Former President Clinton speaks to United Jewish Federation

With Former President Bill Clinton delivering the keynote speech, the 70th anniversary gala and fundraiser for the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County was a high-flying success. The mammoth event - which spread across several ballrooms at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego - was chaired by a committee that included La Jolla philanthropists Murray Galinson and Judy Lilienthal.

The evening started under tight security, with dinner and a cocktail reception in the upstairs ballrooms. Unfortunately, the party was interrupted by a fire alarm that sent supporters scrambling but turned out to be a false alarm. The record crowd of 2,000 went down to the lobby level for the program, which included a moving video of UJF’s charitable work in San Diego and around the globe.

President Clinton received a lengthy standing ovation from the audience before beginning his talk, and one of the first things Clinton quipped from the podium was, “I understand my long-time friend Murray Galinson is gonna ask me questions when this is over.”

Youngsters from J Company in La Jolla sang the National Anthems of the U.S. and Israel to launch the program. As usual, La Jolla was well represented at the gala. Among the huge crowd were Council President Scott Peters and his wife Lynn, Beverly Pamensky, Jane

Scher, Rae and Ed Samiljan, Robert Horsman, Mark Moss, ex-Charger Michael London, Andrea and Larry Oster, Judy and Al Lyon, Sandra and Sheldon Weinstein and Carol and Rick Kornfeld.