Social Circuits

Champagne Salute

Only the best would do. Their flutes filled with 1990 La Grande Dame Veuve Clicquot, wine connoisseurs toasted Aleen Agranowitz and Gladys Gleason, co-founders of the Speech and Language Development Center in Buena Park, which serves 300 children each year.

The champagne salute launched the 47-year-old center’s second wine auction, an alfresco benefit featuring the sale of more than 200 lots that netted $150,000 for the center’s programs for children with language, learning and behavior difficulties.

“As humans, we are a communicating people,” Agranowitz said during the event last Sunday at the South Coast Plaza Village Green in Santa Ana. “We try to give children the means to make their wants known so they can take their place in the world.”

More than 225 guests dined on Italian fare whipped up by Antonello Ristorante--dishes included beef short ribs with honey, and grilled swordfish with sauteed spinach--as they raised their paddles to bid on vintage selections ranging from three bottles of 1978 Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve to three magnums of 1999 Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay.

The idea for the center’s first wine auction two years ago came after an anonymous donor gave the nonprofit organization “80 cases--that’s about 1,000 bottles” of wine, said Newport Beach attorney Jim Harker, benefit co-chairperson with his wife, Ilene. “We sold it all--raised $100,000,” he said. “We’ve been collecting fine wines so we could do it again. We want this event to have all the class of a Napa Valley wine auction.”

The rare $10,000 bottle of Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was a no sale, but the osso buco dinner for 10 at the Harkers’ residence--served up with a double magnum of Pio Cesare Barolo--set the evening’s record bid at a hefty $4,000.

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Reel Cowboys

She never dreamed she’d be a stand-in for her husband, but Jo-An Turman got the chance when actor/cowboy Glynn Turman was recognized for his community leadership at a benefit for the Western States Black Research Education Center.

Turman, who was unable to attend the event at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage because of an out-of-state commitment, was honored for founding Camp Gid D Up, a free, western-style summer camp for inner city and at-risk kids. The inspiration for the camp came during the L.A. riots in 1992, Jo-An Turman said. “We knew we had to find a way to help kids get off the streets.”

Since then, nearly 1,000 children have made a weeklong visit to the camp at the couple’s 40-acre ranch outside Los Angeles. “We teach them to ride, rope, swim, hike, do natural crafts,” she said. “Not every kid likes to play basketball or football--some just like to ride horses. We expose them to the western way of living and, possibly, a new career path.”

Turman accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of her husband during the awards dinner on Aug. 9 that kicked off the annual Black Cowboy Film Festival.

About 200 people attended the event, which raised $20,000 for the research and education center, founded in 1972 by librarian Mayme A. Clayton. Clayton owns a collection of more than 20,000 rare books, documents, films and photographs on African American culture and history, some of which she keeps in her Los Angeles home’s garage and some in professional storage facilities. “My dream is to have a building to house these resources for the community,” Clayton said.

On Aug. 10, festivalgoers watched films such as “Thomasine & Bushrod” (starring Turman), “Cat Ballou” (Nat King Cole), “Cimarron” (Eugene Jackson) and “Ride ‘Em Cowboy” (Ella Fitzgerald).

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La Dolce Vita

It looked like a piazza in Italy, but a retail center courtyard was the site of the “Ferragosto” benefit for the Orange County Chapter of Childhelp USA.

A huge canvas backdrop portraying burnt sienna, terra cotta and ochre-colored buildings as seen in--”Oh, let’s say Capri,” said co-chairwoman Christine Bren--set the scene for the alfresco dinner party, which netted $45,000 for the organization’s residential treatment centers for abused and abandoned children.

Held at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, the celebration is named for an annual summer holiday in Italy when villagers gather in piazzas to drink wine and share indigenous foods. “In the mountains they feast on earthy foods--mushrooms, polenta, sausages,” said Stefano Albano, general manager of Tutto Mare, the restaurant providing the fare for about 350 guests. “Along the coast, it’s mainly seafood. But no matter where it is, there is always good wine.”

Delicacies at the Aug. 10 event included whole roast pig--ferried before the crowd on a tray, stretcher-style, by proud chefs--lobster, New York strip steak, poached salmon and jumbo prawns. The culinary challenge: getting at the juicy lobster meat, sans nutcrackers, which were not provided. Most guests wrestled with the hard shells, to no avail. A few, such as Nancy Mallory, knew exactly what to do. “First, you twist the tail off,” she said, gripping the shell with her hands. “Then you cut it down the middle and lift out the meat. My husband taught me how to do this.” A smug Scott Mallory added: “I used to live in Boston.”

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Coming up:

* The Sage Center for child care in Nickerson Gardens, one of the largest public housing developments in Los Angeles, benefits from an “Afternoon of Giving” on Aug. 24 at Christie’s in Beverly Hills. Features live auction. Tickets: $125. Call (323) 421-1133.

Friends of the Santa Ana Zoo present the 10th annual “Zoofari” benefit on Aug. 24 on the zoo grounds. Features tour, fire jugglers, exotic dining and dancing to the Blue Machine. Tickets: $150. Call (714) 953-8555, Ext. 10.

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Information for Social Circuits can be directed to Ann Conway at ann.conway@latimes.com, or 1-800-LATIMES, Ext. 65952.