25th Anniversary to Reunite Nixon Cabinet

Special events and luncheons will surround festivities in Yorba Linda when former President Richard Nixon is at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace later this month to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his inauguration as the 37th President of the United States.

Among those attending the affairs will be former President Gerald Ford and former Nixon cabinet members including Secretaries of State Henry A. Kissinger and William P. Rogers; Secretaries of the Treasury George P. Shultz and William E. Simon (who also is president of the Nixon library foundation); Health, Education and Welfare Secretaries Caspar Weinberger and Robert Finch; Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger; Housing and Urban Development Secretary George Romney; Secretaries of Commerce Peter G. Peterson and Maurice H. Stans; Secretary of Labor James Hodgson; Secretary of the Interior (now Alaska governor) Walter J. Hickel; Secretary of Transportation Claude S. Brinegar and Postmaster General Winton M. Blount.

In the midst of it all, the Music Center’s prominent volunteer group, the Blue Ribbon, has been invited for a guided tour of the library. Nixon, who turns 81 this Sunday and has kept a quiet profile since the death of his wife, Pat, has agreed to attend the group’s post-tour luncheon and to make informal remarks.

Responsible for that event are Caroline Ahmanson, chairwoman of the library’s President’s Council, and Marcia Wilson Hobbs. They were finalizing arrangements this week with the facility’s library director John Taylor.

The library is commemorating the 200th anniversary of the White House with a special exhibit, which includes “Dining at the White House: 200 Years of Presidential China” and “The White House 1792-1992: Image and Architecture.”

According to Blue Ribbon president Sandra Ausman, White House chief curator Rex Scouten will speak. Then, Ribboners shuttle back in buses to Los Angeles.

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In Tribute: Speaking of Nixon, the late Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke was his close friend. He named her “the First Lady of Orange County.”

A memorial exhibition in Clarke’s honor will open at the Yorba Linda Nixon Library in May. It will consist of 50 paintings that were displayed in Clarke’s home as well as paintings she donated to the Irvine Museum. The exhibition will be accompanied by a book with a biographical essay by Clarke’s daughter, ardent California Impressionist collector Joan Irvine Smith . . . .

The Irvine Museum’s first anniversary show opens Jan. 19. It will pay homage to its neighbor museum in Laguna Beach, the Laguna Art Museum (celebrating its 75th anniversary) by showcasing nearly 70 paintings by artists including Edgar Payne, William Wendt, Anna Hills, Benjamin Brown and Joseph Kleitsch, all of whom exhibited in the Laguna museum’s first exhibition in 1918.

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Circle Red: The Los Angeles Music Center Opera’s black-tie opening night of “El Gato Montes” Jan. 29 . . . And, the Fashion Circle of the Costume Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art dinner-dance Jan. 21 at Chasen’s, honoring Gloria Vanderbilt.

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San Marino Debs: Gold-capped columns draped with boxwood garlands, trees trimmed in gold lame and Dutch flowers surrounded by candlesticks in silken shades glamorized the Debutante Ball for the National Charity League, San Marino Area chapter, at the Beverly Wilshire.

For Ticktockers, as the debs are known in their charity work, the ball was the culmination of six years of volunteer service.

Taking pride in the night were chapter president Janie DeCastro and ball co-chairwomen Susan DePietro and Lora Hosek.

Debutantes were Susan Rusnack, Stephanie DeCastro, Suzanne Tanner, Bevin Allen, Lauren Cameron, Jennifer Sinclair, Carrie Sullivan, Susan Chambers, Stefanie Fremdling, Leslie Dam, Michelle Sutantyo, Jennifer Paine, Courtney Powell, Courtney Ingle, Marie Martinez, Marilyn Roubal and Annelies Jonker.

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The Look: Mimi Howes put her unique artistry into the elegant tea for new June debutantes of the Pasadena Guild of Childrens Hospital. The blooming pink Debutante camellia bush at the front entrance to guild president Rary Simmons’ San Marino residence set the theme. Inside, Howes placed pink camellias in vials on the Christmas tree and laced the tree with old-fashioned silver tinsel. The chandelier above the dining room tea table was entwined with a marvelous bouquet.

The debs carried pink camellias. They’re a friendly group: Amy Coleman, Kristen Capalbo, Melissa Bruce, Kelly Martin, Heidi Gilbaugh, Stephanie DeCastro, Galen Moore, Susan Rusnack, Megan Rader, Sarah Schoellkopf, Carrie Sullivan and Kristin Podley.

Involved, too, were ball chairwoman Susan Seidel, tea chairwoman Doris Ann Williams and debutante chairwoman Karen Hammond.

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Kudos: To Alyce Williamson, honored by Kelsey Hall at a birthday luncheon in the California Club French Room . . . To Susan Kranwinkle, moving to New York with attorney husband Doug and honored by Louise Reich at a tea in Reich’s home . . . To Nancy McCullough, Carlotta Keeley, Julie Russell and Judy Getto, hosting the Children’s Chain Christmas Tea at the Valley Hunt Club with lots of children and grandmothers dressed to the nines for cookie-munching.

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Plaudits: To Ginie and Henry Braun, feting Jamie and Orel Hershiser after the Hershisers bought the Brauns’ Pasadena home. Ginie Braun also honored Jeanne Hall at a luncheon at the Annandale Golf Club . . . To Bonnie Baker, hosting a California Club tea to honor Martha Bricker, Betty Morgan and Violette Nason for their support for West Coast University.

Mary Lou Loper’s column is published Thursdays.