Mercy Hospital Turns Its Gaze to 21st Century

Having consumed an entire century in several courses with its numerous centennial celebrations last year, Mercy Hospital started nibbling on a fresh one Saturday at “. . . into the Next Century,” the 22nd annual Mercy Ball.

The turn of the crucial year was accompanied by a simple but significant update of the hospital’s motto, from the 1990 “A Century of Caring” to the new slogan, “A Second Century of Caring.” At the ball, given in the Marriott Hall ballroom of the San Diego Marriott and attended by about 600 guests, chairman Yolanda Walther-Meade played Janus by substituting a high-tech, forward-looking and indeed “futuristic” theme for the proud survey of the past that characterized the Centennial Mercy Ball.

At “. . . into the Next Century,” the new succeeded the old when the Bill Green Orchestra yielded the bandstand to the Mar Dels, which kept a sizable crowd discreetly rocking until well past midnight. Table decorations, elegant but designed to look like something that might be chic a century or two from now, were constructions of white calla lilies, orchids and snapdragons built out with silvered ti leaves and foil ribbons. The menu, more firmly rooted in the present, offered a pairing of salmon and beef filet, followed by a dessert of chocolate “tulips” brimming with berries.

Mercy Foundation Executive Vice President Paulette Gibson said earnings exceeded $130,000, or very near the goal set.

“Given the times, we’re delighted and feel we have a real success,” she said.

A fair portion of the net was derived from the silent auction of more than 100 items during the cocktail hour. The bidding possibilities ranged from the prosaic--a car-detailing session--to assorted trips, dinners and sets of presidential cuff links sent by the offices of Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

Every year, the ball benefits a specific Mercy Hospital department or special need. Saturday’s event was given for the Mercy Clinic, an outpatient facility that provides service without regard to a patient’s ability to pay.

“This is a worthy cause that is close to my heart,” Walther-Meade said in a program message. “The Mercy Clinic is a visible expression of the continuing mission of the Sisters of Mercy.”

Walther-Meade, one of the slowly growing number of cross-border socialites and community leaders (she maintains residences in Tijuana and La Jolla) succeeded her late husband on the Mercy Hospital Foundation board of trustees and also sits on the boards of the University of San Diego and the St. Vincent de Paul-Joan Kroc Center.

The current Mercy chief of staff, Dr. J. Robert Jacobs, and his wife, Mary Ann, headed a host couples committee formed entirely of past chiefs of staff and their spouses, including John and Debbi Blum, Ralph and Joanne George, Frank and Marilyn Pavel, Tom and Sandra Vecchione, Steve and Joani Gross, George Zorn Sr. and wife Rita and George Zorn Jr. and wife Becky.

Guests included Bishop Robert H. Brom; Mercy President and CEO Richard Keyser, and his wife, Joan; USD President Author Hughes and his wife, Marge; Jorge, Carlos and Caroline Walther-Meade; Dulie and John Ahlering; Betty Hubbard; Carol and Mike Alessio, who will be guests of honor at the annual Meals-on-Wheels banquet to be given Nov. 14; Vangie and Dick Burt; Anne and Michael Ibs Gonzalez; Mim and Al Sally; Kay and Bill Rippee; Maggie and John Mazur; Betty and Ross Tharp; Rita and Josiah Neeper; Donna and Donald Guttman; Tracee and James Mulvaney Jr.; Mary-Em Howard; Marti and Frank Panarisi; Deirdre and Pat Dooling; Sister Mary Leonita Metoyer; Barbara and Bill McColl, and Gaynor and Hugh Pates.

Men will be welcome at the “Suffragette Tea” to be given this Sunday at a private La Jolla residence as a benefit for the upcoming La Jolla Civic University Symphony Orchestra & Chorus production of the opera “The Mother of Us All,” which is based on the life of women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony.

Invitations specify “suffragette white” as the preferred dress, and hosts and servers will model the antique Victorian clothes that will be worn in the Nov. 1, 2 and 3 production of the opera at Mandeville Auditorium on the campus of UC San Diego.

Diversions will include performances of several arias from the opera, a reading of poetry written by “The Mother of Us All” librettist Gertrude Stein, a horseshoe tournament (the winner will be invited to play horseshoes on stage opening night), and, of course, tea and appropriate refreshments. The afternoon event will be given between 2 and 4. Admission is $10 per person. For further information, call the symphony office at 534-4637.

The San Diego Repertory Theatre will invite guests to “Do the Time Warp Again” at “Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?”--a gala dinner, dance and, from the sound of things, spoof to be given Nov. 2 in the Crown Room at Hotel del Coronado.

The entertainment will feature a musical presentation from “The Rocky Horror Show,” as well as a formal dinner, dancing and live and silent auctions of trips, artworks and other items. Invitations describe the dress code as “black tie or anything that glitters,” and, at Rep events, dazzle is usually the operative idea. Tickets to the event, which will begin at 7 p.m. and will benefit the theater company, are $150 per person. For further information, call the San Diego Repertory Theatre development office at 231-3586.

On Nov. 9, the California Ballet will host “Nutcracker Fever,” billed as the inaugural event of a yearlong campaign to build a new production of “The Nutcracker” for presentation in 1992, the 25th anniversary year of the dance company.

The black-tie-optional gala and dinner-dance will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception in the foyer of the Champagne Ballroom at the Sheraton Harbor Island hotel. (“Golden Benefactors” who purchase tickets in the top price category will be invited to a private reception at 6 p.m. in the hotel penthouse, which will be graced by the presence of an unnamed “surprise guest.”)

The evening will continue with dinner; an auction of elaborate gift baskets valued by the committee at $500 to $1,000 each; a performance of excerpts from “The Nutcracker” by California Ballet dancers, and dancing to the Step Sisters, a band and singing group that specializes in the music of the 1940s, ‘50s and early ‘60s.

Tickets are $75 per person for regular admission and $150 for Golden Benefactor seats. For further information, call the California Ballet at 560-0072.