R S V P / ORANGE COUNTY : At Starlight Gala, Every Car Is a Dream : Dinner, champagne reception and auction of classic autos raise funds to grant wishes for seriously ill children.
About 200 guests ogled gleaming rare automobiles at the “Stars, Cars & Dreams” gala, a Friday benefit for the Starlight Foundation of California held in conjunction with the 21st Annual Newport Beach Classic & Collector Car Auction at the Hyatt Newporter in Newport Beach. The $125-per-person dinner was expected to net $50,000 for the foundation, which grants wishes to seriously ill children.
Car Fever
Car lovers were in automobile heaven at the champagne reception, which took place under a large white tent where a dozen of the auction’s finest cars were parked.
“I’m slack-jawed over all of these cars,” said Kerry Coin, a foundation supporter who with his wife, Kathy, was busy admiring a black 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton. The Cord, valued at $135,000, was revolutionary in its day for its flip headlights.
Actress Joanna Cassidy, looking chic in a white pantsuit, was among those who wanted to drive one of the classic autos home.
“I love cars,” she said. “I just sold a 1954 Lincoln Capri, and now I’m looking at that 1930 Cadillac.” Cassidy will soon appear with Eddie Murphy in the movie “Vampire in Brooklyn.”
The car auction, held Saturday and Sunday, drew 15,000 enthusiasts from as far away as Japan to bid on 400 classic, collector and celebrity-owned cars.
“Car collecting is a disease--you’re addicted for life,” said Don Williams, president of the World Classic Auction & Exposition Co., which produced the car auction. Many collectors start out wanting the car their parents had or the car they drove when they were teen-agers.
“We usually start collecting because of the nostalgia. Then we get more sophisticated,” Williams said.
Among the cars on sale that he’d pulled from his personal collection was a shiny burgundy 1933 Duesenberg Murphy roadster--one of only six built and valued at $750,000.
“It’s not like something I drive every day,” he said.
Wishing on a Star
After the reception, guests were ushered into another massive tent where bouquets of black and silver star-shaped balloons floated above the tables. There, they enjoyed a gourmet dinner that included Chilean sea bass with blueberry salsa and sirloin of beef with portabella mushrooms, followed by chocolate raspberry pave laced with mango marmalade.
Guests ended the evening by dancing to classic 1920s and ‘30s music performed by Johnny Crawford and his 1928 Society Dance Orchestra.
Starlight Foundation was founded by actress Emma Samms and film executive Peter Samuelson to grant wishes and offer hospital entertainment programs to children with AIDS, leukemia, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses.
“The children’s wishes run the gamut. There are lots of requests for trips to Disneyland, computers, meetings with celebrities and sports figures--anything a child can dream of,” said Matt Haymer, president of the foundation’s California chapter.
Programs are provided locally through Orange County hospitals, including Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange.
Among the guests were actress Deanna Wilshire, Keith and Christine Storey, Deborah Turner, Rick Evans, Patrick and Kelly Manning, Wayne and Mamie Mertes, Brent Martini and Robert and Carole Chickering.