Now the Act of Giving Is Just a Big Picnic

Dust off those picnic baskets. It’s Hollywood Bowl time. Opening night on Tuesday surely promises balmy weather (but throw a sweater over your shoulders if you chill easily), starry skies and superb music. And don’t you imagine that the night also--assuredly if history holds--will guarantee the roar of a plane engine just when the music is at its mesmerizing best?

Friends of the Hollywood Bowl will host a picnic supper at the Hollywood Bowl Museum prior to walking through the pines to their seats and the Los Angeles Philharmonic program with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Beethoven Egmont overture. Friends President Rebecca O’Neill and her husband, Norm, of San Marino will greet guests along with opening night chairwomen Joan Wrede of Pacific Palisades and Janice Ferriera of Palos Verdes.

The 350 Friends encourage membership in the Bowl. Sure to be attending are Alan and Nancy Wayte, Eric and Debora Edmonds, Diane Dykema and Gregory Keever, and Howard and Vera Panosian.

Founded in the 1950s, the Friends oversee volunteer support for Children’s Open House, the Hollywood Bowl Museum, store and information center and get box seat opportunities at selected concerts.

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Rich, Romantic: Edward and Patty Turrentine put the touch of elegance and sophistication on whatever they do. On another hoped-to-be-warm evening on Friday, they will take charge of the ambience for “Celebration on Raymond 1997.” Raymond Avenue, between Holly and Union in Pasadena, will be closed for the street party benefiting the Wellness Community-Foothills. It’s a second annual affair.

Featured will be the tastes of Pasadena Old Town’s favorite restaurants, a beer and wine tasting, fashion show, music and dancing, and a silent auction. The newest member of Pasadena’s artistic community, the Pasadena Lyric Opera Company, will be showcased, too. And Janet Adams will provide free Tarot card and crystal readings.

In the 19th century, Raymond was the backbone of young Pasadena, anchored by famous hotels at either end. Along with Colorado Boulevard, it has reemerged as a center for fine dining, fashion and design.

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Emerging: The California Science Center in Exposition Park, scheduled to open later this year is the work of the California Museum of Science and Industry, which will reinvent itself with the new name, new building, new 3-D IMAX theater, new exhibits and a new membership program.

On a recent evening, the 40th annual California Scientist and Industrialist of the Year Awards Banquet at the Regent Beverly Wilshire raised $120,000. Laser lights were kaleidoscopic for a big crowd that came to see Richard N. Zare, professor of chemistry at Stanford, named 1997 California Scientist of the Year, and Robert F. Erburu, former chairman, president and CEO of the Times Mirror Company, Industrialist of the Year.

Zare is renowned for his research in the area of laser chemistry. Erburu has served as chairman of the board of trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Huntington Library and the National Gallery of Art.

Said Jeffrey N. Rudolph, the museum’s executive director, “The California Science Center will bring the best of innovation, excitement and education together to highlight science fun for families.”

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Ella Tribute: Nearly 1,000 turned out to honor the “First Lady of Song--Ella Fitzgerald” at the Hollywood Bowl benefit “Ella” co-chaired by Natalie Cole and Quincy Jones.

Patina Catering served the pool box patrons stuffed sun-dried tomato with garlic mousse, roasted Chilean sea bass, roasted lamb, panne cotta with red berries and strawberry marmalade.

Giving the OK to all was corporate committee chairman Anthon S. Cannon Jr. He and his wife Ann, and committee members Robert S. Attiyeh, Michael Connell and William Siart and their wives Linda Attiyeh, Susan Connell and Laura Siart were enjoying it all.

They all relaxed to hear Melissa Manchester, Dianne Reeves, Vic Damone, Ray Brown and Louis Bellson perform before Joe Williams crooned the show to a close.

Proceeds from the $300,000 gross will aid the Bowl’s education and community programs, enhanced due to the support from Countrywide Home Loans and its chairman Angelo Mozilo. Lexus was also a supporter.

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Aria!: A group of young L.A. professionals chaired by attorney Mark Anchor Albert has announced the formation of a new support group, Aria!, for L. A. Opera and the L. A. Opera League. Membership levels range from $25 to $275. The group expects to host festive events and intimate gatherings for members in their early 20s to 40s.

Rushing right in, they’ll stage a black-tie Opera Ball on Saturday at the Dennis Tito estate in Pacific Palisades. A champagne reception will be followed by a light supper, operatic entertainment and dancing till midnight. Tickets are $100 in advance, $125 at the door.

The board of directors includes Ranlyn Tilley Hill, vice chairman, and Desire Badr, Mary Burton, Emily Hsu, James R. Maddox Jr., Peter C. Halt, Melinda Brower, Mark W. Dundee, Brent P. Smith and Victoria Van Trees.

Elsewhere on the Social Circuit

Children have benefited from recent events. Young & Healthy took over the private Villa delle Favole gardens in San Marino and supporters dressed in white--from denims to Dior--for a silent auction, music and the tea Matthew White chaired. The proceeds from the $100-a-ticket event will provide free medical, dental and mental health services to uninsured, low-income Pasadena children . . . Christie’s invited Los Angeles County High School for the Arts students and faculty to show their wares. Bidding in silent and live art auctions turned the new showroom into a flurry of excitement. Looking on approvingly was Marcia Hobbs, the newly appointed chairwoman of Christie’s Los Angeles. Rosalind Millstone chaired the evening for Arts High.

* Kudos to Robert Lawrence Balzer, honored on his 85th birthday with a black-tie tribute from “best friends” at the Pasadena home of Alex and Sue Villicana. The following day friends staged a rare wines auction at the Beverly Hilton to provide Balzer scholarships in viticulture and enology at UC Davis.