Super Supporters Make a Game of It

For football fans, attending the lavish Super Bowl party staged Sunday by hosts John and Donna Crean was the next best thing to going to the game.

About 250 guests turned up at the Creans’ “village” estate to watch the Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills and support the Juvenile Connection Program, part of the Coalition for Children, Adolescents and Parents in Orange that helps troubled youngsters. The $100-per-person affair was expected to raise $20,000 for the youth program.

Game Time

The Creans set up big-screen televisions throughout every room, making sure there wasn’t a bad seat in the house for watching the game.

Serious armchair quarterbacks joined John Crean in an upstairs private theater to watch the game on a massive floor-to-ceiling screen.

“This is serious stuff up here,” remarked one guest, upon hearing the charged-up fans hissing, hollering and shouting out strategy tips such as, “Yeah, kill him!” and “Bring him down!”

In the dining room, guests sampled a buffet served on a long table covered in green and marked off with yard lines to look like a small football field. Among the stadium fare were hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, miniature pizzas and homemade cookies and brownies. Waiters bearing popcorn, ice cream and soft pretzels added to the stadium atmosphere.

Guests even enjoyed a halftime show--a performance by the Valencia High School Tiger Regiment marching band.

Party With a Purpose

For the Creans, throwing a Super Bowl party has been a longtime tradition, but only in the past three years did they turn the affair into a fund-raiser.

“We used to do this for our friends for free; now they have to pay,” joked Donna Crean, dressed in a white denim pantsuit decorated with gold studs.

The Creans chose to help the Youth Connection Program because, “I like what they do for children,” she said.

The program offers counseling and treatment referral services to help prevent children with behavior problems from getting into more serious trouble such as alcohol abuse or teen-age pregnancy. Children are usually referred to the program by schools, police, friends and parents.

“When families come in, they’re deeply troubled. The child has started to skip school or gotten involved in gangs or is acting out” in class, said Cynthia Scheinberg, executive director of the coalition.

Among those attending were coalition board president Rowene Medina, Buzz Aldrin, Jo Alexander, Patti Boortz, Andy and Charlene Crean, Tom and Jolene Fuentes, Grace Gatti, Julia George, Kathleen Goldberg, Joe Martin, Jay Palchikoff, Michael Schumacher, Kathryn Thompson and Barbara Venezia.