Weather Doesn’t Dampen Fellows Party

Extraordinary. A party so jinxed by the weather is one of Los Angeles’ premiere affairs of the year--the Huntington Society of Fellows annual Christmas party.

Last weekend 360 were supposed to have dined on Chasen’s lobster bisque, roast chicken and pear Belle Helene under a tent on the lawn in front of the Huntington Library a few steps from the Art Gallery. Wouldn’t you know, it rained.

Rather than have a cold, clammy venue in a frosty tent on a wet lawn, chairman Nancy Call heeded the meteorologist’s forecast of more rain and moved the party indoors to the Friends Gallery.

(This change was minor compared to the cancellation of the party because of the the 100-m.p.h. windstorm of 1988.)

Garlanded with florist Stanley Kersten’s greens, the gallery was cozy for this 20th anniversary of the society’s founding.

For the occasion, Stanton and Ernestine Avery commissioned Halycon Days Battersea boxes through Port O’Call in Pasadena for society members. A painting of the library is enameled on the lid, the Euston gates are on the inside lid and the bottom of the box has a commemorative “The Huntington Society of Fellows Twentieth Anniversary 1992.” Wonder what they’ll go for at Sotheby’s in 200 years?

By tradition, trustee Larry Tollenaere provided the wines. Red and green gowns of swishy silks and taffetas predominated fashion.

Among the guests: Huntington Board of Trustees Chairman Bob and Lois Erburu, Dr. Richard Call, Dr. George and Mary Lou Boone (who will co-chair the 75th anniversary celebration of the Huntington in 1994), Charlie and Nancy Munger, Peggy and Davis Thomas, Russell and Jeanne Smith, Jean Smith, Robert and Nadine Skotheim, Bill and Sally Wenzlau,.

Also attending were Polly Goodan, Jack and Ann McQueen, Stuart and Carrie Ketchum, George and Maggie Jagels, Marion and Earle Jorgensen, Veva and Kingston McKee, Mary and Malcolm McDuffie, Bob and Anne Wycoff, former Vatican Ambassador William and Betty Wilson, Jeff and Catherine Beyer, Paul and Sherrill Colony, Gordon and Connie Fish, David and Fritzi Huntington, Hunt and Janet Holladay, Alex and Adelaide Hixon and Charles and Eileen Read.

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MERRY SEASON: The Beverly Hills stores and boutiques have had a merry social season, bringing in their top executives and style geniuses and matching them with the fashion mavens of this city.

Terry J. Lundren, president and CEO of Neiman Marcus, flew in to host the luncheon honoring couturier Karl Lagerfeld in the Club Room at Neiman Marcus and quite a few would have died for the invitation. Among about 50 in the room--Anne Johnson, Mary Marshall, Joni Smith, Barbara Davis and Mary Milner.

A few days earlier, Fiorenza Courtright and Neiman Marcus’ John Martens teamed to welcome silversmiths Los Castillos of Taxco, Mexico, to the store and then host them at a dinner at Cicada restaurant.

Then Tiffany & Co. design director John Loring was all the rage at a breakfast at Tiffany hosted by John S. Petterson to launch “The Tiffany Gourmet Cookbook,” which debuts this fall. Nearly 100 Costume Council members led by Clarice Ellis met Petterson and ate quiche and tarts before heading to the Beverly Wilshire to hear Loring impart party-giving techniques. His video includes European and New York parties--and those of Los Angeles’ Betsy Bloomingdale (who wasn’t there, but is writing her own cookbook).

More: the Hermes boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills had a 20th birthday last week. It’s the oldest of 10 U.S. Hermes boutiques, and chairman Jean-Louis Dumas flew in from Paris to call the 20-year manager Francine Bardo, “ our Bardo.”

French champagne flowed for the salmon and little opera cakes as well as a three-tiered birthday cake created by Michel Richard and decorated with Hermes caleche-- the coach and coachman--that is an Hermes signature.

Lifting a first glass of champagne was Chrys Fisher, president of the Hermes U.S. subsidiary of the Paris firm. Beverly Hills vice mayor Maxwell Salter and French Consul General Gerard Coste extolled the company.

Happily attending was an attractive bunch of customers and Francophiles--Caroline Graham (West Coast editor of the New Yorker), Alyce Williamson, party-giver Clive David and Orange County philanthropists Henry and Renee Segerstrom.

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GOOD CHEER: Former President Gerald Ford and Betty Ford, Hughes Aircraft chairman emeritus Malcolm R. Currie and Reva and George Graziadio (vice chair, president and CEO of Imperial Bancorp), shared the Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award from the Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation at a Beverly Hilton gala.

Schweitzer’s work inspired O’Brian to establish his foundation in 1958. It provides leadership development seminars for high school students in 30 countries.

What made the night unique was the celebrity Christmas chorale conducted by Ray Charles.

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PAST PERFECT: The John Wayne Cancer Institute benefactors dinner dance at Jimmy’s with multi-Waynes involved--Gretchen and Michael, Patrick, Ethan, Marisa, Toni Wayne LaCava, Melinda Wayne Munoz and more. . . .

The Loyola School Christmas dinner-dance attended by a crowd including Terry and Anthony Clougherty, Pat and Mike Smith, Dee Dee and Tom Moffat, Mimi and David O’Keefe. . . .

The Orphanage Guild Juniors Christmas hosted a “purrfectly wonderful” luncheon at Riviera Country Club for 50 teen-age girls from Maryvale, the Los Angeles Orphanage. There were cat-shaped stockings and cat topiary centerpieces planned by Vicki Plavchak, Jenny Cutting and Laurie Streff.