Around the Town: Irving Boulevard home’s 100th fêted, history celebrated, puppy love at ‘Dogs!’
AT LANDAY OPEN HOUSE are Beverly and Clarence Clarkson.
“Come celebrate the centennial birthday of our house,” said the invitation from Suz and Peter Landay. So, 110 neighbors, family and friends flocked to their Irving Boulevard lair for an open house party Aug. 10. There were champagne cocktails, skewers of artisan cheeses, butterscotch cupcakes and great conversation about shared memories of the gatherings at this address over the years.
“The house requests guests do not bring gifts, but if you just can’t resist, it will accept donations to The Jeffrey Foundation,” the invitation added. The hostess was referring to the organization that has long provided services to special needs children.
LEWIS NELSON and mom, Mary, at Suz and Peter Landay’s party for their house.
Son Christopher Landay came equipped with a drone to record the day. Among those there were: Estie and Lars Roos, everybody’s favorite dentist James Gibbons, Michael Abzug, Tania Norris, Juanita Kempe, Anne Combs, Gina Riberi, Judy Bardugo, Mary Nelson and son Lewis, Kay Lachter, Ramona Selby, Beverly and Clarence Clarkson, Judy and Richard Zeller, Richard Battaglia, Lois De Armond, Alyce and Edgar Winston, Julie Dumont, Tom LaBonge, John Welborne, Loyce and Joe Braun, Betsy and Chris Blakely, Denee and Ubaldo Marsan and Lisa and Carlos Siderman.
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FORMOSA CAFE welcomed Historical Society members.
Windsor Square – Hancock Park Historical Society members got a special treat May 19 in West Hollywood. The just-restored and reopened Formosa Café was the setting for the Society’s Summer Mixer. Lots of members enjoyed seeing one another in the venue where generations of movie stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable and Frank Sinatra have eaten meals or enjoyed a drink (or two). The cafe was founded in 1925 by prizefighter Jimmy Bernstein. A part of the building, along Formosa Ave., is an old Pacific Electric streetcar.
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HOLLYWOOD POST 43 of the American legion celebrated the organization’s 100th anniversary and inducted 50 new members in August.
More history was, and is, on view at the local American Legion outpost in Hollywood. Post 43 of the American Legion was chartered in 1919 by World War I veterans who worked in the motion picture industry. The 1929 building, with its vast theater, a speakeasy-like bar, and dining facilities for members has undergone some extensive restoration. On Aug. 11, hundreds came to celebrate that, plus the 100th anniversary of the American Legion, plus the induction of 50 new members.
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BARBARA CARRASCO stands in front of her oft-censored mural that was commissioned in 1981 with (center) Natural History Museum president Lori Bettison-Varga and supporter Darryl Holter.
Hancock Park’s Darryl Holter joined with photographer-about-town Gary Leonard in recruiting a group of friends to meet them for an Aug. 8 lunch with artist Barbara Carrasco and to view her famous (and, at times, infamous) 80-foot long mural about the history of Los Angeles. Co-host of the luncheon at the Natural History Museum was its president, Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga, who hopes that the mural can, one day, be incorporated into a new welcome center on the museum’s south side, facing the refurbished Memorial Coliseum and the under-construction Lucas Museum.
The mural, titled “L.A. History: A Mexican Perspective,” was commissioned from the then-26-year-old Carrasco by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency in connection with the city’s bicentennial celebration in 1981. When asked to remove scenes that some government officials deemed too controversial, the artist refused, and the mural spent most of the past 38 years in storage. Holter hopes that people will join him in establishing a permanent, prominent public home for the colorful, historic artwork. Bravo!
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NEIGHBORS and friends of Margo O’Connell visit California Science Center DOGS! exhibit.
Nearby in Exposition Park, a week later, California Science Center lovers were invited to see what is behind puppy love by long-time Science Center champion Margo O’Connell. Her guests were treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the current exhibition “DOGS!” on Aug. 14. Chuck Kopczak, curator of Life Sciences and World of Ecology, led the lucky group of 10 through the 9,000-square-foot production where the perspective, evolution and relationship between humans and our beloved canines is examined in a most unique way. It was a playground of a tactile dog’s world including a game of “Jepawdy” hosted by Alex “Trebark” (really) and a padded dog run where you can test your own running speed against a Greyhound or a Russian wolfhound.
Dogs’ ability to save human lives was on display compliments of The Search Dog Foundation. The organization’s trainers demonstrated their canine students’ talents in locating victims trapped because of disasters.
Luncheon was served in the Science Center Trustee Room where stories about dogs, the Science Center Auxiliary, The Muses, and future plans for the DOGS! exhibition were shared.
First stop for the exhibition is Boston Science Museum. Angelenos and our visitors have until January 2020, to experience the show — one of the first exhibitions produced by the California Science Center for worldwide travel.
Ladies who had so much plain fun moving through the experience and lunching were Lynn Cooper, Jann McCord, Michelle Conrad, Tina Welsh, Linda Pura, Daisy Albertson, Pat Torres and former California First Lady Gayle Wilson.
Summer has been fun, thanks to grand dames like Suz Landay and Margo O’Connell. Fun and philanthropy lit up August!
And that’s the chat!
By Patty Hill
Category: People
