Guild

Christmas arrived early this month at La Providencia Guild Thrift Shop, 3301 W. Burbank Blvd., Burbank. Lorelei Kelley , chairwoman for this event, was helped by her committee, Joanne Bailey, Fanny Belle Mound, Malena Tapan , and Chris Welker , who hosted the complimentary coffee bar for all of the patrons. In fact, all the members of the guild helped on this event. The thrift shop turned into a holiday atmosphere for early holiday shopping and to buy some of the homemade baked goods contributed by the guild's members.

There were smiles all around the Sheraton Universal Grand Ballroom Saturday as members and guests of Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Guild enjoyed a fundraising luncheon and fashion show. With the theme "Laughter is the Best Medicine," the event began with a boutique of jewelry and other glittering accessories. Welcoming the crowd were Terry Campbell, guild president, and Julie McArdle, spring event director. Sister Rose Byrne of the Sisters of Providence Order gave the invocation.

The Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Guild will have its annual Fall Dinner Dance, "Autumn Gala," on Oct. 15 at Lakeside Golf Club. Honored guest is Dr. Raul Mena, who has treated cancer patients from all over the world at Providence St Joseph Medical Center for 24 years and is also involved in cancer research. Music will be provided by Victor Cisneros Orchestra and entertainment by Dale Gonyea. Proceeds go to the guild's $1 million pledge for the Roy and Patricia Disney Cancer Center.

As you read this column, Brazilians and visitors to the South American country are celebrating the festival of Carnival. An annual Brazilian celebration that ushers in Lent, Carnival begins 40 days before Easter and includes spectacular parades and musical events. While 6,000 miles separate Brazil from Burbank, that distance evaporated Saturday as the Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Guild presented its annual spring fundraiser under the theme “Destination Brazil.” Festivities, emceed by longtime Los Angeles broadcast journalist and anchorman Harold Greene , were at the Universal Sheraton.

Maria Balke, a member of Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Guild, has been selected as a volunteer to receive an Angel of the Year award for 2006. This honor is presented each year to those who exemplify the spirit of dedicated leadership and volunteerism. Since 1997, Balke has spent hours working on the fundraising events of Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Guild. Balke also volunteers her time in the Spiritual Care Department of the medical center. The Angels of the Year are selected annually by the Rotary Clubs of Burbank, North Hollywood, Universal City, Studio City and Sherman Oaks.

GUILD CELEBRATES NEW OFFICERS AT TEA Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Guild officers took their new positions during an Installation Tea on June 13 at Lakeside Golf Club. The chairwoman of the tea was Grace Patz . To open the meeting an invocation was given by Sister Rose Byrne . Sister Rose presented outgoing President Terry Campbell with a Bible. The past presidents were recognized as were the new Provisional members, the new members of the guild.

Hospital guild installs officers The Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Guild recognition and installation tea was June 11 at Lakeside Golf Club in Toluca Lake. Father James Toal gave the invocation and a blessing to president-elect Julie McArdle for the coming year. President Donna Mahoney welcomed provisional member Patricia Scully as an active member and new 2003-04 provisional members Lila Barkett, Kathleen Marsden and Irene Murgida. She also welcomed Bebe Tamberg as a contributing member and Father Toal as an honorary member.

dr mena honoredBeloved oncologist Dr. Raul R. Mena honored at Providence St. Joseph Guild's `Autumn Gala.' A record 200 attendees gathered Saturday for the Autumn Gala to recognize oncologist Raul R. Mena for his exceptional care of patients over the past 24 years at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center and his work with cancer research. "Dr. Mena is special to an awful lot of people," said Terry Campbell, president of the Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Guild, which sponsored the event.

If you're going to throw a fiesta, what better day to do it then on Cinco de Mayo? And if you're going to throw it with flair, who better to do it than the officers and members of La Providencia Guild of Children's Hospital Los Angeles? The Burbank-based guild, chartered in 1947 to raise awareness of and support for the Los Angeles pediatric facility, annually stages three major events - a gala holiday fashion show, a summer membership drive and a spring dinner-and-dance cotillion.

Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Guild is inviting women to join its membership and participate in projects that support the Burbank medical center. Guild members who staff the Gift Gallery in the medical center's lobby and organize the annual fashion show and luncheon at the Universal Sheridan Hotel in April. Those attending this show see, along with the models, medical center doctor on the runway. The guild also has a social component. Members attend three card parties a year at Lakeside Golf Club, and there are monthly luncheon meetings at the hospital that include an informative speaker or entertainment.

