When Debi and Tom Thomas started remodeling their Rolling Hills home three years ago, they never dreamed it would be the centerpiece of a major fundraiser for the Palos Verdes Art Center.
But that’s what’s happened to the dynamic couple who has lived in its newly refreshed home for less than a year. The two are completing exterior and interior touches only a few weeks before their front door opens to “Celebrate Chefs & Cellars” on July 31.
The selection of the Thomas home for the event – sponsored by one of the Art Center’s major fundraising groups, the Associates — was quite unexpected, Debi said.
“Barbara Bentley [an Art Center member] had come by to see some stonework that Juan Forteza had used in our home,” Debi recalled. Forteza has been the interior architect and designer for three of the Thomas homes. “Barbara was so impressed with the house, a group of Associates stopped by and thought it would be perfect.”
“We were pleased to make the house available — and we will probably join,” she added, noting that neither of the couple is an Art Center member.
A so-called “Epicurean journey,” the event will feature tastings from more than 15 local restaurants and the opportunity to sample top wines, craft beers and a premium tequila, according to Candi Gershuni, president of the Associates. Attendance will be limited to 300 guests.
Sharon Ryan, chair of this year’s event, came up with the Celebrate Chefs idea in 2005, when five chefs were featured. In recent years, the number of venues has dwindled, Gershuni said, three being the most recent number. “We’ve already raised $1 million for the Art Center, “ she added. “We’re very proud of that.
“But the higher costs of such services as valet parking and equipment rentals led us to think of consolidating our efforts,” she said, “so we decided to focus on one evening only. It’s also better for our members, dealing with just one event.” (The Associates membership stands at about 80, but probably 30 are actively involved in preparations for the upcoming event, she said.)
“We’ve decided to invite everyone—meaning the former chefs and the new chefs—34 in all,” she explained. “We’ve also added a new level of sponsorship. We’re offering a VIP reception for $500 (two tickets) where guests will enjoy an exclusive tasting in the Thomas’s basement wine cellar an hour before the event begins at 6 p.m.”
Another bonus for everyone, she added, is the opportunity to win a seven-night Caribbean yachting cruise for two aboard the Seadream. Its value is $15,000. Only 300 tickets at $50 each will be sold.
As for the host couple, they were married in St. John Fisher Catholic Church 10 years ago, but they’ve known each other for 20. “We just had a hard time making that big decision,” Debi said. “We dated off and on for 10 years.”
Their daughter, Gracelyn, is 8 ? and attends Rolling Hills Country Day School. “I spend a lot of time there as a volunteer,” Debi said. “My life with my daughter is most important because my mother wasn’t in my life when I was growing up,” she noted.
Debi, who grew up in Westchester, was an art history major at the University of Colorado. “I never dreamed I’d have the opportunity to use my education because I couldn’t find a job in my field after graduation in 1985.” However, since their marriage, the couple have remodeled three homes, and she’s sure she put her education to good use as a major contributor to their interior design. She had high praise for interior architect Forteza with whom she has worked closely on all three in making her selections.
Tom was quick chime in with his applause for Forteza. One of those homes is directly across the street from their current one, Debi pointed out. “My husband always had a eye on this one here, because of its spectacular view. [And the view is spectacular] So, when the owner died, Tom arranged to buy it, and we managed to sell the other house immediately.”
During the period of the current remodel, the family rented elsewhere on the Peninsula for two years, she said. In those years, they also acquired another home, this one in Rancho Mirage. She’s redecorated that one as well. “It’s our retreat,” she explained.
In addition to her commitment to Gracelyn’s school and the variety of ever present decorating decisions that await her, Debi runs the family’s property management company and the family household. In a nod toward personal time, she added, “I’ve finally started taking tennis lessons again.”
San Pedro native Tom, now 48, has taken a job he got at 14 to new heights. In tracing his school/work career, he said he worked at Union War Surplus in San Pedro during high school and through his years as a marketing major at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Finally, with three others, he started Union Supply Co., Inc. in 1991, a firm that has grown to more than 200 employees at its headquarters in Rancho Dominguez, he said, adding that there are 45 account and sales managers elsewhere in the country.
In describing the firm, he said it services federal and state prisons nationwide with food, clothing and personal care items, all according to their guidelines. “We run an entire state prison’s commissary division,” he explained.
He also owns Urban Feet in San Pedro, a retail shoe store he started in 1993. “My passion is the corrections business, but my roots are the retail business,” he continued.
However, what he really likes best is “hanging out with my daughter. We do something special every Saturday.”
And what does the entire family do that’s special? “We’re always at the Red Onion on Friday night,” said Tom, without a second’s hesitation.
Tickets for “Celebrate Chefs and Cellars” are $125 per person. To order, call 310-375-6917, or send a check payable to The Associates of PVAC, c/o Sharon Holman, 26704 Hyte Road, Rancho Palos Verdes, Ca. 90275.
