PERSONALITIES

Lastyear at this time, when Mitch Snyder's center for the homeless on Second Street NW was fighting against the wrecking ball, finding a spot for the annual Christmas Eve party was so difficult the party eventually took place in the center's decrepit basement. This year it will be much different.

The party, complete with entertainment and donations from several Washington restaurants, will be in the great hall of the Hubert H. Humphrey Building. Denise Hengst, the founder of Christmas for the Homeless, said those donating food include Chez Grand Mere, Toscanini, American Cafe, Occidental, Barnaby's, Lunch Box, J.T. Ribbs, Caspian Tea Room, Mr. K's, Kennedy Warren, Dominique's, Cafe Berliner, Suzanne's, Armand's Chicago Pizzeria, Marrakesh, Stoney's, Vista International Hotel and the Watergate's chef Jean Louis Palladin.

Nancy Reagan Picks Up Another Check First Lady Nancy Reagan has been successful at collecting money for her drug abuse fund. On Sunday she is expected to take a trip out to the Capital Centre to see Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, the British Gold Medal and 1984 Olympic ice dancing champions, perform.

The main reason for her appearance, however, is that Torvill and Dean are donating their proceeds from their Saturday night and Sunday performances to the Nancy Reagan Drug Abuse Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Washington. If the attendance figures are good, the first lady could come home with a $150,000 check for her cause.

Out and About Canadian Ambassador Allan Gotlieb is hosting a dinner party tonight to set off a weekend of social events connected with the running of the Washington, D.C., International Turf Classic at Laurel Saturday. The race attracts horses and socialites from several countries. The guest list for tonight's dinner at the ambassador's residence includes actor Claude Akins, Soviet Ambassador Yuri Dubinin, outgoing Maryland Gov. Harry Hughes, Energy Secretary John Herrington, Sen. Spark Matsunaga, entertainer Bert Parks, national security adviser John Poindexter and FBI Director William Webster ...

Five Washingtonians are among 72 honorees on Esquire magazine's 1986 register of men and women under 40 who are changing the nation. Listed in the December issue of the magazine are Dina Rasor, 30, investigator, head of the Project on Military Procurement, which exposes Pentagon cost overruns; Bob Edwards, 39, senior host, National Public Radio's "Morning Edition"; Jay Kernis, 34, executive producer, National Public Radio; Gary Lynch, 36, officer, Securities and Exchange Commission; and New York Rep. Charles Schumer, 35 ...

Tomorrow's world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's "Goya" promises to be an opera-world smash, even though the composer was working right up to the last moment. Members of the orchestra didn't have completed scores to take home and practice until Wednesday's dress rehearsal. And this is not the first time Placido Domingo has performed on the Opera House stage. In early 1983, when Domingo's career was beginning to surpass Luciano Pavarotti's, Washington fundraiser Alma Gildenhorn brought him to a benefit concert there to raise just over $200,000 to renovate the Opera House. Gildenhorn was recently named by President Reagan to the Kennedy Center's 45-member board of trustees ...

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher will be the first international woman leader to be inducted into the International Women's Hall of Fame by the National Women's Forum. The ceremony will take place tomorrow at the British Embassy residence following Thatcher's meeting with President Reagan at Camp David. Sally Ride, the first American woman astronaut, and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, will participate in the ceremony. They were inducted into the Hall of Fame last year ...

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