RSVP / ORANGE COUNTY

Fir Fest

Local fund-raiser Sylvia Burnett pulled together her first “Christmas Tree Magic” benefit Sunday at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach. The luncheon--which Burnett hopes will be an annual event--drew 225 guests at $55 each, raising an estimated $15,000 for Olive Crest treatment centers for abused children. Decking the hotel’s cushy halls were seven corporate-sponsored, professionally decorated noble fir trees, which were auctioned off after lunch. Schedule

The afternoon started with cocktails and tree ogling to festive tunes played by pianist Jacque Vanders. In the dining room, state Sen. John Seymour wielded a microphone for greetings and thanks, then Arvella Schuller (the Rev. Robert H. Schuller’s wife) gave the invocation.

The food was a gourmet’s answered prayer: tender Boston lettuce with basil orange vinaigrette, perfect breast of chicken with mushrooms and shallots in a wine sauce, and melt-in-your-mouth brown butter tart topped with fresh fruit. Song and Dance

As dessert was served, a 16-member troupe from the Orange County High School of the Arts launched into a fervid set of yuletide standards. Harmonizing, high-kicking and generally hamming it up, the students entertained for half an hour.

Highlight of the show: Lanky senior Peter Koehler crooned his way out into the audience, knelt at the table where party organizer Burnett was sitting, and sang a few lines at her side.

Standing, Koehler invited the chairwoman to dance a few steps with him.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Janice,” fibbed the blushing Burnett, as they swayed from side to side.

“Janice?” said Koehler, with the smoothie charm of a teen-age Bob Goulet. “Janice is one of my favorite names.” On the Podium

A young woman identified only as “Heather” spoke for a few minutes about her experience with Olive Crest.

“I’m just like a lot of 18-year-olds,” Heather said, reading from a prepared speech. “I go to high school. I like the beach, and shopping, and hanging out with friends.”

But Heather’s early years were anything but normal. “Abuses were constantly happening,” she said. “I don’t want to scare you with details.”

Attending the benefit with her foster mother, Sue Kirby, and foster siblings, Heather said she had come to deliver a message of hope. “I don’t feel bitterness or hate. That was the past. Now I’ve got the future. Olive Crest gave me the normal life I always wanted.” Faces

Helping with party preparations were Nancy Valeri, Donna Andert, Larry Garner and Jan Bastajian. Tree sponsors were Burnett-Ehline Development Co., Disneyland, Pat Bolter, Prudential California Realty, Sharon and Roger Williamson, De La Secura and Sign Biz Inc.