Burien Bride Gets Barbara Walter Here

TV journalist Barbara Walters is here this week, making final preparations for a posh wedding. Walters' only child, Burien resident Jacqueline Guber, will wed Scott Pontius, son of a prominent local family, Saturday at the Inn at Semiahmoo.

Weather permitting, the ceremony will take place on a dock over the water, with a reception at the inn.

Invitations have gone out to several hundred guests, including the rich and famous. Among the invitees are two of Walters' close friends, David Letterman and Ivana Trump. Many guests will stay at the inn, where Walters has booked a block of rooms.

Guber, 29, works as a receptionist at Riverton Hospital. She met Pontius when she moved into a home overlooking Puget Sound. Pontius' parents, Bill and Ruby Pontius, own a nearby waterfront residence.

The 24-year-old bridegroom is a former student at Highline Community College. He works in construction and volunteers with the White Center Fire Department.

Last month, Walters flew her daughter's attendants to New York to have bridesmaids' dresses fitted.

Walters' entourage reportedly includes her hair stylist, makeup artist and nutritionist.

Old boys club: Politically incorrect, but wildly popular is a men-only reunion that will take place Sunday at Vito's Madison Grill. The restaurant at 927 Ninth Ave., named for former owner Vito Santoro, has long served as a hangout for politicians, sports figures, attorneys and bon vivants.

Instigators of "Vito's alumni reunion" (among them, Bob Radcliffe and Mike Kaplan) persuaded new owner John Kunellis to close the restaurant to the public Sunday evening. Already more than 100 old-timers, including Husky coach Jim Lambright, have made reservations for the event, which starts with a 5 p.m. cocktail hour, followed by a buffet dinner. (Tickets are $50 apiece.)

What will they do for entertainment? Chances are they'll part the blinds in the back room to reveal its naughty secret: hand-painted tiles that depict a topless Italian maiden. Boys will be boys.

Something old: The S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, last of the World War II liberty ships on the West Coast, sails home to San Francisco Saturday. The historic vessel has been undergoing repairs, gratis, at Todd Shipyards on Harbor Island.

Todd originally built the O'Brien in Maine during World War II.

"Everyone in Seattle has been so nice," said Anna Falche, chairwoman of the O'Brien's nonprofit foundation. "Unionists have donated their time; companies have contributed. I wish we could stay here."

Dress code: A memo to the woman who changed clothes in the late-model green Suburban Saturday evening: That was not a deserted warehouse that you parked next to. It was the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Embarrassed diners seated next to the window say they had difficulty concentrating on pasta while you stripped. Next time, try a phone booth.

Good advice: A phone-answering message, reached yesterday by mistake, went this way: "Hi. I'm on my way to the pet store to pick up a new canary. By the way, a piece of advice: Never try to clean your bird cage with the vacuum cleaner."

Jean Godden's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Local News section of The Times. Her phone is 464-8300.