Tradition, Bright Lights Shine Throughout a Festive Big City

The holidays in Los Angeles are gloriously swathed in tradition.

Juniors of the Social Service Auxilary re-create opulent Victorian splendor Dec. 11 at their 58th Candlelight Ball for Regis House. Co-chairwomen Barbara Banoski and Sally Kroener will salute all Juniors presidents and ball chairs since 1934, and what a powerhouse that includes.

Then, the lights go on again--all over the city. Mayor Richard Riordan and Project Restore directors unite with electrical workers to light up City Hall Friday at 5:30 p.m. with a reception later in City Council chambers . . . The eighth annual Beverly Hills holiday lighting ceremony in front of the Regent Beverly Wilshire will start to sparkle at 6 p.m. Sunday with a 300-voice youth choir and more than 500,000 twinkling firefly lights. The hotel’s rooftop reception follows . . . Orange County is already glowing. The Segerstrom Family lit up South Coast Plaza Monday with choir and Santa; guests came a’wassailing.

The Pasadena Symphony is action-packed for its pre-holiday weekend. A gala ball honoring noted floral designer Jacob Maarse on Friday evening at the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington will culminate with a display of 30 designer-trimmed Christmas trees. Over the weekend, symphony devotees will present the Holiday “Look-In” tour of homes. Sunday, Pasadena Symphony Juniors host a Teddy Bear Tea and Fashion Show by I. Magnin at the Ritz-Carlton for children and their families.

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STELLAR: Tiffany & Co. vice president John S. Petterson pulled out the stops to show Tiffany’s newest collection, “Fireworks,” at l’Orangerie on La Cienega. Ahhing profusely over the jeweled starbursts were CHIPS (Colleague Helpers in Philanthropic Service) headed by Jenny Rutt, their mothers and “best friends.”

Rutt brought her mom, Mary Marshall, and Alyce Williamson. Margaret Preissman had her mother Dorothy Clark and godmother Barbara Thompson. Pam Halle invited mother Ann Petroni, and Justine Bloomingdale her mother, Serena Schmidt. Karlene Garber’s mother, Kaleen Beale, came from Palm Desert.

The aahs became oohs over chef Jean-Claude Parachini’s asparagus terrine and Dover sole. When the pastry chef delivered the cappuccino custard topped with sugar-spun explosions capped in real gold leaf, the crowd forgot jewelry--momentarily--and swallowed their gold leaf.

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GORGEOUS SUNSETS: Add “Sleigh Bells on Sunset” for The Luminaires Juniors of the Doheny Eye Institute to the flurry of holiday benefits surrounding “Sunset Boulevard.” Callie Irvin, Vicky Rogers and Karen Dalby have been working for months and they’ve inveigled swanky $85 Ray Bans (because they’re eye-oriented) and double cassettes of “Sunset Boulevard” for gift bags. Patrons also get CDs. With $200 tickets, they’ll net at least $120,000 on their 612 seats. Vista Del Mar Associates is still reveling in their opening last Sunday at the Shubert--1,200 for cocktails and dinner at the Century Plaza before the curtain. President Gayle Rodgers and co-chairwomen Suzanne Sidy and Carol Mann expect a net of about $425,000.

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PERFECT: Ellen Frankel and Debra Kasirer chaired “California Dreamin,’ ” the United Hostesses Charities ball at the Beverly Wilshire. It raised $250,000 for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center . . . Jean Hahn and Betty Garfield created the annual holiday party for The Salk Institute President’s Club at Hahn’s Rancho Santa Fe home. On hand were former Angelenos Dr. Brian E. Henderson (current Salk president) and his wife, Judith.

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DEBUTANTES: Vera O’Larry Handley says Noah Webster’s 1817 definition of debutante was “a young woman making her formal entrance into society.” At the Coronet Debutante Ball at the Beverly Hilton Saturday, she became the ball director for a second time (the first was in 1964).

Nineteen debutantes, all active in philanthropic endeavors, were presented. They are: Tessa Byrne, Sara Caan, Tracy Fryer (whose two grandmothers came from Little Rock), Megan Graham, Heather Hatch, Suzanne Huntley, Stephany Maculsay, Alison Markovitz, Erin McComas, Joanna McEachern, Alexandra Merz, Amanda Nelson, Carrie Phelps, Marisa Romano, Jennifer Share, Laura Temple, Amy Varni, Anne Woolley and Catherine Young. Meagan McGuire was presented in absentia.

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KUDOS: To Judge David Thomas and his wife Peggy, given the Recognition Award for community service by the Episcopal Homes board of directors. (He’s chairman of both the Childrens Hospital board and the Huntington Library Overseers.) . . . To Hugh O’Brian, who will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award Tuesday by the Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation; also that night the Albert Schweitzer Leadership Awards will be given to John W. Amerman and Eli Broad . . . To Judy Frank of Altadena, new president of the Pasadena Junior Philharmonic Committee, which has generated $5 million for the symphony. She’ll preside over the 30th annual Pasadena Showcase House of Design next April . . . .

To Consul Gen. of Monaco Theodore M. Roosendahl, honored at a reception at Jane Carolyn Kramer’s Beverly Hills estate . . . To Berkeley Hall School, hosting its President’s Circle dinner at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills and sponsoring a five-day French balloon tour through the Loire Valley in July . . . To Karen E. Hudson, on the publication of “Paul R. Williams, Architect,” celebrating the legacy of her grandfather. Deborah and Bernie Brillstein honored her at a tea in Beverly Hills.