Festival of Lights Floats Their Boat : Party Hosted by Hoag Hospital’s ‘Juniors’ Raises Spirits--and $25,000

The Hoag Hospital Foundation 552 Club Juniors--a kid-brother organization to the 552 Club for the under-35 set--proved it could compete with its elders by staging a sold-out holiday bash that added a generous sum to the hospital coffers.

The club’s second annual Christmas party attracted a capacity crowd of 500 guests (double the size of last year’s attendance) to the Balboa Pavilion in Balboa on Monday for a night of dining, dancing and viewing of the Festival of Lights boat parade. The $37.50-per-person party was expected to net about $25,000 for the emergency-care unit of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach.

Watery Wonderland

Party-goers gathered for a reception overlooking the harbor, where boats strung with colored lights looked like floating jewels as they glided past.

“This is the best place in the world to watch the boat parade,” said John Plum, club member. When they weren’t ogling spectacular boat floats, like the carousel of horses or the cruising Grinch, guests could sample from a buffet of carved roast beef or dance to the music of the Swingin’ Tikis.

“We’re gearing toward a younger audience,” said Becky Martin, event chairwoman. “The older people have $500-per-plate fund-raisers. This is something younger people who don’t have that kind of money can participate in.”

Number

The 552 Club Juniors was organized six years ago, after founding member Chris Welsh attended a barbecue staged by the senior 552 Club and complained that there were not enough young people.

“They said, ‘You’re right,’ and told him to start a juniors club,” said Doug Welsh, Chris’s brother and former club president.

So far, 130 young professionals, both single and married with children, have joined the juniors. The goal is to get them involved in the hospital so they’ll graduate to the original 552 Club, which has grown from 552 members (hence the name) to a couple thousand members.

“If we do our job properly, we have them for life,” said Dave Petrick, membership chairman of the juniors.

In addition to the Christmas party, the juniors also hold a mixer at the Balboa Bay Club in March and participate in senior 552 Club golf and fishing tournaments. Club dues are $55.20, and events start precisely at 5:52 p.m.

“We want to get people clued into Hoag,” said John Aschieris, chairman of the 552 Club Juniors. “Many members are like my wife and I. We have young children, and we’ve visited the Hoag emergency room already for cuts and scrapes. It’s a good cause.”

Proceeds from this year’s party will go to the expansion and renovation of Hoag’s emergency-care unit, scheduled to reopen in March. Guests also donated toys for needy children, to be distributed by Share Our Selves in Costa Mesa.

Faces in the crowd included Brandon Hunt, recipient of the club’s Volunteer of the Year award; Patrick Munoz, who was instrumental in lining up 360 underwriters for the gala; Larry and Tonia Seal; Doris Segar; Glyn Davies; John Applegate; Kelly Bozza; Jennifer Drayton; Worth Houghton; Courtney Emery; Ryan Kelly; Paul LaPiana; Sean O’Connor; James Reed; Kathleen Smith; Garnet Thompson; Terry Thorens; David Wood, and Bob Van Der Ahe.