TAKE 5: PARTY LINES; STARS SHINE BRIGHTLY FOR VISION AWARDS.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Daily News Fashion Editor

There were picketers and paparazzi, guide dogs and drug-sniffing dogs, and so many FBI agents running around the Beverly Hilton Hotel that I was sure Tom Cruise was going to show up to receive his Vision Award. But it wasn't Cruise, it was Clinton.

Yes, the president was there; no, he didn't attend the Vision Awards; and no, I couldn't even get a peek.

But I did bump into Chevy Chase at the 24th annual Vision Awards, saluting visionaries in film, television, music and technology last Monday. Chase was there to present the Vision of the Stars award to his friend Rick Nicita. Also there was Mandy Patinkin, star of TV's ``Chicago Hope,'' whose sight was recently restored with a corneal transplant from a 10-year-old boy. Patinkin was so appreciative of his gift of sight that he and Helen Harris, founder of the Woodland Hills-based Retinitis Pigmentosa International, wrote the song ``Does He Know'' about it. The Randall Brothers performed it at the awards ceremony.

Other recipients were Paul Wagner, Roone Arledge, Stan Lee, Albert Brooks, Ivan Reitman, Alan W. Parker, Robert Towne, Alan J. Pakula, Jon Voight, John Williams, Helene Hahn, Rosalie Swedlin, Lindsay Doran, Lauren Shuler-Donner, J.J. Harris, Martha Coolidge, Agnes Nixon, Ethel Winant and Sam Ginn of AirTouch Cellular, who introduced Rick Boggs, the company's blind spokesman, who in 1970 became the first totally blind student permitted to enter the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Casey Kasem, Mario Machado, Kenneth ``Babyface'' Edmonds, the late David Doyle, William Tasman, Michael Apted, and the Disney Channel's American Teacher Awards also received Vision Awards.

According to dinner chairman Warren Cowan, the event raised $250,000 for RPI and TheatreVision, a process that makes motion pictures and television programming accessible to the blind.

California's fashion industry turned out in force for the CaliforniaMart's cocktail party, fashion show and the announcement of the nominees for California Designer of the Year.

Max Azria of BCBG was all smiles that night - with good reason. Besides a really hot collection lined up for fall, the L.A. designer has been named the recipient of the 1997 California Fashion Performance Award AND a nominee for Designer of the Year. Others vying for the title include Tom Mark for Mark Wong Nark, Janice Levin-Krok and Tom Nguyen for Poleci, Lissa Zwahlen and Julie Aversa for Roxy and William Beranek of William B.

Rising star nominees also were announced, and they are A. Crispen, Eduardo Lucero, Josephine Loka, Lola, and Trina Turk. Winners will be announced at a creative black-tie soiree Oct. 5 at the Beverly Hilton sponsored by MGM Worldwide Television and its new TV series ``Fame L.A.''

Sherman Oaks residents Stacy and Mary Keach celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary June 21 with an elegant garden party at the home of their son Jimmy Keach and his wife, Jane Seymour - star of TV's ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.''

Guests, who included friends and family as well as the ``Medicine Woman'' cast, sipped champagne in the back yard overlooking the Malibu coastline and later dined at elegantly set tables in a tentlike setup in the front yard, followed by dancing and wedding cake. It was truly a family affair; in attendance were Mary's sister, who was maid of honor 60 years ago; Jimmy and Jane's toddler twins, wearing matching tuxedos; and Stacy Keach Jr., who told me his hit TV show ``Mike Hammer'' will be making a comeback this fall.

Later, Jimmy and Stacy performed a Burns and Allen-style comedy routine, with Jimmy as Mom and Stacy Jr. as Dad.

The party host also played the harmonica with the band, and his wife toasted her in-laws by saying, ``There's nothing more important than love.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1) Arriving at the Vision Awards gala were actors Mandy Patinkin, left, and Chevy Chase, with RPI founder Helen Harris and AirTouch Cellular spokesman Rick Boggs.

(2) Salma Hayek, left,and Cheech Marin, co-hosts of the Amigos por la Vida/Friends for Life gala, share a moment with actress Maria Conchita Alonso at the American Foundation for AIDS Research benefit, which raised $500,000. The event honored Spanish-language broadcast journalist Cristina Saralegui.

Eric Charbonneau/Special to the Daily News

(3) Mayor Richard Riordan, second from left, presents a community-service proclamation to the Jewish Big Brothers organization. Accepting are Big Brother Aaron Weisblatt and his ``Little Brother,'' past president Bob Waldorf, and executive director Marvin Savlov.