The Crowd:

The invitation read, “Life Is A Journey … The Learning Never Ends.� KOCE-TV, the shining star of Orange County public television held its 2009 dinner fundraiser at the Island Hotel, Newport Beach. The party was sophisticated and upbeat, honoring the remarkable career of California State Sen. Marian Bergeson Sen. Marian Bergeson and the contribution and partnership of the respected Discovery Science Center represented by Joe Adams. The gala evening was co-chaired by the elegant tall blond Orange County attorney Ardelle St. George and her fiery redheaded associate and local social mover and shaker Peggy Goldwater-Clay.

This event, like many other serious-minded fundraisers for good causes, followed the traditional format of cocktails, dinner and auction. The major difference, however, was that the Island ballroom was filled with people who truly wanted to be in attendance — people who believe in public television, particularly in the strong cultural, civic, entertainment and news value provided by KOCE.

In fact, the dinner was a gathering of Orange County business and cultural elite who have worked tirelessly and generously to support the station and its president and Chief Executive Mel Rogers who was front and center with his wife, Marcia.

Privately, at another event a few days earlier, I ran into Mel and Marcia and we talked about the survival story of KOCE. “An unbelievable roller coaster ride,� shared Rogers, referring to the lawsuits and the potential bidders who attempted to take KOCE out of public hands and privatize the station for a number of different pursuits, including religious broadcasting. “We are strong and we are proud of our programming,� Rogers said.

“KOCE-TV produces Orange County’s only daily TV news program and we reach about a half-million K-12 students in about 90% of Orange County classrooms with special educational programming each and every year.�

Rogers joined community leaders, including the exceptionally eloquent Dr. Jo Ellen Allen, chairwoman of the KOCE Foundation board, in welcoming the dinner crowd helping to support another year of public television. Allen did the formal introductions and shared some KOCE-TV history and asked special guests in the crowd to stand, including legendary pianist Roger Williams, who had come in from Los Angeles for the evening.

Also front and center were generous social activists Bette and Wylie Aitkens, super sponsors Mary and Phil Lyons, Lee Ann Canady, respected Northern Trust banker Betty Mower Potalivo and her husband, Ken Potalivo, Kristina and Larry Dodge, Linda White Peters and her husband, Dr. Ross Peters, and the much loved and very philanthropic Marybelle and S. Paul Musco.

Major support for this year’s gala also came from Heidi Cortese, who was a table sponsor and major auction bidder representing her company Rossmore Construction, developers of Leisure World. Other generous donors included Chapman University, Southern California Edison, Wells Fargo Bank, UCI Medical Center, St. George and Carnegie, the Henry T. Nicholas III Foundation, Ambrosia Restaurant, Magnuson and Company, the Allergan Foundation, and the former president of Disneyland Jack Lindquist and his wife, Belle.

Proceeds from the evening are expected to top $175,000 and will benefit KOCE-TV and KOCE Classroom. KOCE-TV remains one of the most watched PBS stations in America with an estimated 5.8 million viewers monthly. KOCE-TV anchor Ed Arnold also front and center joining Ann Pulice, Maria Hall-Brown, Judi Garfi-Partridge, Melissa Carter, Claudia Jenkins, and Lindsey Neal making the evening possible.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.