The Saint Francis Memorial Hospital Foundation‘s 21st annual Hob Nob on Hob Hill, chaired by Susan Geary, kicked off the holiday party scene in San Francisco on December 1, 2009. Some 300 guests gathered at the Fairmont Hotel for cocktails in the Venetian Room, dinner in the Gold Room and dancing throughout. The Rich Martini Orchestra kept the party lively until well after midnight. The hob nob holiday event raised some $520,000 for the expansion of Saint Francis Memorial Hospital’s Bothin Burn Center, the only dedicated burn center in the Bay Area.
Dame Bella Farrow and her late husband Charlie Farrow started the hob nob tradition in 1989, as a progressive event among the three largest and most prestigious hotels on Nob Hill. Guests hob nobbed between the Fairmont, Stanford Court and the Mark Hopkins; hotel managers drew straws to determine which would host cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, dinner or dancing and dessert.
Photos by Drew Altizer Photography