Neighborhood Lunch for State’s First Lady

Gayle Wilson, the only woman to be officially designated and titled “Special Project” by the state of California, paid a call Tuesday on a group of former neighbors and pals and was repaid for her courtesy with a won-ton chicken salad lunch.

Introduced as “the First Lady of California” to the membership and “patroness” group of Makua, the Point Loma auxiliary to the Children’s Home Society, the wife of Gov. Pete Wilson returned to her one-time neighborhood to speak on her daily routine as gubernatorial spouse.

According to Makua spokeswomen Jeani Burwell and Marleen Shook, the luncheon was arranged both as a special treat for the auxiliary’s patronesses, a group outside the active membership that provides financial support, and as a kickoff for the annual Makua fancy-dress fund-raiser, which will be July 13 with the theme “Hooray for Hollywood.” The luncheon took place at the home of Bruce and Linda Blakley.

At precisely 11:40 a.m., Wilson and her driver pulled up in a gray sedan, to the evident relief of a welcoming committee that had been waiting at the curb for 40 minutes. After pulling a yellow legal pad of notes from the trunk, Wilson strode briskly up the brick walk to the Cape Cod-style house, pausing just long enough to exclaim “Springtime in San Diego!” as she passed a bed of blossoming foxglove and snapdragons. Her suit, a simple, business-like skirt and jacket in bright red, fit in with the general scheme of the crowd, which largely wore red or white or blue and, taken together, looked purposefully patriotic.

During her remarks, which she said would be “less serious” than her usual speeches, Wilson seemed much less a governor’s wife lecturing a group of constituents than a former resident making a visit to the old neighborhood. The casual, sometimes cozy tone was a lesson that the folksiness that once characterized American politics persists.

Punch lines punctuated the address and usually were rewarded with quick choruses of chortles.

“In 1982 I was stuffing envelopes at Pete’s campaign headquarters, and who would have thought I’d end up where I am today? Volunteerism has its rewards,” said Wilson, provoking the first of many and frequently knowing laughs.

Her description of her daily routine commenced with the years spent in Washington during Pete Wilson’s time in the Senate.

“I never knew my life would be so fast, with no time for anticipation or reflection,” she said, in a tone of some regret. “There’s no time. In Sacramento, life has not slowed down and there still is no time.”

Wilson said her experience in Washington, where she said a senator’s wife has no role and thus is forced, if she wishes, to create one, prepared her to fashion a job for herself in Sacramento, where she spends part of her time working with the governor’s schedulers and speech writers. This has led to her official designation as “Special Project.”

“I believe I am the first (California) governor’s wife to have an office in the Capitol,” she said. “There are no funds set aside for the First Lady, I don’t exist, that’s why I’m called ‘Special Project,’ ” she explained to laughter. “I like what I’m doing now,” Wilson added, along with a mention of her current concerns, prenatal care and the issue of drug-exposed babies.

When Wilson concluded, the group trooped upstairs to share the lunch of won-ton chicken salad, an item Burwell said was chosen both for ease of preparation and because the recipe was included in the cookbook published by the local Junior League, to which Wilson once belonged.

The attendance included Barbara Mullen, one of Wilson’s roommates at Stanford; Betty Tharp, Lynne Gattis, Elaine Butz, Sandra Pay, Jeanne Shumaker, Nancy Reed, Jill Young, Barbara Brown, Roxi Link, Becky Bradbury, Jeanne Frost, Joy Ledford, Ruth Kirtland, Nora Newbern and Virginia Grady.

RANCHO BERNARDO--The California State University, San Marcos Foundation was host to the fourth annual University Ball last Saturday at the Inn at Rancho Bernardo, for a group of 200 that included political, education and business leaders from both coastal and inland North County.

The program at the black-tie dinner-dance included a presentation to 1991 University Ball honoree, San Marcos Mayor Lee Thibadeau; the recognition was given as reward for Thibadeau’s efforts to bring the university to the inland community.

Ball chairman Janie Phillips described the party as “the most lavish event in North County, and the only one to be attended by leaders from throughout the area.” Among the diversions planned for those leaders were a dinner of mussel bisque, beef filet in Zinfandel and white chocolate-orange mousse, with dancing to the Dick Braun orchestra.

State Sen. William A. Craven (R-Oceanside) served as master of ceremonies and introduced a goodly number of dignitaries, including CSUSM President Bill Stacy and University Council chairman Robert Spanjian. Among others in attendance were Assemblyman Robert Frazee (R-Carlsbad) and his wife, Delores; Gloria and County Supervisor John MacDonald; poinsettia potentates Paul and Jinx Ecke; Anne and Palomar College President George Boggs; Ruth Mangrum, president of Escondido’s Felicitas Arts Foundation, and her husband, Bob; Terry and Alice Churchill; Caroline and Jack Raymond; Margaret Bradley; Phyllis and Stephen Pfeiffer, and Arie and Anna de Jong.

There was a curious absence of raisins and almonds from the fruit-laden buffets at an April 2 reception that followed the season-opening performance of the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre’s production of “A Shayna Maidel.”

Raisins and almonds are the title items of the traditional Yiddish lullaby, “Rozhinkes mit Mandlen,” sung during the performance. Their lack went largely unnoticed at the party for cast members and theater supporters at the Horton Grand Hotel; trays of cheese and chocolate pastries appeared in their place, while a violinist offered the theme from “Fiddler on the Roof.”

The low-key event attracted many board members and was, said producing director Kit Goldman, designed to carry out the message of the play.

“Tonight’s the beginning of a new season, and this play says so much of what we at the Gaslamp want to say about survival, and the triumph of the human spirit,” said Goldman.

New managing director Steve Bevans joined a reception crowd that included Linda Hahn, actor Jonathan McMurtry and his wife, Terry; Linda and Chuck Owen; Jan McKusick; Blaine and Bobbi Quick; Nancy Hester, and Else Fuller, who on May 20 will chair a most unusual theater fund-raiser, a golf tournament to be held at Rancho Santa Fe Farms Country Club.