The Crowd: Patroness tea helps children find loving homes
The Adoption Guild of Southern Orange County, an auxiliary of Holy Family Services Adoption and Foster Care Agency, attracted more than 300 guests April 27 at Big Canyon Country Club, Newport Beach, for the 54th annual patroness tea.
Holy Family was originally founded in 1949 in Los Angeles by the celebrity couple Dolores and Bob Hope as an important component of their Catholic faith. Today the organization serves the entire community as a non-denominational agency “dedicated to giving every child the opportunity to have a loving family.” The Orange County guild, founded in 1961, has donated more than $4.4 million to Holy Family contributing to some 3,000 adoptions over a half century of involvement.
The recent patroness tea, one of two significant annual fundraisers for the guild, was co-chaired by two dynamic Newport hostesses Shan Vincent and Pam Selber. Supporting the effort were committee members including Britt Meyer, Pam Fossler, Julie Ahlert, Nancy Collins, Mary Eadington and Jane Flynn. Also front and center for the guild were Jeannie Hidey, Sherry Hunter, Christine Johnson, Bernadette McCarthy, Joyce Macardian, Erin Markland, Liz Maxson, Stephanie Peleuses, Susan Ridgely and Julie Sherwin.
Newport’s talented Jim Roberts served as both master of ceremonies and entertainer for the afternoon which featured a spring fashion show presented by Neiman Marcus. Neiman’s Fashion Island PR director Michelle Chapman narrated the trendy show offering designs from Akris, Alice & Olivia, Theory, Lafayette 148, Giorgio Armani, St. John and more.
The emotional highlight of the gathering came as Julie Brown, executive director of HFS, introduced parents Laura and Michael Bozak with their 21-month-old adopted son Maxwell. The Bozaks shared a heart-wrenching personal story of unfathomable loss as two of their children had previously died of heart disease and cancer respectively.
Major sponsorship of the tea was provided by many dedicated individuals and corporate underwriters Crevier BMW, Palisades Tennis Club, Flowers by Enzo, Pedego Electric Bike Rentals, Uggs/Decker Outdoor Corp. and Balboa Bay Resort.
The crowd dined on Big Canyon delicacies: mini quiches, caprese and turkey pinwheel sandwiches, Caesar salad cups, and fruit skewers drizzled with yogurt. The dessert buffet was over the top, featuring truffles, opera cake, cookies galore, cream puffs, fruit tarts and chef’s pastries too numerous to mention.
VIP guests in the crowd mingled around the silent auction including Newport’s elegant, philanthropic friends Soogie Kang and Angela Lee, Janis Agopian, Teri Rhodes, Jackie Glass, Elizabeth Bader and Roy and Joy Emerson to name only a few.
The Emersons share a long and valued association with the guild. The 54th annual Roy Emerson Adoption Guild Tennis Tournament will be a Memorial Day two-weekend celebration on May 22-25 and May 30-31 in Newport Beach. The tournament is the second important annual fundraiser for the guild.
For more information, call Kelly Knight at (949) 280-5185 or visit adoptionguild.org.
THE CROWD runs Fridays and Saturdays. B.W. Cook is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
