Betty Knight Scripps Chairs History-making 75th annual Candlelight Ball

Event Raised $2.3 Million to Benefit Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla

This was a history-making year for the Candlelight Ball. On this, the ball’s Diamond Anniversary, $2.3 million was raised to benefit Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla.


The event’s success was due to the efforts of Betty Knight Scripps, who served as general chairman for the second consecutive year. Betty Knight Scripps honored the ball’s anniversary by making a challenge grant of $1 million. Within weeks of the hospital’s 80th Anniversary, the community seized on this valuable opportunity by matching and surpassing the $1 million grant.


One of the oldest charity events in Southern California, the Candlelight Ball has raised millions of dollars for Scripps La Jolla and is considered San Diego’s premier social occasion, heralding the beginning of the holiday season. This year’s event was held on Dec. 4 at the prestigious Del Mar Country Club.


Betty Knight Scripps, newspaper heiress and wife of the late Edward W. Scripps, great-nephew of Miss Ellen Browning Scripps (founder of Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla), wore a dress designed by Arnold Scaasi and jewelry by Van Cleef and Arpels.


Oscar-winning actor, writer, director and La Jolla native, Cliff Robertson was an honored guest at the event. He gave a heart-felt speech recounting his memories of growing up in La Jolla with members of the Scripps family.


Other highlights of the night included the music of the legendary Bob Hardwick sound, which Town & Country Magazine has designated as the “Best of the Best” and one of the top three dance orchestras in the U.S.


Dinner began with a lobster salad with caviar served in a radicchio cup with red and yellow tomatoes and drizzled with green apple vinaigrette. The main course featured herb dusted medallions of lamb with a cabernet sauce presented on a corn pancake, accompanied by crisp potato straws and seasonal vegetables. The meal concluded with Belgian chocolate mousse with orange compote.


Kathy Wright & Co. adorned the entrance, foyer and ballroom with arrangements of pink and cream flowers, including peonies, roses, French tulips, cymbidium and dendrobium orchids, and hydrangeas.


Proceeds from this year’s Candlelight Ball will support the nationally recognized health care programs and services at Scripps La Jolla, which has served the San Diego region for 80 years and today offers a wide range of services, including outpatient imaging and surgery, 24-hour emergency and trauma care, interventional cardiology and radiology, cancer care and women’s health services.

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