Debutantes Bow as Summer Swirl Starts
Aswirl of debutante events dotted the calendar last week.
Las Madrinas, a social support group completing its $3-million pledge to Childrens Hospital’s molecular pathology program, entertained at a garden tea at the Brentwood home of Nancy and James Birdwell. Debutantes holding nosegays met guests in the courtyard receiving line.
At the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel, the Pasadena Guild of Childrens Hospital presented 17 debutantes at its white-tie summer highlight, the June Ball, transforming the ballroom into an Italian villa with tall cypress trees.
In Ventura, pink champagne roses, gardenias and white orchids were in abundance at the 35th annual Las Patronas Presentation Ball as 17 debutantes carrying lace fans adorned with orchids and ribbon streamers were presented by David Daniel Stuart Jr. of Camarillo.
And, earlier this month, the San Marino Area chapter of the National Charity League hosted its debutante announcement tea at the Crystal Room of the Biltmore, introducing 20 debs.
Debutante events traditionally fall in the summer and during the Christmas holidays to coincide with college breaks.
Las Madrinas debutantes will be presented Dec. 21 at the Beverly Hilton ball to be planned by Susan Armistead. At the tea, Las Madrinas president Ann Barrett and debutante chairman Josselyn McAdam greeted guests. Debutantes wore summery frocks and big smiles.
To be presented are Melinda Baker, Mary Griff, Karen DeNero, Elizabeth Cheney, Darcy Mullin, Jennifer Popovich, Elizabeth Browne, Catherine Corman, Alison Dalley, Sara Gallagher, Monica Partridge, Alexa Hayes, Cynthia Luppen, Erin McGaughey, Leigh Marston, Anita McLane, Ashley Young, Amanda Schreiber, Lora Thomas, Brenda Terry, Tori Scott, Julie Saliba and Jennifer Rogers.
Because Isabelle Linenberger was serving her astonishing array of tea goodies (dainty watercress, curried chicken and egg canapes and sugary cookies), most were doing the equivalent of breakfast, lunch and dinner with their iced teas. Appreciating were Dody Booth, Jane Ackerman, Mary O’Connell, Carlotta Keely, Penne Durst, Janice Carpenter, Peggy Galbraith, Cheryl Baker, Alyce Williamson and Ann Longyear.
At the June Ball, debs carried small green-and-white bouquets outlined by starched lace doilies and were presented by T. Samuel Coleman, Pasadena Guild of Childrens Hospital president Rary Simmons and ball chair Sally Boyle. Debutante chair Ruth Harbour stood by, beaming approval.
Curtsying were Hilari Andrews, Carolyn Barrett, Jennifer Braun, Cameron Dillavou, Eileen Conn, Leith Connell, Amy Condon, April Danz, Pamela Livingstone, Leigh McCarthy, Jennifer Brian, Sarah Jordan, Megan Larson, Jennifer Zapanta, Sarah Pillsbury, Angela Newell and Marcy Shugert.
That ball will benefit the endowment of the Pasadena Guild Chair in Pediatric Eye Cancer Research.
Proceeds from Las Patronas’s ball will go to Assistance League of Ventura County charities, including aid for children with developmental delays and for teen-agers’ clubs. Debutantes were Ynez Arce, Kelly Weckworth, Shannon Shreve, Katherine Phillips, Christina Bartelson, Danielle Walker, Renee Fauvre, Charlene and Cheryl Saxey, Tiffany Tegland, Juliana Lucking, Cynthia Stephenson, Paige Maulhardt, Emily Stenzel, Danica Nebreklievski, Jessica Rothrock and Catherine Off.
San Marino debs to be presented next Christmas are Jennifer Popovich, Laurie Fortier, Katharine Boultinghouse, Elizabeth Forsyth, Julie Angeloff, Christina Wood, Gabriela Yariv, Rebecca Wagenen, Brooke Anderson, Tami Anderson, Lisa Giuntini, Stacy Yacullo, Erica Hoshek, Alison Holt, Jennifer McNeish, Suzanne Minoux, Tiffany Lind, Katherine McKinley, Mia Rondinella and Jennifer Rubardt.
KUDOS: California First Lady Gayle Wilson and CEOs in the audience jumped to their feet at the Descanso Gardens dinner Friday evening to applaud Teri Barnett, the South Los Angeles Brownie troop leader who saw Reginald Denny being attacked as she watched television on the first night of the riots and then, with three others, rushed to assist him and drove him to the hospital.
She had been invited to the Angeles Girl Scout Council dinner by the Green & White Select dinner chair Diana Peterson-More, Southern California Edison executive, and by another Edison employee, Girl Scout leader Kristine Clemens, a customer service representative. During the evening, Edison president Mike Peevey learned that Barnett, an electronic data processer, was unemployed. On the spot, he offered her a job interview at Edison. She accepted.
SAFARI: Former Angeleno and fashion model Kim Ellis and Tony Fitzjohn work to protect endangered species at the Mkomazi Game Reserve in Tanzania.
Last week they were in Beverly Hills, teaming with Jerry and Lois Magnin of Polo Ralph Lauren, Beverly Hills, to raise funds at the Magnin’s classy boutique on Rodeo Drive. A big crowd shopped; 10% of the night’s sales were donated to the Tony Fitzjohn/George Adamson African Wildlife Preservation Trust, dedicated to reintroducing animals into the wild.
Ellis’s parents, Clarice and Ed Ellis, were in the crowd. So were Patrick Mathews of Conde Nast Traveler, Lord Anthony Rufus-Isaacs (who runs the trust in the United States) and Adri Butler.
KEEPING UP: George and Marilyn Brumder hosted the recent reception for Smith College president Mary Maples Dunn. Pasadena and Los Angeles alums listened to her plans for renovating campus facilities. . . .
Jennifer and Royce Diener hosted the 30th meeting of the Society of the Claremont Graduate School at the Regency Club, listening to Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, senior associate at Claremont, discuss “Politics 1992: The Two Californias.”
