby looked on fondly at the scene from a few paces distant on the stage. Fleming attended the event with her husband, movie theater magnate Ted Mann, who has been a friend of Kroc since Mann owned his first theater and she was a professional musician.

The crowd came to see and was largely conquered by what it saw. The committee chaired by newspaper executive David Copley and co-chairs Judith Harris, Robert Singer, and Junko and Larry Cushman laid the star decor thickly and rather brilliantly over a room dressed as much as possible in white, so that the scene looked like nothing so much as a 1930s luxury liner cruising through the Milky Way.

“We wanted it to look celestial--the party is for St. Vincent de Paul, after all, and Joan is our lucky star,” said Harris. “So we brought a little bit of heaven to earth for her because Joan has brought a little bit of heaven to earth for us.”

La Jolla Playhouse--like St. Vincent de Paul, a major beneficiary of Kroc’s charitable inclinations--sent stage lighting and a company of technicians to cast spotlights on the tables and stars on the walls; roving computer-driven spots wandered above the checkerboard dance floor, and the constellations of a nighttime sky were picked out by hundreds of tiny lights that twinkled on a black background above the stage.

The tables, in the words of more than a few guests, had a certain magic, derived from the pure white slipcovers that upholstered the chairs and the massive glass hemispheres that designer Scott Northcote packed with hillocks of baby’s breath and ropes of miniature foil stars. The centerpieces became conversation pieces when word went around that they actually were light fixtures from an airplane hangar in Ramona in which B-52 bombers are stored.

Further garlands of stars decorated the program books, and in relatively short order they were woven into coiffures, slung over shoulders and hung in glittering cascades from tuxedo breast pockets. Kroc was by no means the only starry-eyed person in the room.

She was chief in that distinction, however, because the evening most definitely belonged to her. The brief formal program quite cleverly took place at the beginning of the gala, during the first course of coquille de fruits de mer , so that relatively unrestrained merriment could proceed without impediment through the rest of the event.

After a video presentation of the highlights of Kroc’s career in San Diego, including her ownership of the San Diego Padres, she was called to the podium by Carroll to accept the first of two standing ovations. Her response was simple and direct, quite in the style she has made familiar through years of fund-raisers and testimonials.

“I’ll cherish the words and the memory of this evening,” said Kroc in a low, quiet voice that on occasion seemed ready to choke with emotion. “As we’re all aware, there is a great deal of hunger, loneliness and pain in this world. We must comfort these poor souls. I’ve been blessed with the means to help, and I will continue to keep on helping.”

Later, Father Hesburgh offered a toast that brought the evening’s second standing ovation.

“Joan is a person who has very much, and yet is disposed to share it with those who have very little,” he said. “I’m driven to tears by her generosity because this lovely lady has made it possible for a million hungry people to have a meal. It’s easy to toast Joan Kroc because she has a loving heart.”

Further tributes appeared in the lengthy program book, which reprinted letters from, among others, former Presidents Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon. (Nixon’s note was most amusing and opened with the line, “While you are an ardent Democrat, and I am an ardent Republican, we can both have a love affair with baseball.”) Further messages were sent by former Surgeon General and Kroc buddy C. Everett Koop; by actor Jack Lemmon, whose film “Mass Appeal” was backed by Kroc; by Eppie Lederer, better known as Ann Landers, and by “Today” weatherman Willard Scott, whose letter revealed that he was the original Ronald McDonald.

Net proceeds were estimated to be in the range of $250,000, a figure made possible in part by the sale of four tables at a locally unprecedented $25,000 each, as well as others for $10,000 and $5,000 each. Among purchasers of a top table were Mayor O’Connor and her husband, Robert Peterson.

The guest list included Dr. Jonas Salk, Bishop Robert H. Brom, Karen and Donald Cohn, Danah Fayman with Terry Hughes, Annette and Dick Ford, La Jolla Playhouse director Des McAnuff and his wife, actress Susan Berman; Katy and California Western School of Law Dean Michael Dessent; Audrey Geisel; Charlie and Ballard Smith; San Diego Museum of Art director Steven Brezzo; County Supervisor Susan Golding and Kathy and George Pardee.

Also attending were Linda and Frank Alessio; Mary and Bruce Hazard; Claudia and James Munak; Charmaine and Maury Kaplan; Judy and KPBS director Paul Steen; Susan and Bill Evans; Betsy and Doug Manchester; Marge and University of San Diego President Author Hughes; San Diego Hospice director Holly Lorentson; Jan and Mike Madigan, and 1984 Olympics swimming gold medalist Steven Lundquist, in town for the filming of “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Part IV,” and seated at the gala between committee members Pamela Allison and Barbara ZoBell.