Arts Bash To Aid The Burned-Out

The streets of Seattle will throng with partyers Friday night. The city will play host to not one grand arts soiree but two such events.

While the Seattle Art Museum holds its biannual Black & White Ball, an upscale bumbershoot of pop music and trendy grazing food, a group of artists will throw a Burned-Out Ball.

The idea behind the Burned-Out Ball is to assist artists who suffered losses in the Polson Building arson May 4. Resident artists lost valuable, irreplaceable works, both to the fire and to smoke, water and humidity.

Pioneer Square artist Billy King, one of the Burned-Out Ball organizers, said the downscale, $10-a-head ball would be held in the neighboring 619 Building. King promised, "Those attending can visit artists' studios. Dress in black and white and bring your own beverages."

Turnabout: Seattle City Councilwoman Cheryl Chow introduced Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros Friday at Holly Park, a local public-housing project that's slated for reconstruction.

Chow mispronounced Cisneros' name and then by way of apology said, "You are so good-looking. I know I'm going to get in trouble. But get closer. I might as well take advantage of this."

The surprised Cisneros responded, saying, "I'm not used to being introduced that way. But it sure does feel good."

Happy returns: So where does Remo Borracchini, hands-on owner of Borracchini's Ginger Belle Bakery & Mediterranean Market (over 100

birthday cakes a day), dine when he has a birthday? Last week, you could find the birthday-cake king celebrating over lunch at one of his favorite Mount Baker haunts, That's Amore, with Italian food served by owners Sylester Gray and his spouse Celena Haley-Gray.

Borracchini reminisced about his birth 66 years ago in the upstairs bedroom of an old brown house behind the Oberto Sausage Co. on Rainier Avenue South. When he was growing up, it was Remo's job to keep the wood fires burning to bake the original Borracchini breads and cakes.

Final course of Remo's birthday lunch was spumoni ice cream. Alas. The family forgot to supply a Borracchini birthday cake.

Happy ending: Those who have been downsized out of a job can take comfort in the story of Heidi Bischoff. After more than a dozen years with Grayline Seattle, Bischoff lost her position during reorganization.

Turns out it was a blessing in disguise. Bischoff, who oversaw bus operations during the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, was tapped to coordinate bus transportation for the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Fair shake: What's faster than a speeding fax? The morning after the Duvall earthquake, attorney Mary Alice Theiler received a fax from a California-based firm offering "to assist you or your clients in any engineering or failure analysis . . . resulting from recent earthquake in the Seattle area."

On the good side, the experts from quakesville offered "immediate consultation."

Call back: What do you not want to hear when you call an airline? Last week, an electronic voice was answering the United Airlines' ticket office number as follows: "The number you called (441-3700) is being checked for trouble. Please try your call again later."

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