Sixty-five years ago this month, President Truman delivered the first televised White House address, England's then-Princess Elizabeth was preparing for her wedding to Prince Phillip, and the New York Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in the first World Series that included an African American baseball player - Jackie Robinson. To really put things into perspective, while Mitt Romney turned 7 months old that month, Barack Obama would not be born for another 14 years. October of 1947 also saw the then-newly established La Providencia Guild of Children's Hospital Los Angeles stage its first Razzle Dazzle Luncheon and Fashion Show fundraiser.

While Glendale's Oakmont Country Club is not a tropical paradise with pristine beaches, stunning sunsets, towering waterfalls and colorful reefs, you would almost have thought it was as the women of the La Providencia Guild of Children's Hospital Los Angeles convened at the venue for their Hawaiian-themed summer meeting, luncheon and fashion show. Members and guests donned native Hawaiian dress accented with floral leis, mingled and perused the silent auction offerings prior to the formal welcome by the guild's president, Nancy Johnson and the event's chairwoman, Joan Chandler.

New officers and a large donation were on the agenda when the Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Guild met for the annual Recognition and Installation Tea at Lakeside Golf Club on June 13. President Kathleen Marsden wrapped up her year by presenting a check for $140,000 to Kerry L. Carmody, regional chief operating officer of Providence Health and Services, California. The funds were raised by the fall and spring events, gift shop and card parties. The guild carried over $86,500 from the prior year and received a donation from the estate of member the late Haline Heimstadt and the total of donations for the year is almost half of the guild's pledge of $500,000 made to the Hycy and Howard Hill Neuroscience Institute, which will open soon on the fourth floor of the medical center.

La Providencia Guild of Children's Hospital Los Angeles conducted its annual meeting and breakfast at Burbank's Castaway banquet center on March 10. Chairwoman Sue Ann Gordon and her committee decorated the room with Audrey Hepburn's movie, “Breakfast at Tiffany's.” Guild members also dressed to the theme and were greeted by committee members Pat Maskell, Kris Veatch, and Chris Welker. Following officers' annual reports, Judy Gragg, outgoing president, passed the gavel to new president, Nancy Johnson.

It has been an annual harbinger of the holiday season - a tradition that separates the first 10 months of a year from the festivities and family gatherings of its last eight weeks. As they have done for many years since their 1947 establishment, the women of the La Providencia Guild of Children's Hospital Los Angeles once again presented their fall boutique, fashion show and luncheon fundraiser this past week at the Sheraton Universal Hotel. Presented under the theme, A Royal Affair, more than 350 guild members and supporters were welcomed by the event's chairwoman, Judy LaVerde, and the organization's president, Judy Gragg, who thanked the assemblage for their continued support of the Los Angeles-based pediatric hospital.

The Baseball Reliquary presents the exhibit of artwork and artifacts titled, “Not Exactly Cooperstown,” on display through Sept. 29 at Burbank Central Library, 110 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank. Items include one-eyed umpire Max McLeary's mask, complete with the Frontier League baseball that broke his nose lodged between its bars, and a signed toupee worn by Ron Santo, a third baseman and radio announcer for the Chicago Cubs. The library is open 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Glendale Quilt Guild rolled out the gold quilt for special guest Huell Howser, host of the “California’s Gold” TV series, during the 32nd annual Quilt Show’s opening day festivities Friday at the Burbank Airport Marriott. Howser arrived around 11 a.m. and was presented with a quilt made by the members of the local quilt organization, said Heidi St. Royal of Burbank, chairwoman of this year’s show. St. Royal originally sent Howser an e-mail inviting him to the show and telling him this year’s theme was “Quilts of the Wild West.” “I told him western quilts are gold,” she said, emphasizing the word that’s part of his show’s title.

It takes three days to create a 16-inch-tall work of art at American Fine Arts Foundry in Burbank that weighs as much as a bowling ball — albeit one that Hollywood stars would covet onstage. In anticipation of the 17th annual Screen Actors Guild awards on Sunday, 75 actor statuettes covered in black clothes await transportation to Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles for presentation. The unassuming white façade of the foundry hides the workspace where the statues come to life, beginning first as red wax in one of two molds used to make the figurines.