Junior League of Los Angeles celebrates its 100th
JLLA CENTENNIAL GALA C. Paul Wazzan and Pres. Dawn Eash Wazzan, and Rebecca and Tyler Mellos. photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages
The big moment finally arrived! After a year of buildup, featuring multiple smaller celebratory fundraising functions, the Junior League of Los Angeles hit the big time with its epic March 21st finale—a rip-roarin’ Centennial Gala at the historic downtown California Club to celebrate decades of service and community to the greater Los Angeles area. Members, supporters, family, and friends were treated to a seated dinner, live entertainment, curated auction items, and plenty of speeches and remembrances of decades past.
The evening was a reflection on the legacy that brought the League to where it is today, a celebration of everything they have achieved together, and a look ahead to the century to come.
JLLA Presidents attend the Junior League of Los Angeles Centennial Gala at the California Club. Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages
For a little background, the Junior League began as the Convalescent Children’s League in 1925. CCL started as an operation to support a 12-bed children’s convalescent home on Ingraham Street, which later became part of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The founding group was then admitted to the Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI) in 1926 and formally became the Junior League of Los Angeles.
The work that JLLA has done through the years is almost too much to contain in one article. From the 1927 Players Group, which currently performs for over 9,000 local children, to the 1939 Radio and Television Committee “Tell Me a Story” network radio program in tandem with the public library and board of education, to the 1961 Opportunity Open Door program designed to broaden academic and cultural horizons of culturally deprived students, to the 1980 Victim Assistance project (co-sponsored by the District Attorney’s office) to aid victims of violent crime, to the 2014 decision to expand their mission to focus on foster youth and families, to the annual Harvest Boutique fundraiser, which has been up and running for 26 years raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the JLLA’s areas of focus; the League has made an incredibly huge impact on the city of Los Angeles.
ATTENDEES Rachel Clark and Leon Powell.
ATTENDEES (from left) Eloise Kowal, Sandy and Betsy Peinado.
If you’ve never heard of the Junior League, or what they do, now is a great opportunity to get informed. The JLLA’s mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training. With the culmination of 100 years, the League’s promise is to commit itself to another century of those values, as well as promoting and sharing the values of women’s empowerment, leadership, community service, and diversity. Thousands of women have volunteered and committed their lives to the League throughout the decades, and many of their projects have changed the landscape and the face of community service throughout Los Angeles.President Dawn Eash Wazzan looked back on the work of JLLA women and recounted, “One hundred years of women stepping forward leading with purpose and making Los Angeles stronger.” Earlier Rebecca Mellos, Centennial Gala Chair, reminded guests of John C. Maxwell’s words, “Teamwork makes dreamwork.”
AT THE JLLA 100th celebration were Matt Pearson Leah Hannegan, Christina Pearson, and Richard Hannegan.
PICTURED are Isabella, May Ellen, Clifford, and Arianna Hutcheson.
Wazzan concluded reminding the celebrants that the venue for the evening was, “Built in the same time as our [JLLA’s] founding, 1926, but at that time women weren’t allowed to be members yet. Yet 100 years later, here we are celebrating women’s leadership.”
CELEBRATING were Biddy Liebig, Robin Nugent, and Heather Shuemaker.
ENJOYING the evening were Chris Hopkins, Iran Hopkins, Erica Anenberg, Audra Gold, and Beth Benson.
Category: News
