B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

Family Assessment Counseling and Educational Services, otherwise known

as FACES, invites the Newport-Mesa community to the ultimate Super Bowl

XXXV party at the Village Crean estate on Newport’s Back Bay.

On Jan. 28, Newport philanthropists John and Donna Crean will once

again open their antebellum mansion on Mesa Drive for “plenty of

football, food, fun, an auction and door prizes.”

Proceeds from the $100 per ticket event will benefit the Orange County

Juvenile Connection Program of FACES, which tries to prevent family

violence through assessment and referral at local schools. To reserve

your 50-yard line seat, call FACES at (877) 422-3223. Tables of 10 are

still available.

* * *

Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties is preparing

for its annual luncheon event. Set for Monday, the gathering called

“Visioning the Future” will take place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in

Irvine. The group plans to set some long-term goals, looking ahead to

2025. The event features keynote speaker Watts Wacker, a futurist who

promises to keep audience members on the edge of their seats.

The Planned Parenthood Choice Award will be presented to Market

Research Associates, the advertising firm of Lawrence, Mayo and Ponder,

and the legal team of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP.

Locals involved in the upcoming event include Sandra Wright, Teddie

Ray, Martin Weinberg, Larry Kirschenbaum, the Rev. Dennis Short, Richard

Jonas, Jane Egly, Bonnie Ahrens and Robert Sprague.

For more information, call Planned Parenthood at (714) 633-6373.

* * *

Newport Beach’s Marsha Ferrall reports that the 2001 Newport Harbor High School Grad Night Parent Party fund-raiser is set for Feb. 8. Themed

“The Great Escape . . . A World Tour,” the grad night tradition lives on

as local parents join forces to create a memorable evening for their

graduates, one that will keep them safe under the school roof all night

long.

The kickoff fund-raiser party will take place at Sterling BMW on Coast

Highway. There will be plenty of food and fun with a silent and live

auction, along with all kinds of surprises in keeping with the theme.

Sandy Hill will co-chair the event with Dana Anderson, and all

proceeds will go to creating this year’s grad night for the students. For

more information and reservations, call Ferrall at (949) 675-0078.

* * *

Some final holiday business deserving ink: The Hoag Hospital 552

Juniors raised $10,000 to benefit the hospital from their annual holiday

affair.

Some 300 young professionals gathered to celebrate the season with a

Newport Christmas Boat Parade party on the main channel. A dinner buffet,

an auction and dancing to the music of Blue Machine rounded out the

evening for the guests, who also brought toys to be donated to Toys for

Tots.

Proceeds for the party were earmarked for the new Hoag Women’s

Pavilion, scheduled to open in 2004.

* * *

And finally, the Spyglass Garden Club celebrated its 25th anniversary

at holiday time with its annual luncheon held at the Ritz Restaurant. The

affair was also themed around the collection of Toys for Tots, with Sgt.

Charles Spence of the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program in attendance as

a guest of honor.

The Spyglass crowd has always supported the program in memory of their

friend Lynn Friborg, whose widow, Dottie, is a member of the garden club.

In the crowd were Janie Boling, Sandie Fix, Mary Hodge, Bev Monigal,

Sharon Jackson, Ruth Montgomery, Kathy Olsen, Lynn Nye, Carol Miller,

Patsy Cox, Gerrie Shah, Emy Lane Waterman, Marion Thompson, Sharon Pence,

Mary Osterhout, Gail Cimini, Donna Denham, Mary Layton, Caroline Bassett,

Ana Marie Brunner, Valerie Danzig, Lana Fish, Gloria McClintock and

Barbara Metzler.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.