Global Citizens

Represented by her good friend Lord Cecil Parkinson, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher received Chapman University’s Global Citizen Medal at an on-campus benefit in Orange that raised $460,000 for student scholarships.

Ill health prevented Thatcher from attending the black-tie gala attended by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and U.S. Ambassador to Spain George Argyros in the Hutton Sports Center. “She’s been a little under the weather, but she’s still in great form--full of ideas and enthusiasm,” said Parkinson, once Thatcher’s trade minister. “I will take the medal to her when I visit her in London next week.”

Thatcher’s courageous leadership helped bring about “the end of the Cold War and the downfall of communism,” Chapman President James Doti said. “She is one of the great leaders of our time.”

About 400 guests gathered for a cocktail reception and formal dinner at the May 4 event, which capped a four-day university symposium on Thatcher’s administration.

Guests also included gala co-chairmen Paul Folino and Mark Johnson, and Julia Argyros, Lord Nigel Lawson, Lynne Doti, Barbara Johnson, Betty and Sir Eldon Griffiths, Don and DeeDee Sodaro and Doy and Dee Henley.

--Ann Conway

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Garden Party

The sun broke through the clouds just in time to bring the bonnets out for alfresco events in the San Gabriel Valley last weekend. The Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden staged its annual fund-raiser, Garden With a View, on Sunday. The botanic garden has been the “Noah’s Ark” for California’s botanical heritage for 75 years. A haven for the state’s indigenous plants, it was established by Susanna Bixby Bryant in 1927 in Santa Ana Canyon and relocated to its 86-acre home in Claremont in 1951. More than 200 people were on hand to celebrate the garden’s 75th anniversary at an afternoon party staged in its California Courtyard, where each table held a basket filled with wildflowers from the garden.

Actress and avid gardener Rene Russo served as honorary chairman of the benefit, which raised $40,000 for community education programs. “I discovered this place about five years ago, while re-landscaping my home,” said Russo. “That’s when I became passionate about native plants because we’ve pretty much destroyed our natural heritage in California.”

Several in the crowd took their cue from the invitation and arrived in vintage ‘20s costume, including Pamela Harrell, who portrayed Bryant, and Bob Spencer, who served as auctioneer. Others on hand included garden executive director Clem Hamilton, Stephanie Davis, Jim Coffman, Doris and Peter Drucker, Theresa and Gil Resendez, Adan Ortega, Alice and Mel Clark, Jean and Joe Platt, Maria and Richard Grant, Gail and Hank Riggs, Barbara Stanford and Barbara Hughbanks.

--Patt Diroll

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Saluting Visionaries

Dining at tables decorated with colorful scarves made by women in Afghanistan, more than 400 guests attended the Faces of Courage gala on Monday. It raised $150,000 for World Vision, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency relief and aid to 80 million people worldwide.

Humanitarians Mary MacMakin and Dan Simmons were recognized at the event for their work with impoverished people in the Middle East.

Since she left the United States for Afghanistan in 1961, MacMakin has founded underground schools for girls and spearheaded the development of income-producing projects and health clinics. “Now I mainly find ways to help people make a living,” said MacMakin, who topped her gala ensemble with a vest embroidered by an Afghan woman.

Simmons, who was unable to attend the fund-raiser, is director of World Vision in Jerusalem, where he has worked for 25 years as an advocate for peace.

Valerie Woodstra was chairwoman of the benefit, which was sponsored by the Orange County Chapter of Women of Vision, a World Vision support group.

--A.C.

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Cornerstone Cottage

Members of the Junior League of Pasadena cut the ribbon to open Cornerstone Cottage, its new community resource center across from northwest Pasadena’s Madison Elementary School.

More than 700 attended the May 4 block party featuring mariachi music, folklorico dancers from the school and fiesta food. In the mix were local pols Carol Liu, Adam Schiff, Jack Scott, Sid Tyler, Victor Gordo, Chris Holden, Cheryl Hubbard and Juana Cuiriz, the school’s principal, who said, “This is a new beginning for a forgotten neighborhood. Renovating the property is a dream come true.” Among the programs planned at the cottage are parent support groups and English as a second language, computer and job training classes.

The Pasadena Junior League has, over the past five years, invested 28,000 volunteer hours and raised $1.5 million for the school and surrounding area, including the cottage.

--P.D.

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Derby Day

Frosty mint juleps, Kentucky ham, red-eye gravy and biscuits, sweet potato casserole, collard greens and bourbon-laced pecan pie were on the menu for the Kentucky Derby Day benefit for the Pasadena Boys & Girls Club at Santa Anita Park. Henry Williamson, who served as chairman, is the third generation of his family to be involved in the event, which raised more than $45,000. “Ten months ago I joined the board, and they made me fund-raising chairman,” said Williamson. “Then they told me ‘We need a fund-raiser,’ so welcome to the party!” More than 250 guests--many in Derby Day millinery--turned out for the bash held in the track’s enormous Front Runner Restaurant, where they bid on auction items while watching the Hollywood Park and Churchill Downs cards on closed-circuit television.

--P.D.

