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Equestrians lining up for horse show
And debs party around the bay
Sunday, July 7, 2002
There's horseplay, like when a boy pulls on a girl's braids in school, and then there's the other kind of horseplay, when equestrians get together for competition of the sort that will occur in Atherton next month.
Menlo Circus Club will host the 31st annual Menlo Charity Horse Show, a four-day show and benefit for the Peninsula Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired from Aug. 6-11. Some 500 entrants on 600 horses (like bicycles, some folks have more than one) are set to compete in the show from. The social highlight, as always, is the Friday night dinner, to be chaired this year by Nancy Collins, while the overall event chair is Betsy Glikbarg.
Last year, $240,000 was raised for the cause. Woodside's Nan Chapman, one of several organizers, says she'll celebrate her 43rd anniversary during the show but knows better than to take off on a trip like she and her husband did three years ago. They went on a cruise to Istanbul but "got in so much trouble" for skipping the show that they vowed never to do that again.
Horseplay can be serious stuff, it seems.
The theme is "Year of the Black Horse," to tie in with Chinese New Year. A private party for friends of the show will be held at Ralph Lauren at Stanford Shopping Center on July 29, and a breakfast at Tiffany will be held Aug. 5.
In a departure from years past, the $35,000 Grand Prix will be moved from Sunday to Saturday, to help the event maintain momentum. For information, go to www.menlohorseshow.com.
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ISN'T SHE LOVELY? The latest crop of debutantes made their debuts in two soirees last month.
On June 22, some 31 women made their debut in the 42nd annual Peninsula Ball at the Hotel Sofitel. The event was a benefit for the nonprofit Family and Children's Services in Palo Alto (formerly Family Service Midpeninsula.)
The event chair was Ann McPherson of Atherton and honorary chair was Jodie Whelan of Menlo Park.
Among those making their debuts were Jessica Cook Draper, daughter of Melissa and venture capitalist Timothy Draper, Leah Anne Fredkin, daughter of Nanci and Gary Fredkin, of Monte Sereno and Sarah Ann Imparato, daughter of Mary Jo and Nicholas Imparato (a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.)
A week earlier, the 38th annual San Francisco Debutante Ball was a benefit for the California Pacific Medical Center Foundation. Co-chairs were Candy Blanchard of Burlingame and Kathryn Brown of San Rafael. Organizers hoped to raise $150,000 for the center's nursing education and recruitment programs, said Elizabeth Merrill.
Some 21 young women from the East Bay, Marin, San Francisco and the Peninsula took part in the event, held June 15 at the Westin St. Francis. Decor was done in metallic hues, gold, bronze, silver and copper, accented with burgundy, each deb carrying bouquets of two dozen burgundy tulips wrapped in bronze french ribbon with handsewn pearls.
Among those coming out this year were Katherine Jeanne Blunt, daughter of Laurie and author Richard North Patterson, Antonia Sarah McInerney, daughter of Sally Ann and John McInerney III (she's in real estate, he's with TRI Coldwell Banker) and Alexandra MacLean Herbert, daughter of Cecilia and Jim Herbert (he's CEO of First Republic Bank.)
After the walkabout, the youngsters replenished their energy on a dinner of crab meat crepinettes and tournedoes of beef with vegetables and goat cheese- and-chive potatoes.
Laura Adrian Balch, daughter of Diane and Andrew Balch (he works for Chevron), is heading to Pepperdine to study philosophy or business. "I had a ball," she said, "no pun intended."
E-mail Carolyne Zinko at czinko@sfchronicle.com. The column runs Wednesdays in Datebook and Sundays in the Living section.