Super Day for Special Causes and Commercials

At actor Larry Hagman’s palatial Ojai home Sunday, loyalties were evenly divided among guests to his Super Bowl XXXV party--about a third were rooting for the New York Giants, a third for the Baltimore Ravens and a third for the commercials.

And so it went across Ventura County, in mansions, bungalows and bars, as sports fans grabbed finger food and drinks, found their stools or spots on the couch, turned up the television’s volume and watched the game.

For most, it was the season’s biggest game and finale to the National Football League season. To others, the game’s high visibility allowed them to draw interest to their favorite causes and maybe raise some money.

About 75 guests paid $100 each to eat barbecued chicken and tri-tip, watch the game on three screens set up in different rooms and talk about the National Weather Service’s radar tower on Sulphur Mountain Road, which is visible from many rooms in Hagman’s 25,000-square-foot home.

Hagman, his wife, Maj, and other Sulphur Mountain Road residents started the Assn. for the Reduction of Microwave Radiation to fight for the removal or relocation of the tower, which they say poses a health risk.

Money raised at the party will help cover the group’s legal costs and build a Web site to warn the public about microwave radiation, said Milton Kramer, who lives in Thousand Oaks but belongs to the group.

Some party guests seemed to care little for football and came mainly to enjoy Hagman’s art-filled home, which didn’t bother the host.

“It’s here for a purpose,” Hagman said. “I’d probably still be having a Super Bowl party, but I wouldn’t be charging a hundred bucks a ticket.”

Hagman expected to raise close to $8,000.

Other groups also played upon a Super Bowl theme to raise money.

At St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Oxnard, the congregation donated $401 in the church’s annual “Soup-er Bowl” collection, which is passed on to groups that feed the homeless.

As they left Sunday morning’s service, the congregation put money into a 10-quart stock pot set on a checkered tablecloth and surrounded with vegetables.

“We’re building on something that people’s attention is drawn to anyway,” said Cloene Marson, the event’s organizer. The money went to Food Share, which distributes food to more than 200 nonprofit groups in the county.

Elsewhere in the county, residents enjoyed the Super Bowl in a more traditional manner.

At Bombay Bar & Grill in downtown Ventura, about two dozen patrons lined the wooden bar, including Ernest Shively, who said he wasn’t a die-hard fan of either team but was just hoping to see a good game.

“It’s been a good game so far,” Shively said, before the Ravens began to roll on to their 34-7 victory.

Meanwhile, a low-scoring first half sent several watchers to a small buffet table in the back of the narrow pub, where $2 paid for all-you-can-eat hot dogs and jalapeno-topped nachos.

Still, the Bombay crowd had something in common with guests at Hagman’s party. Early in the game, the biggest reaction from the crowd was for the new Volkswagen GTI commercial.

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Times correspondent Holly J. Wolcott contributed to this story.