Gratitude Adjustment

The event: Supporters of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCI Medical Center attended a fund-raising performance at the Pageant of the Masters at Irvine Bowl in Laguna Beach. Donors of $500 or more for the event were treated to supper at the Tivoli Terrace restaurant on the pageant grounds.

Pre-pageant party: Guests dined on Tivoli specialties--lamb shank, meatloaf and vegetarian lasagna--in the leafy garden area, sampling fine wines and enjoying a jazz trio.

“This is a little like being at a heurigen in Austria--a lovely excursion into the countryside where you sample local fare and listen to good music,” said Czechoslovakian- born Eva Schneider, a member of the center’s Director’s Council. After dinner, guests toured the art exhibit area, viewing paintings and sculptures by local artists.

Patriotic pageantry: About 200 research-center supporters sat together for the pageant, watching volunteer models--in costume, faces painted--re-create paintings, sculptures and American war memorials including Washington Crossing the Delaware, Freedom

and Three Soldiers.

Quote: “I felt like standing up and applauding” during the memorial depictions, Schneider said. “I think we do too little in showing pride and gratitude toward our country.”

Bottom line: Net proceeds of about $20,000 will go toward “supporting young investigators in cancer research,” said center director Frank Meyskens Jr. “We have a very high interest in prevention and genetics.”

The center also operates a family research program through which people can determine their genetic risk for cancer. “People who [use the family program] usually fall into one of two categories,” Meyskens said, “those who have a recent cancer in the family and are interested to see if the family is at risk and the ‘worried well’--people whose families have a history of cancer and want to learn more about their own risk.”

Guest list: Linda Meyskens; Mary and Thomas Cesario; Annie and Clement Chu; Celeste Chu; Fred Schneider; Hung Fan; Joan Chantiles; Judy and Sid Golub; Elizabeth James; Bettie and Robert Lee; Ellen and Dale Liefer; Thomas Moebus; Lorraine Remby; Helen Backlin-Mosk and Manfred Mosk; Nira Roston; and Sally Trainotti.

What’s next: A dinner benefit in January at the Tinseltown entertainment complex in Anaheim. For information on the center: (714) 456-8200.