B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

A sparkling holiday tea unfolded on the Pacific Rim as guests of

CASA-CAST -- Court Appointed Special Advocates and Child Abuse Service

Team -- converged upon the Clubhouse at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast.

The celebration was billed as a “friendraiser” by organizers, which

included Chairwoman Tracy Gottlieb and committee members Carolyn Luttio,

Michelle Apramian, Kim Cosenza, Michelle Donahue, Heather Klein, Jocelyn

Lutter, Janice Markley, Suzanne Nalbandian, Amy Nott, Cecilia Nott and

Ellen Small.

Attired in holiday finery, CASA-CAST supporters shared English tea on

the Pacific Coast as models displayed the fashions of St. John,

informally sauntering throughout the handsome clubhouse on the hill.

Members of the organization’s board of directors, including President

Stacy Jones, Kristin Brkich, Jill Donahue, Susie Luer, Elise McKasson,

Stacia Nadelman and Kyle Team, also lent their individual and collective

support.

“All of the money raised today will benefit over 500 neglected

children in Orange County,” said Gottlieb, the daughter of Bruce and

Cecelia Nott, longtime Newport Beach community activists. “Each year in

Orange County, the number of abused and neglected children who become

dependent on the court multiplies.”

Gottlieb and her sister, Amy Nott, both follow the example set by

their parents.

At this time of year, it is especially important to recognize the

value of giving -- not gifts necessarily, but rather giving of oneself.

The Nott family can be very proud of their tradition of involvement, and

certainly CASA-CAST and the children and families served are the

beneficiaries of this exceptional spirit of noblesse oblige. This holiday

season, CASA-CAST celebrates 16 years of “helping one child at a time.”

In the grand holiday tradition, Hoag Hospital’s 552 Club produced a

35th annual “Christmas Carol” ball, with all the trimmings. More than 350

hospital sponsors gathered to deck the halls at the tony Four Seasons

hotel in Newport Beach. The elegant black-tie ball was chaired by the

dedicated Terry and Bob Callahan, with significant support coming from

benefactors Dick and Mary Allen, Jim and Mary Bahan, John and Donna

Crean, Christopher and Jessica Duma, Jerry and Maralou Harrington, Nora

Hester, Hans and Charlene Prager, Bill and Nancy Thompson, Pam and Jim

Young, and Mrs. Richard Steele, to name only a select few.

Highlights of the evening included performances by the Mater Dei High

School Bell Choir and from the talented student performers of the Orange

County High School of the Arts. Well-known Newport Beach saxophonist Eric

Marienthal and his son Robert led the crowd in singing Christmas carols.

Dancing to the sounds of the Wayne Foster band took guests swinging well

into the night. Co-chair Bob Callahan proudly shared, “Funds from this

event will go toward Hoag’s Women’s Pavilion, scheduled to open in 2005.”

An impressive $225,000 was raised toward this important goal.

Contributing to the 552 success were holiday revelers Steve and Lisa

Callahan, John and Frances Applegate, Robert and Jaqueline Dillman,

Howard House, Jim and Nora Johnson, John Lehman, Austin and Shirley Mahr,

Sara and Lloyd Silverman, and Jim and Dianne Whittier.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.