Some Who Can Make a Real Difference : 1993 A LOOK AHEAD, Orange County Society: The Movers and Shakers to Watch for Next Year

Being a social player is a cakewalk: You write a check, show up at a black-tie bash and get your happy face splashed across the society pages.

But to be a bona fide mover on Orange County’s social scene, you have to bring something to the party--vision, commitment, indefatigability, and yes, sometimes a fat check or two.

Sure, there are some great pretenders out there. But they’re the flash-in-the-pans of the charity circuit. They’re the ones who take their society bows for selfish reasons--to further their careers or gain higher places on the social ladder.

It takes a passionate level of caring to be a person who makes Orange County tick. Herewith, a look at movers to watch in ‘93:

* Fiona Petersen: For 12 years an activist with the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Petersen--chairwoman of the center’s Guilds support group--intends to establish two new chapters of Performing Arts Juniors. PAJ is a performing-arts centered educational program for school-age children that costs individuals $150 per year. Through a scholarship program, Petersen plans to extend the opportunity to impoverished children in north and south Orange County.

Petersen is also the mastermind behind a cookbook being written by Guilds members. The hardback will go into print with 20,000 copies and be available for purchase in January of 1994.

* William Roberts: An opera buff who is board chairman of Opera Pacific and chairman of its Long-Range Planning Committee, Roberts has gained a reputation for turning music lovers into opera benefactors.

In the coming year, Roberts will double his efforts to find underwriters for operatic performances at the center, where he and his wife, Barbara, have underwritten “Madama Butterfly” and “La Boheme.”

Roberts also plans to help extend Opera Pacific’s outreach program to the diverse cultural communities in Orange County.

* Arlene Cheng: An activist with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Cheng is a founder of the orchestra’s new Chinese-American League--created to stimulate awareness of the orchestra in the Chinese community. Cheng is also establishing the orchestra’s Young Artists Showcase, wherein young virtuosos will perform with the symphony in Cheng Hall at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

* Thomas Nielsen: Chairman-designate of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, he says one of his goals as chairman will be to work more closely with the arts organizations that stage productions at the center so they may operate more effectively and with greater economic return. Watch for Nielsen to create an atmosphere of unprecedented harmony between the center and the regional arts organizations that use it.

* Sharon Jaquith: As trustee of the Leo Freedman Foundation, Jaquith will continue to surround the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art with her special brand of vision and leadership, says Peter Keller, the museum’s executive director. It was Jaquith who, upon seeing the Bowers renovation, chose to give the museum $1 million--the largest cash grant in its 56-year history.

“She’s a dynamo,” Keller says. “She has done more for the arts in Orange County than any other individual in recent times.”

* Shirley Pepys: Not only is Pepys a tireless volunteer for Orangewood Children’s Home, she has completely furnished its new, 35-bed nursery, says William Steiner, executive director of the Orangewood Foundation.

Pepys has also kept the Orangewood Boutique--a Corona del Mar store that sells used clothing to benefit the foundation--viable during the recession. And she intends to keep it afloat in 1993.

“She is eternally optimistic and has tremendous energy,” Steiner says.

* Arden Flamson: The widow of Richard Flamson is renewing her efforts to attract fund-raising dollars to South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa. For years, Flamson--SCR’s first (and only) female board president--has brought her aggressive style of leadership to the theater table. The result: donors with ongoing commitments to SCR’s bottom line of nonprofit theater for the Orange County community.

“Arden particularly loves theater that makes you think,” says SCR artistic director Martin Benson. Watch for Flamson to have a key role in the theater’s 30th anniversary celebration, which begins in September.