RSVP / THE SOCIAL CITY : The Luckmans’ Motto: If You’ve Got It, Give It
Giving wealth away is a thrill, and Charles and Harriet Luckman have been reveling this month. This week, the opening of the Charles and Harriet Luckman Building was celebrated by Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic. The clinic has bestowed 70 years of continuous service.
The Luckmans donated $1.7 million to the new $9.6-million building at 3787 S. Vermont. It’s the clinic’s largest single investment in the Central/South-Central Los Angeles district in recent years. Also this month, five UCLA professors received UCLA’s prestigious Harriet and Charles Luckman Distinguished Teaching Awards. The program was established in 1992 with a gift of $257,000 from the Los Angeles architect-entrepreneur and his highly visible volunteer wife.
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Success: Steve Gamble, retiring president of the Hospital Council of Southern California, starred at the tribute dinner in his honor. More than 450 raised a gross of $403,000, which netted $328,000 for the Stephen W. Gamble Endowment Fund.
Connie Gavin was in the spotlight. The wife of former Ambassador to Mexico John Gavin, and a television and motion-picture star in her own right (and on Broadway in “Showboat” and “The King and I”), sang to the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber presented by the American Center for Music Theater. Onstage, too, were Leonard Schaeffer, chairman of the National Health Foundation and chairman and CEO of Blue Cross of California, attorney James E. Ludlam and C. Duane Dauner, president of the California Assn. of Hospitals and Health Systems.
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Jazzing Up the Summer: So much to do at “Summer Symphony in the Rose Garden,” the California Museum of Science and Industry’s seasonal do. First, guests listened to legendary jazz stylist Les Brown and his Band of Renown while viewing the theater costume collection from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and strolling through the museum’s latest exhibit, “Behind the Seas: The Science in Fashion.” Then they roamed the 7 1/2 acres of roses in full bloom in Exposition Park en route to buffet tables resplendent with California Celebrations gourmet picnic baskets. Plumped up, guests then danced the night away under the stars.
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The Four S’s: Swedish, soccer, smorgasbord, Segerstrom. The prominent Segerstrom family of Orange County--Henry and Renee Segerstrom, Ruth Ann and Gene Moriarty, and Sandra and John Daniels--cemented international ties this week by courting the Swedish World Cup soccer team at a Scandinavian smorgasbord. Outgoing Swedish Consul General Peter Hammarstrom was on hand. So were Gayle Anderson, Orange County chief of protocol, and Mona and Kent Berg--he’s president of the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Los Angeles. Menu? Golden caviar, pickled herring, smoked reindeer, and Gustaf Anders’ famous breads and Swedish princess cake.
Elsewhere on the Social Circuit
* Natalie Cole wowed 1,100 at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s 14th annual gala at the Century Plaza. Marlo, Terre, Tony and Rose Marie Thomas were all there. Proceeds--and they will be enormous--will benefit the Danny Thomas Memorial Endowment Fund at the hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Tony Thomas estimates profits will equal last year’ net, $839,784. Not bad in this economic climate.
* Barbara McMahon and Bonnie Kyle, Bulgari West Coast manager, invited 60 for luncheon at the Hotel Bel-Air to ahh-hh over Chandra, Bulgari’s new line of white porcelain. Gushing and admiring: Marion Laurie, Ginny Sydorick, Seth Baker, Jacque Heebner, Deborah Kelman and Cheryl Adler.
* Directors of Angels Attic celebrated their 10th anniversary last week in Santa Monica with a new exhibition and a Victorian ice-cream social. The toy and doll museum raises funds for the Brentwood Center for Educational Therapy in Inglewood.
* Symphonians hosted luncheon in the Founders at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, naming Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson an honorary Symphonian.
* The Group in support of Otis College of Art and Design named Robert Graham Artist of the Year at its scholarships benefit at the Beach Club.
* The Women’s Group, Friends of Sheba Medical Center, honored four as Women of Achievement--Natalie Cole, Faye Kellerman, Deanie Levine and Bree Walker.
* Angeles Girl Scout Council gave Lodwrick M. Cook the Good Scout Salute at the Green & White Gala at the Biltmore.