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Kiss This Jewel Good Bye
by Doug Krikorian, Long Beach Press-Telegram
May 15, 2007
There are those on this planet whose existence is inextricably linked
to a single phenomenon at the expense of their overall body of work.
Billy Buckner is known for committing that 10th-inning, two-out error
in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series error that allowed the New York Mets
to stay alive against the Boston Red Sox and pave the way for an eventual
Mets world championship, but he also was quite a player across 22 major
league seasons with 2,715 hits.
Jerry Lewis is known for his extraordinary charity achievements as he's
raised more than $2 billion for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, but
he also once was a member of the most popular comedy team - Martin &
Lewis - in America.
Walter O'Malley is known for bringing major league baseball to the West
Coast - he moved the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958 - but
he also was a shrewd, innovative owner who for years operated the most
successful franchise in his sport.
Roberto Duran is known for his nefarious No Mas surrender in New Orleans
against Sugar Ray Leonard - he raised his hands to the referee and stopped
fighting for no discernible reason in the ninth round - even more than
he is for all those heroic victories he piled up with his punishing fists.
And Dede Rossi is known for creating the tastiest, liveliest, giddiest,
happiest, if not the most entertaining social event of the year in Long
Beach - the Jewels of the Night - even though she has been heavily involved
in various other projects during her 19 years as a fundraiser extraordinaire
in the Long Beach State athletic department.
She also has been a particular guiding light for the 49er Athletic Hall
of Fame, but it's the Jewels of the Night that will be staged for the
13th time Saturday night that has become her private trademark.
Starting in 1995, she has turned an intimate little gathering for boosters
at the old Gold Mine Gym into an eating, dancing, laughing, schmoozing,
auctioning extravaganza at the Walter Pyramid that has raised more than
$1 million for 49er athletic scholarships.
There once was a few local restaurants who participated in the affair,
but Dede Rossi has pushed that total to 50, as it's expected more than
600 people Saturday night will pay $100 each to sample all the various
culinary goodies, sip beer, wine or soft drinks, do some hoofing to the
sounds of the Surf City All Stars and bid on hundreds of auction items,
including one unmatched for sheer cultural enhancement, intellectual stimulation
and continental charm exhilaration - dinner with me at Phil Trani's Restaurant.
"Yes, I guess you can say the Jewels of the Night will be my defining
legacy at Long Beach State," says Rossi, who is making her Jewels
farewell as she will bring the curtain down on her career at Long Beach
State in early July.
"Thank God that Dede is retiring so she won't be driving all of us
crazy any longer in the restaurant business for a donation," joshes
Smooth's John Morris, who, nevertheless, always has responded to Rossi's
relentless financial overtures.
Dede Rossi long has been an enduring part of the Long Beach State sporting
scene, as it's been her challenging duty to dredge money out of boosters
and persuade others in the community who aren't to become donors anyway
for the benefit of the 49er athletic program.
"I'd have to say Dede Rossi is the university's No. 1 cheerleader,"
says Dr. Robert Maxson, the school's former president.
"There aren't a lot of people around who have done more for the university
than Dede. The affection and loyalty she has displayed for the school
has been tremendous, and she always will be linked to it."
"Our athletic department will miss Dede," says Brian Gimmillaro,
the women's volleyball coach. "She always is working, always is promoting
on behalf of the university, even on her own time. I don't think people
realize how much she cares about the success of the university, and its
athletic department. I'll personally miss her, and her commitment to the
school."
Dede Rossi, known as Dede Smith when she graduated from Wilson High in
1975, is retiring for two quite understandable reasons.
For one, she'd like to spend more time with her teenage children, Nicole,
16, a sophomore at Wilson High, and Frankie, 13, who attends Rogers Middle
School.
And for another, well, she is in a position where a second income in her
household isn't an economic imperative, since her husband of 17 years,
Frank Rossi, is the owner of a successful painting contracting business.
Dede Rossi plans to start enjoying life a little more rather than spending
so much of it trying to persuade reluctant people to make donations, meaning
she plans to return to the local fairways.
You must understand Rossi once was quite a golfer - she had a nine handicap
- and hopes to become one again.
Still, her thoughts and energy these hours are on the Jewels of the Night,
and she oozes characteristic enthusiasm when discussing it.
"It's going to be better than ever," she says. "We're going
to have over 1,000 auction items - something for everyone. The food is
going to be tremendous, and the people will have such a wide variety of
delicious choices."
And, of course, all the Long Beach State athletic coaches will be present,
as will the new athletic director Vic Cegles, who I'm sure will give one
of his rousing monologues that always leaves me in stitches.
I'm certain it's going to be another memorable Jewels evening.
But there also will be a poignant quality hovering over it because it
will be the final one overseen by Dede Rossi, the person who started it,
nurtured it and turned it into one of this city's most revered shindigs.
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