RSVP / ORANGE COUNTY : She Gets Auction Items by Going . . . Going . . .

Call Susan Boerner the queen of now auction items.

Last year she snagged an autographed mask from “Phantom of the Opera” star Michael Crawford for the Lestonnac Free Clinic’s annual spring gala.

This year’s coup? Nothing less than an Indian peace pipe signed by Academy Award-winning Kevin Costner. (How does she do it? A zillion phone calls and as many “ please -s.” “First, I called the Sioux tribe and asked them to make the pipe,” Boerner says. “Then I took it to Kevin’s office. (His people) are super-nice--bending over backwards.”)

The fun begins at the Disneyland Hotel on May 4 when a silent auction kicks off the benefit that will also feature a performance by singer Helen Reddy.

Tickets are $200 per person for the bash, chaired for the second year in a row by Susan and Alan Boerner (he’s president of Cambio Investments in Fullerton). Special guest: Sister Marie Therese, founder and executive director of the clinic in Orange that serves Orange County’s “poorest of the poor.”

The Buzz: Country singer Crystal Gayle will perform at the Orange Blossom Ball on June 15 at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine. The event is sponsored by the Orangewood Foundation. . . . Not only is Irvine heiress Joan Irvine Smith planning to give away millions to UC Irvine, she is increasing the purses at her annual Oaks Classic set for June 1 and 2 at her Oaks ranch property in San Juan Capistrano. Smith’s mum, Athalie Clarke, says there will be two classics, new stakes, a parade of ribbon-winners and a dissertation on fox-hunting (this special bash, along with Cartier Inc.’s luncheon for tenor Placido Domingo at the Center Club on June 1 are making June the munch for the ladies-who-lunch). . . . Word’s out that Carlton Burnett--director of last year’s stellar fashion show in Segerstrom Hall featuring members of the Guilds of the Orange County Performing Arts Center--has created an exclusive Director’s Circle, a bevy of 20 women who will not have to try out to be in this year’s show. Among the poised models who bowled Burnett over last year: Newport Beachers Judie Argyros and Candice Schnapp. Model wanna-bes will have to strut their stuff before judges on May 8-9 and June 11-12. More than 100 models will be featured in the show . . . . Party-goers crammed Nautica--the fashionable sportswear shop at Newport Center--on Tuesday night to celebrate the kickoff of Newport-Ensenada race week. Nautica is providing the official sportswear for the race, the America’s Cup and the Olympics Sailing Team. . . . Up on the roof? The Professions and Finance Associates of the City of Hope/Orange County are staging a bash to celebrate the appearance of “Les Miserables” at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. On June 29, members of the group will live it up atop the Tower parking structure on Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa before attending a performance in Segerstrom Hall. Talk about uppity party places. . . . The Newport Harbor Art Museum will celebrate Cinco de Mayo during a sunset cruise aboard the Catalina Flyer. Tickets are an ultra-reasonable $25 per. . . . The Newport Harbor Art Museum is also staging a series of lovely dinners to introduce its new director, Michael Botwinick. Nice idea. The series begins with dinner at Nancy and Jim Baldwin’s Emerald Bay spread on May 15 and continues on May 25 with a “Desert Delights” bash at the Palm Springs manse of Jack and Marion Shea. . . . Friends of KOCE Channel 50 are staging Orange County’s classiest garage sale on Saturday and Sunday, rain or shine, at United Van Lines Merit Moving System in Santa Ana. Among items available: a Thomas California organ, a Baldwin spinet organ, and a new Fender guitar. . . . The board of governors of the new Spa at the Center will be feted at a cocktail reception at the Center Club on May 15. . . . Opera Pacific kicked off its new dinner series on Sunday with a party at Anne and Tom Key’s airplane hangar. . . . Orange County Chief of Protocol Mary Jones has received a gracious letter from the Japanese Consulate in Los Angeles, thanking Orange County for its hospitality. As you recall, Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu dined with members of the local Japanese community here early this month. . . .