Woman’s Club Is 100 Years Old

Midwifed by the drought of 1888 and later noted for fighting to keep the country dry during Prohibition, the San Diego Woman’s Club celebrated its centennial Saturday afternoon during a downpour that seemed Nature’s way of sending congratulations. President George Bush and Barbara Bush were content to simply send notes.

The rain hammered energetically on the roof of the Town & Country Hotel’s Presidio Room, in which more than 400 members and spouses gathered for the club’s Centennial Gala luncheon. Rules and customs formulated long ago decreed much of the program, which included a processional, patriotic interludes, inspirational speeches and addresses by politicians--not to mention a meal an

chored by the traditional piece de resistance of ladies luncheons, chicken.

Incorporated in 1892 after the dissolution of the Ladies’ Annex to the Chamber of Commerce--a group formed during the 1880s at the Chamber’s urging to combat the “water crisis” and secure regular water supplies for San Diego--the club took on multiple purposes, primarily the twin pursuits of civic and societal reforms and the cultural and educational improvement of the membership.

Dignitaries, politicians and 14 former club Presidents shared a double-tiered head table; among them was Rep. Bill Lowery (R-Calif), who rose early to commend the club on a century of accomplishments. “What a great contribution you have made to San Diego during these 100 years, and you continue to make,” he said. “On such critical issues as water supply, your service to San Diego has been significant.” The group also successfully crusaded, in its formative years, for the establishment of a public market; protested in 1924 against allowing the border with Mexico to remain open past 9 p.m.; again turned to the water issue in the 1950s, when the club supported the idea of importing water from the Colorado River, and in the 1960s established the San Diego Scenic Drive. In 1985, the group ended the more than 90-year ban on alcoholic beverage service in the clubhouse at Third and Maple, which made possible the club’s now quite popular Champagne brunches. Times change.

In an act typical of the long-range planning undertaken by the club, the centennial committee was organized in 1987. Presentations included speeches by local businesswoman Suzy Spafford and by Margaret Long Arnold, manager of women’s activities for the American Assn. of Retired Persons. Responsibility for the closing benediction fell to Helen Eilerman, who may have undertaken that task previously during her 75-year membership in San Diego Woman’s Club; she joined in 1917.

The gala and centennial committees included Ann Mokiao, Pauline Thompson, Dorothea Barbour, Harriette Marshall, Lillie Macduff, June Perry, Phyllis Wood, Mary Eleanor Jones, Julie Batchelor, Barbara Shira, Polly Whigham, Dorothy Herbert, Kay Harrington, Margaret Hawkinson, Idalaine Musselman and Eileen Krusen.

While Conner, Koch and Melges continue to nautically duke it out off Point Loma, works by Canaletto, Hogarth, Turner, Van de Velde and Reynolds will bring “The Great Age of Sail” (from the pre-America’s Cup period) to life on the walls of the San Diego Museum of Art.

Presented in conjunction with the competition for the cup, the exhibition of maritime paintings and sailing memorabilia loaned by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, will open March 6 with “It’s Greenwich Time,” a gala scheduled to steer a course of three legs.

The roving cocktail reception, which will allow sufficient time for guests to view the exhibition, will be given in the museum’s Rotunda and East Wing. But unlike most SDMA functions, the dinner and dancing will take place on the parking lot--under a special clear tent built for the event by theatrical set designer Robert Brill. Decor will blend America’s Cup and “Great Age of Sail” themes and will include projections on the museum edifice. Following the meal, to be catered by the museum, the Bill Green Orchestra will alternate with singer Robert Benjamin.

Martha and George Gafford chair the committee of more than 100 couples. A separate “Committee of Honor,” as opposed to the honorary committees fielded by many events, lists names not generally mentioned on local invitations, including Prince Philip; Lord Lewin, British Admiral of the Fleet; Sir Robin Renwick, British Ambassador to the United States; Sir Brian Jenkins, Lord Mayor of London, and Raymond G.H. Seitz, United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

The black tie gala will commence at 6 p.m. and will continue at least until midnight. Tickets are priced in two categories, at $250 per person for benefactors, and $400 per person for those who attend at the patron’s level. For further information, call the San Diego Museum of Art.

Invitations to the America’s Cup Ball 1992 will be mailed in mid-March, and ball chairman Jane Fetter predicted at a recent luncheon honoring wives of syndicate chiefs and team captains that the international attendance will easily exceed 2,000.

The May 7 ball will be given, rather appropriately, under the sail-like roofs of the San Diego Convention Center. Original plans had called for a 9 p.m. starting hour, late for this town but timed, Fetter said, to accommodate the evening habits of the hundreds of guests from abroad whom she expects to attend. The event has been moved forward to 8 p.m., however, followed by dinner at 9 p.m. and dancing until 1 a.m. In the deliberate absence of a formal program--the event is intended to present Cup participants and sponsors with an unrestrained good time--the Peter Duchin Orchestra will play continuously.

If the event copies the tone of the America’s Cup Ball given in May, 1991, the arrangements and entertainment will be notably lavish. The goal, said Fetter, is to produce “a warm, hospitable event which reflects the spirit and soul of San Diego.” Several members of the enormous committee indicated that they expect to see some of the same participants back in town four years hence.

Tickets are available to all interested parties and are priced at $175 per person; the dress code specifies black tie or team uniform. For further information or to receive an invitation, call the San Diego Yacht Club.