Whittier: Raising Funds in the Summer

Don’t think just because it’s summer the whole world’s at the beach or working half-days. Lots of volunteers are using the summertime and leisure hours to make hay. And they’re on the phone about big dates for fall.

Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Shannon Jr. hosted a dinner party at their Whittier home to announce to a select few their commitment to Whittier College’s fund-raising goal of $8 million for a new 500-seat Performing Arts Center to be built on campus. Another $1 million is earmarked for the endowment to maintain the facility.

During the presentation by the architectural firm of Albert C. Martin, it was revealed that Theatre Projects Consultants, which designed the National Theatre of London, will assist in planning the center, which will present both drama and music productions for the campus and community.

Relishing the thought were Whittier College President Eugene S. Mills and his wife, Dotty; trustees chairman R. Chandler Myers and his wife, Becky; City Manager Tom Mauk with wife, Becky, and Councilman Gene Chandler and Barbara. Also in attendance were Julius and Sharon Gray, Robert and Joan Woehrmann, Frank Scott, Daniel and Barbara Robinson, Richard and Judy Wood, Bruce and Sally Martin, James Mitchell and Thomas Bewley.

They hope to net between $70,000 and $100,000 on the Cadillac International Polo Classic on Aug. 18. Party buses will take a big crowd to the legendary Santa Barbara Polo Club--those that buy Silver Circle ($100) and Gold Circle ($200) tickets.

Umbrella tables will be set up across the field from the bleachers (those tickets are $10) for the savoring of a “royal gourmet luncheon alfresco.”

It’s a big do for the Institute for Cancer and Blood Research.

Cadillac USC is providing 25 cars to escort celebrities, and is also underwriting most of the costs for the match between Cadillac USA and the International All-Stars, featuring top players from the United States and Argentina.

Elegant Great Gatsby dress is called for on the sidelines.

Lindsay Wagner, Morgan Brittany, Glenn Ford, Brenda Vaccaro, Marjoe Gortner, Doug Sheehan, Alex Cord and Geoffrey Lewis will be in on the fun and the Taittinger champagne.

Game time is 3 p.m.

Andy Granatelli is chairman of the institute’s board. ICBR is dedicated to the prediction, prevention and cure of cancer.

Expect good old Southern Hospitality at Descanso Gardens on Aug. 16. Los Angeles Beautiful will put on jacket and tie, and bring out the mint juleps for starlight dining and dancing under the oaks.

The night lauds Buddy Rogers, star and bandleader. He’s to receive “The Beautiful Life Award” for supporting Los Angeles Beautiful programs that involve more than 300,000 students annually.

Rococo Custom Caterers is cooking up Cajun cuisine; Francis James and his Dixieland band will offer jazz and more.

Mrs. William Nassour is chairman.

Pianist Jeffrey Kahane, winner of the Arthur Rubinstein Master Competition, will be the focus for the musicale and reception hosted by the Los Angeles Chapter of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the UCLA Faculty Center.

Four hundred asthma and allergy specialists and their spouses will attend a dinner and private screening tonight at 20th Century Fox Studios. Benefiting from the event will be the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America.

Consul General of Japan Taizo Watanabe welcomes the Grand Kabuki to Los Angeles on Tuesday evening at a reception at the Hancock Park consulate. Los Angeles will the last stop on the Grand Kabuki’s current tour of the United States.

It’s with a bit of woe that the Friday Morning Club raises a fond farewell toast Saturday afternoon. The club is leaving its clubhouse after 86 years, moving to new headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard.

The invitations note, “The members of the Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts will always be indebted to the Friday Morning Club for preserving our beautiful landmark building and their patience in the early years of the Variety Arts Center.”

The event is on the roof garden of Severance Hall and calls for “air-conditioned stylish dress please.” What else?

Kudos: J. David Haft has been elected president of the Center Theatre Group of the Los Angeles County Music Center. He succeeds Richard Sherwood, who has completed a three-year term as president and now becomes co-chairman of the CTG board with Charlton Heston. Haft, involved in corporate finance and real estate, also serves as chairman of the board of the Louis B. Mayer Foundation and on the board of the Beverly Hills Education Foundation. Other officers include Rosalind Wyman, executive vice president, and Douglas S. Cramer, Lawrence J. Ramer, Richard Atlas, Harry B. Chandler, Martin C. Washton and James B. Hunt.

Beatrice Ann Shelden Mandel and Ann Rieber Plauzoles have been elected to the board of the 47,000-member UCLA Alumni Assn. They’ll serve as first vice president and president, and as vice president of support and honorary organizations.

USC’s 19th annual $7,500 Kate and Cole Porter arts fellowship, funded by USC alumnus Stanley Musgrove, and administered by Friends of the USC Libraries, has been awarded to Damon Winmon, 22, a graduate student in drama from Paducah, Ky.

The Founding Associates of the John Douglas French Foundation will “launch our year” Thursday with a luncheon on the Queen Mary following the ground breaking of the John Douglas French Center for Alzheimer’s Disease at Los Alamitos Medical Center.

Dorothy Kirsten French will join in the festivities with co-president Genevieve A. McSweeney and Lilian Prusan. John Gregory will be “captain” for the affair.