A forest of fundraising cheer

B.W. COOK

As Christmas dawns today, we recognize the efforts of Child Guidance

Center Inc. and their 22nd-annual holiday tree fantasy.

The spectacular luncheon event, which launched Christmas in

Newport-Mesa, introduced the community to a forest of creatively

designed and decorated trees valued at $1,000 each and sold at

auction benefiting the Child Guidance Center.

For more than 37 years, the nonprofit center has provided a

variety of vital services including outpatient mental healthcare,

child abuse prevention and care, and substance-abuse related

counseling.

Families in the Newport-Mesa and greater Orange County communities

who purchased the Christmas trees can open their holiday gifts today

with the knowledge that their tree donation is helping many people

suffering and otherwise without support.

Surely, this is the spirit of the season.

The holiday fundraiser, held at the Hyatt Regency Irvine Hotel,

attracted a crowd of 425 guests earlier this month. Television

reporter Vikki Vargas, KNBC-TV Channel 4 Orange County Bureau chief,

served as emcee while celebrity auctioneer Charles Drega raised the

bar on the tree bidding.

Derek Johnson, chairman of the Child Guidance Center board, was on

hand, along with Hank Paris, executive director of the Center. Olga

Niebla served as honorary chair, and was also honored with the

organization’s “Lifetime Volunteer Achievement Award.” For more

information on Child Guidance Center, please visit

https://www.cgcoc.org.

Laura Schlessinger is set to address the crowd Jan. 20 at the

Balboa Bay Club & Resort.

The popular radio psychologist will be the keynote speaker for

Toby’s House, a home for pregnant women and their children in Mission

Viejo.

The facility provides medical care, housing, child care,

counseling and home-management assistance for young women.

The dinner fundraiser will support the programs of Toby’s House.

Tickets are priced at $175 per person. For reservations and

information, please call (949) 364-6674. Newport’s dedicated hostess

Eve Foussard helped organize a special holiday party at the residence

of Jim and Connie Silva in Huntington Harbour.

The recent Sunday evening gathering was organized on behalf of the

Yanks Air Museum Foundation, dedicated to honoring American

servicemen and servicewomen and the historical airplanes they used in

service to this nation. Raising a toast to the holidays and the Yanks

Air Museum were Judy Nichols, Brett Nichols, Diana Nichols, Bruce

Peters, and Al Guidotti.

Guests of the Susan G. Komen Foundation wrapped up the year with a

holiday reception and an open house honoring local grant recipients

in Newport-Mesa.

A full house converged upon the Komen offices in Costa Mesa to

share wine and hors d’ oeuvres and to salute another successful year

of fundraising and fighting breast cancer in Newport-Mesa and around

the nation.

Opera Pacific is preparing for the 2005 debut of its production of

“The Marriage of Figaro.”

Set for an opening on Jan. 18 at the Orange County Performing Arts

Center, “Figaro,” is being directed by Harry Silverstein and will

star Puerto Rican soprano Ana Marie Martinez. Also appearing will be

Adrienne Danrich -- alternating in the role of the Countess -- with

bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen as Figaro. Opera Pacific’s 19th season

will also include productions of “Samson and Delilah,” “La Traviata,”

and “The Pirates of Penzance.”

For more information, call (800) 34OPERA, or (800) 346-7372, or

log on to https://www.operapacific.org.

Merry Christmas, one and all. May love reign and peace prevail.

These are the ultimate hopes and prayers of the holiday. Let us

all find a way to make them reality.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.