‘Friend Raising’ Brings Smiles at Health-Care Gala
The motivation behind hosting Saturday’s “Miracles in Motion” gala at Escondido City Hall seemed to be to use the sleek showplace to showcase what guests described as another civic jewel, the Palomar Pomerado Health Foundation, the financial umbrella that shelters the Palomar Medical Center in Escondido and Poway’s Pomerado Hospital.
A crowd of 250 in regulation black tie (a number of guests smilingly remembered former Mayor Jim Rady’s controversial comment, at the time the building opened, to the effect that “Escondido isn’t a black tie kind of town”) met under the airy, gazebo-like dome that joins the two curving wings of the structure for Champagne and an inspection of one of the evening’s chief attractions, a collection of “fantasy” raffle packages.
While cocktail jazz careened around the circular walls of the space before dissipating through the fretwork dome, guests paused before the nine billboard-like displays to deposit tickets for the chosen raffle package. Except for an offering titled “Chance at a Million” (the winner took home $900 in cash and 100 California lottery tickets), these packages composed a uniformly unique fund-raising gimmick. Valued from $1,500 to more than $4,200, each offered the holder of the winning ticket a slew of services and gifts; one, for example, included meals at a dozen restaurants, a hotel stay and tickets to most of the county’s major theaters. The most extravagant, appropriately titled “Indulge Yourself,” included a Mayan work of art, floral arrangements to be delivered monthly for one year, weekend use of a new Mercedes SL, a bottle of 1967 Mouton Rothschild, a facial, a month’s free telephone answering service and, among a dozen other items, an onyx and gold necklace. Raffle tickets sold briskly.
According to several principals, fund-raising by no means dominated the evening’s agenda. Michael Bowers, president of the health care foundation, said that the goal of “friend raising” carried equal weight.
“We’ll make money tonight, but even if we just broke even we’d still be tickled to death to have brought out a community response like this,” Bowers said. “An event like this exposes the community to the caliber of medical care we offer here in North County, which is second to none, although I’m afraid most people don’t know that. Tonight, the business and elected leaders get to mingle with the medical staff and administration, and that’s important to getting out the message.”
Event chairmen Gini Burns and Donna Wolosin said that their intent was for Saturday’s “Miracles in Motion” to be but the first in a series of annual galas. Wolosin added that the name made a double reference, to the “flying P’s” in the Pomerado foundation logo, and to the motion implied by progressive health care.
“With funding, we can bring forth better health care, and miracles can come from that,” she said.
The balmy evening was miracle enough for some members of the committee, which crossed its collective fingers long ago when planning a strictly outdoors event for early May. The setting undoubtedly added much to the event, including--according to foundation executive director Martin Davis--a mixture of a little psychic boost with a dose of civic boosterism.
“One thing that’s very special about this event is that we’re holding it right here in Escondido,” said Davis. “Usually, when people want to give a special party, they go over to La Jolla. But we wanted to give it here, right in the shadow of Palomar Medical Center.”
Guests dined at a double row of tables on the circular outdoor plaza, set among the pines and along the edge of the massive reflecting pool and fountain. The fountain had been shut down for the evening, not only to avoid moistening the guests as the dined on caterer John Baylin’s roasted tenderloin in mustard sauce, but to avoid drowning out (as it were) The Music People, who offered dance music late into the night.
Starlight and extravagant arrangements of calla lilies added a little glitter to the scene, and the teams of physicians in charge of presenting the raffle drawing, a little comedy.
The guest list unsurprisingly was heavily weighted with physicians, and included Dena and Dr. Roger Bielasz; Palomar Pomerado Health Systems board chairman Dr. Howard Brown and his wife, Diane; Tami Sansone and Dr. Douglas Dechairo; Dr. Stan Weinberg and Dr. Leslie Rivkin-Weinberg; Jennie and Dr. David Redfield; Sharon and Dr. William Allgood; Peggy and Robert Edwards; Linda and John Fahey; Susan George with Phil Bennett; Evelyn and Gene Madison; Escondido Historical Society President Margaret Moir and her husband, Dr. Douglas Moir; Pat and Dr. Ed Reno; Leslie and Thomas Spindler, and Carol and John Stark.
LA JOLLA--Invitations to an April 29 fund-raiser at a private home specified vegetarian hors d’oeuvres, which suggested that the program might take a slightly different from than the usual white wine and peck-on-the-cheek routine followed at charity do’s in this seaside community.
There were, in fact, white wine and a degree of comradely hugging at this benefit for SNAP, the Spay/Neuter Action Project, which has as its goal the reduction of animal overpopulation through prevention of unwanted canine and feline births. More than 100 guests--in flowing, flowered dresses, jeans and business suits--turned out to munch guacamole and chips and meet animal activist Kim Sturla, leader of a national campaign to create civic ordinances that would mandate the spaying and neutering of animals not licensed for breeding.
The party’s hostess, Gwen Hutchinson, said that she was “born a vegetarian” to a rancher father whose favorite pastime was hunting. “I’ve been in animal rescue for 30 years,” she said, a length of service that met with some envy in the like-minded crowd.
Sturla, the driving force behind the first-in-the-nation breeding ban ordinance adopted recently by San Mateo County, was described by the invitation as “an inspiration to those who work to better the lives of non-human animals,” and was introduced by local SNAP member J.P. Novic as “truly a friend to all animals, including humans.” For her part, Sturla came off as low-key, but also as no-nonsense as her simple business suit.
“We’ve been killing animals, and we can do a lot more for man’s best friends,” she said, adding that 56 counties in 24 states are considering introducing mandatory spay/neuter ordinances. When she said that euthanasia takes the lives of 10 to 12 million dogs and cats annual in the United States, the audience jammed in the living room and hallway visibly stiffened, and then nodded eagerly when Sturla announced, “I want to see this problem ended by the year 2000.”
But there were chuckles, too, particularly after Sturla explained the basic principles of the proposed law and concluded, “Break the ordinance and you get a ‘fix it’ ticket, literally.”
The San Diego Humane Society assisted in sponsoring Sturla’s address.
