The Crowd: Chapman donors put on a Dodge ball
A Newport Beach holiday tradition, Christmas at the Ritz, was reinvented and transformed at the tony Island Hotel this season.
The venerable end-of-year gathering, produced by the Women of Chapman, supports Chapman University programs. The organization has raised and donated more than $6 million since its founding in 1971. Currently, with some 250 members, the society has pledged $500,000 to Chapman’s Dodge College of Media Arts Digital Media Arts Center and $1 million to the university’s soon-to-be-completed (2016) Marybelle and Sebastian Paul Musco Center for the Arts. The women recently completed a $1-million pledge to the Dodge College Student Filmmaker Endowment.
With the closing of the Ritz in February, the challenge was to carry on tradition and yet create a new and fresh approach. Under the leadership of chair Adrienne Brandes, the massive Christmas luncheon moved into the Island Hotel ballroom.
An army of elves was required to transform the ballroom into a Christmas wonderland. With the talented infusion of Younsong Martin from Wildflower Linens, Linda Young from Elite OC Productions and Paul Fenner of Floral Design, old standards meshed handsomely with new ideas.
Chapman patron Alison McCormick commented, “I like the new venue very much. It was nice having everyone together in the same room.”
At the Ritz, guests were seated in multiple dining rooms in what became an unofficial pecking order of donor significance. Of course, such an order still exists in the hotel ballroom, from the center tables of influence to the less prominent outer-edge seating.
What is most important, ultimately, is the purpose. And in this case, net proceeds are estimated to top $223,544 to benefit university programs. An audience of more than 400 guests, an absolute who’s-who of O.C. society, turned out in their holiday best to carry on the 28-year Christmas celebration. The party is also a veritable fashion parade.
Among the most glamorous were Patricia Marshall, elegant in winter white from head to toe, Julia Argyros, in a swank leopard hat and tailored classic black suit, Loretta Haugen, looking like a fabulous living Christmas ornament in shimmering silver lame and white stole with rhinestone ribbing, and the ever-elegant Joan Riach Gayner, in a trendy holiday red dress.
Also on the holiday stunning list were hostess Brandes in chic red attire with a very smart French hairstyle, the always best-dressed Rusty Hood, and fashionable Zee Allred, Janet Curci, Carole Follman, Leslie Cancellieri, Mary Rubenstein, Kathy Hamilton, Beverly Cohen (escorted by Craig Brown), Sue Hook, Anne Manassero, Janie Merkle, Marion Pickens and Elaine Donovan.
Women of Chapman President Donna Bianchi joined dedicated committee members in ensuring the event’s success. Among those deserving applause are Laura Baratta, Karly Brown, Donna Bunce, Donna Calvert, Barbara Eidson, Marci Hollander, Kim Smith, Nora Jorgenson Johnson, Mona Lee Nesseth and Christine Sullivan.
Island Hotel staff served a four-course luncheon that was a nod to the Ritz fare. The elegant and delicious Ritz egg topped with a sprinkle of caviar began the service, followed by mushroom cappuccino soup and an entree of braised short ribs and seasonal vegetables. For dessert, crème brulee.
Chapman VIPs in the crowd included university President Jim Doti and his educator wife, Lynn Pierson Doti, Dean of Dodge College Bob Bassett and his wife, fellow Dodge College Dean Janell Bassett, and significant donors Marybelle Musco, Wylie and Bette Aitken, Sandra Brodie, R.J. Brandes, Bill Hood, and Donna and David Janes.
Also in the upbeat Chapman crowd were Pat and Dick Allen, Donna Anderson, Judie Manto, Lula and Pierre Andre, Barbara and Alex Bowie, Nancy Burnett, Fran Cashen, Peggy Goldwater Clay, Patricia Cranford, Danni Good, Pat and Gene Hancock, Britt Meyer, Pamela Selber, Ileane Doolin, Judy Theshie and Valaree Wahler.
THE CROWD runs Fridays. B.W. Cook is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
