Lyons Share the Praise for Shelter Support
“I’m still here and I’m going to be here for a long time ,” developer William Lyon told the 650 guests who attended the Orange Blossom Ball at the Hyatt Regency Irvine on Saturday night.
“You read the society pages, and we (developers) come out on the good-guy list . . . you read the business section and we seem to be robbing widows and orphans.
“I’m just going to take a page out of Mark Twain and say my demise over the last couple of years has been greatly exaggerated.”
Lyon’s remarks came after he and his wife, Willa Dean, were honored for their support of the Orangewood Children’s Home, a temporary shelter for abused and abandoned children.
“I can’t help but wonder what would have been the fate of these children without the vision and devotion of Bill and Willa Dean Lyon,” developer John Hagestad, Orangewood Children’s Foundation chairman, told the black-tie crowd.
In 1980, William Lyon founded the committee that resulted in the public-private partnership that raised $8.5 million for the construction in 1985 of the Orangewood shelter. Personally, the Lyons have donated $1.5 million to the project. In the couple’s honor, an Orangewood scholarship fund has been established and a commemorative garden will be planted at the William Lyon School in Orangewood, Hagestad announced.
“This (honor) is overwhelming, really,” a choked-up Willa Dean Lyon said. “I really don’t feel I deserve this because without your help Orangewood would never have become what it is today.”
Orangewood was originally a 170-bed facility that replaced the Albert Sitton Home. Now it is a 235-bed center with an expanded care facility for newborn children with drug dependencies and infants with AIDS. About 3,000 children are helped annually.
During the Arabian Nights-themed gala (tables were decorated with gold genie lamps and the ballroom ceiling was strung with “magic” carpets)--guests also heard from outgoing foundation Chairman William G. Steiner, a new member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
“This is the first time I haven’t had to worry about the ball’s seating arrangements,” Steiner said, “and this is the first time I’ve been seated up front. Maybe I should thank Gov. Wilson for my appointment to the Board of Supervisors after all.”
During his years as foundation chairman, he saw “an endless parade of tragedies at Orangewood,” he said. “But two things helped me keep my perspective. First, the kids themselves . . . and second, on a very personal level, I have been able to reconcile my own feelings of being abandoned with the death of my own father when I was far too young.”
During dinner--roasted veal chop, mashed garlic potatoes and a trio of desserts--Hagestad said privately that he has a new objective for the foundation: “We need to diversify our source of fund-raising, not rely so much on the real estate industry,” he said.
“We want the entire Orange County community to know what we’re about. We need everyone’s help.” Orangewood’s annual operations budget is between $2.5 million and $3 million.
Developer Peter Ochs and his wife, Gail, were co-chairmen of the $250-per-person event. Proceeds were estimated at $250,000.
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Angelitos de Oro: Fashions by New York designer Carolina Herrera (she designed the shamrock-covered wedding gown for Jackie O’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy-Schlossberg) were featured at Extravaganza VII held at the Hyatt Regency Irvine last week.
The event, co-sponsored by Angelitos de Oro and Neiman Marcus at Fashion Island, benefited Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Orange County.
During a luncheon of salmon en papillote , Herrera said pants are the basic element of her fall collection. “I love them and I hope other women will love them,” she said. “I have designed several shapes--some full, some straight, some a little flared.”
As for style in general, Venezuela-born Herrera said: “Some women have it and others don’t, even when they buy expensive clothes. It is a tragedy.” What can they do? “They just have to go on,” she said.
Catherine Thyen was event chairwoman. Maria Crutcher was honorary chairwoman. Proceeds of about $100,000 will go toward Big Brothers-Big Sisters’ programs of support and encouragement for children from single-parent homes.
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Semper Fidelis Award: In a rare social appearance, billionaire Donald Bren of Newport Beach will help officiate at the gala honoring Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley on June 19 at Le Meridien Hotel in Newport Beach.
Riley, a Marine general, will receive the prestigious Semper Fidelis Award from the U.S. Marine Corps at the affair, which is being co-chaired by Bren and Tony Moiso. (In 1957, Bren was a lieutenant at Camp Pendleton when Riley was chief of staff there.) Other award recipients have been Gov. Pete Wilson, former Secretaries of State George Schultz and James Baker, and U.S. Senators John Glenn and John Warner.
Last week, members of the gala committee gathered at 21 Oceanfront restaurant in Newport Beach to sign the painting by military artist Robert Taylor that will be presented to Riley.
The painting depicts a 1942 aerial dogfight between a Marine F-4-F fighter and a Japanese Zero over Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. The significance for Riley is that in 1942, he built Henderson Field while under fire when Guadalcanal was taken from the Japanese.
“That may explain why Tom never understood why it was so tough to build the Tom Riley terminal at John Wayne Airport,” said gala volunteer Tom Wilck. “They weren’t even being shot at.”
