Ruby Slippers Off on the Right Foot

Fashion and inspiration were on the agenda Thursday at an awards luncheon hosted by the Newport Harbor chapter of Soroptimists International. About 300 women and half a dozen men attended the $35-per-person Balboa Bay Club benefit, raising an estimated $10,000, according to organizer Cyd Brandvein. Soroptimists International is a nonprofit organization for professional women. Proceeds from the luncheon will be used for a new program called Ruby Slippers, which will help underprivileged women through cash grants, donations to local agencies and one-to-one mentoring.

No Place Like Home

That’s where the Newport Harbor Soroptimists plan to do their giving and where they looked to find their honorees.

This year’s Distinguished Woman Award was given to Newport Beach resident Marie Gray, founder St. John Knits. Some of St. John’s figure-hugging outfits were modeled during the meal.

Ruby Keeler--who wore her own ruby slippers to the party--was honored for being, in the words of emcee Randee Dalzell, “the best tap dancer this world is ever going to see!” The former Busby Berkeley hoofer and longtime Newport Beach resident lunched with her daughter, Theresa Hall.

Others presented with silver tureens were Orange County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder; Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Anaheim); Costa Mesa Mayor Mary Hornbuckle; local corporate consultant Kristine Robinson, and Joyce Byrne, an elementary school principal in San Diego.

Patty Hoag, who did not attend, was commended for her and her husband’s financial contribution to the recently completed cancer center at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach.

Sharing her story of abuse, tenacity and hope, Allison Paine thanked the Soroptimists for the scholarship to Orange Coast College that has given her “the thrill . . . and the privilege to be a student.”

Slogans & Speeches

It was a luncheon that threatened to last until dinner. Or at least until tea time. It was long.

First came emcee Dalzell, with a perky “motto”--”Make a difference today!”--and a recap of a speech Peter Ueberroth made recently to another group of fund-raising, lunching ladies. Then came a few words from Keeler. Then lunch. And finally, the awards.

Supervisor Wieder skipped through the years of her long public service career. She got a laugh when she said that what she liked about politics was the chance to “work to bring together the varying viewpoints. And are not women the ones to do that? I mean, have you ever raised kids and tried to get them to do something together ?”

Assemblywoman Allen recounted her legislative struggle to limit the use of fishermen’s gill nets, then picked up Dalzell’s theme and concluded: “You can make a difference. You just need three things: commitment, dedication and perseverance.”

Mayor Hornbuckle admonished the audience to have “the courage to be one of those fools to rush in where angels dare not tread.” Byrne read a poem in praise of teachers.

At last came Gray, of St. John Knits--an oratorical breath of fresh air.

“The first thing everybody asks me is, ‘What is the key to your success?’ ” Gray began. “I say, ‘ Marry someone rich! ‘ “

Faces

Beverly Soderling is the president of the Newport Beach chapter of Soroptimists International. The benefit committee included Barbara Montano, Marilyn Lindell, Vivian Patterson and Ann Gyben.

Also attending were Joan Greatrake, Magna Schley, Maxine Witt, Dalia Badajos-Lugo, Victoria Gray and Donna Crean.