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Italian Heritage

The award was nice, but Enzo Torresi was more excited about the birth of his first granddaughter: “She obliged me by arriving yesterday so I could be here tonight,” said the Silicon Valley entrepreneur. “Her name is Lola. And whatever Lola wants, Lola is going to get!”

Torresi, managing partner of the venture capital company myQube USA, was honored for special achievement in technology by the National Italian American Foundation at its West Coast Gala Dinner at the Beverly Hilton on May 2. Torresi faced a battery of cameras like a seasoned pro with fellow honorees actor Nicolas Cage and writer-director Garry Marshall. “This is kinda fun,” whispered Torresi. “Maybe I’ll take up show business in my second life.”

Cage was the first inductee into the foundation’s Hall of Fame, and Marshall was recognized with the Career Achievement Award. Jack Valenti served as honorary chairman of the event, which benefited the foundation’s education fund.

--P.D.

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Magic Hours

Dan Tana opened his West Hollywood eatery at high noon last Sunday to host a luncheon to support “Magic Hour,” a documentary film being made about the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Country House and Hospital. More than 100 guests were there to learn about the film, based on the research of Theodore Thomas, son of legendary Disney animator Frank Thomas, and co-produced by Gabrielle Tana, Carolyn Marks Blackwood and Susie Landau Finch, daughter of Barbara Bain and Martin Landau. With his four-figure bid, the winner at a benefit auction to have a Dan Tana menu item named after him was Michael De Luca, Dreamworks’ production chief. As in “Chicken Romano a la Michael De Luca.”

--P.D.

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Hats and Roses

The gents turned heads at Sunday’s party for the Society of Fellows in the Huntington Library’s historic three-acre Rose Garden: Phil Sotel wore authentic Cambodian headgear, Phil Swan was natty in a Henley boater, and Ed Todd, with trademark beard and straw Breton, could have passed for Claude Monet.

The annual do (a perk for members who support the Huntington with an annual donation of $2,500) featured tastes of Cinco de Mayo created by Sodexho--empanadas, taquitos, shrimp tacos and tamales with sangria and margaritas to wash it all down.

Rose Garden curator Clair Martin was on hand to preside over his array of blooms--about 4,000 plants, arranged chronologically to trace the history of the rose over 2,000 years. His pride is the garden’s centerpiece, a bed of “French Lace” roses encircling a statue titled “Love, the Captive of Youth” enshrined in an 18th century stone tempietto.

--P.D.

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Coming Up

* The Ninth Annual Dining Out for Life, a one-day restaurant fund-raiser on Wednesday, will benefit Aid for AIDS. Los Angeles-area restaurants will donate 10% to 15% of their sales. For a list of participating restaurants, call (800) 400-5752.

* Tina and Rick Caruso and Dr. Robert G. Splawn will be honored at California Medical Center’s 17th annual Los Angeles Humanitarian Awards Luncheon to benefit Women’s and Children’s Services, on Thursday at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. Tickets $150. Call (213) 742-5869.

* Nelly Llanos Kilroy, Vincent Guinan and the late Sister Teresa Piro will be honored when St. Vincent Meals on Wheels celebrates its 25th anniversary at the Angel Ball on Friday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Tickets $250. Call (213) 474-7112.

* Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center will honor Maurice Benard, Carrie Fisher and Rod Steiger at its annual luncheon, Erasing the Stigma, on Friday at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Tickets $150. Call (310) 273-7513.

* The Venice Family Clinic’s annual Venice Art Walk takes place Friday through May 19. Tickets to various events range from $25 to $150. Call (310) 392-9255.

* CHOC Follies VI, “The Slipper and the Surfer,” sponsored by Children’s Hospital of Orange County, will be held May 17 to 19 in a tent across from the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Tickets range from $25 to $100. Information: (714) 532-8690.

* The Young Professionals Group of Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women presents Shanghai Swing, a dinner dance and auction, on Saturday at Inshallah Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. Tickets $60 in advance, $75 at the door. Call (323) 661-5509.

* Chris Albrecht will receive the Shining Spirit Award at “Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance,” the annual Western-style benefit presented by the Ladies of SHARE, Inc., on Saturday at Santa Monica Auditorium. Tickets $500. Call (310) 274-5361.

* The “Eleven Years of Women Helping Women” gala sponsored by Women in Recovery will be held at the Marina Beach Marriott Hotel, Marina del Rey, on Saturday. Tickets $125. Call (310) 821-6401.

* Hillsides Volunteer Network to benefit Hillsides, a center for abused children and families in crisis, will host “Wine Tasting in the Garden” on Saturday at Happy Trails in Old Pasadena. Tickets $30. Call (323) 255-9005, Ext. 254.

* The Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food will stage its Pageant of the Chefs to benefit culinary scholarships on May 19 at the Pasadena Masonic Temple. Tickets $225. Call (818) 902-3724.

* Steve Soboroff and William Hogoboom will be honored at the Constitutional Rights Foundation’s 40th annual spring dinner May 22 at the Century Plaza Hotel. Tickets $350-$1,000. Call (213) 316-2107.

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Information for Social Circuits can be directed to Patt Diroll in Los Angeles or Ann Conway in Orange County. Diroll is at [email protected] or at (213) 237-7144. Conway is at [email protected] or (714) 966-5952.