Goal Rush : Super Bowl Party Nets an Expected $20,000 for Youth Charity
The place to be Sunday for Super Bowl XXX was John and Donna Crean’s Tara-like estate in Newport Beach.
About 150 football fans watched the Cowboys beat the Steelers on big-screen TVs set up throughout the mansion, with some lucky armchair quarterbacks enjoying the game while sitting in leather recliners in the Creans’ private theater.
Guests paid $100 each to attend the super party, which was expected to net about $20,000 for the Juvenile Connection Program, sponsored by the Coalition for Children, Adolescents and Parents. The Orange-based group helps troubled youths and their families.
Super Bash
When it comes to throwing Super Bowl parties, the Creans wrote the playbook. This was the sixth year they’ve held a Super Bowl gala for charity, but they’ve always had their friends over for food and festivities on game day.
“I’m not a football fan. I hardly watch the games. That’s my husband’s job,” Donna Crean said. She preferred to stand at the foot of a double-spiral staircase and greet everyone who walked through the door.
Knowing that couch potatoes like to have a steady supply of food, the Creans served up a super feast that included a buffet table decked out like a football field complete with goal posts and yard lines. There guests could load up on chili dogs, hamburgers, salads, homemade cookies and football-shaped brownies. Buckets of peanuts set up at tables and a popcorn machine added to the unlimited munchies.
Many of the Creans’ friends attended, including “Beverly Hillbilly” Buddy Ebsen (who brought a pot filled with sauerkraut and beans), fashion critic Mr. Blackwell (who got an eyeful of cowboy hats, tight jeans and other casual chic attire) and actress Jane Withers, former child star who for 20 years was Josephine the Plumber in Comet commercials.
“Donna’s my best girlfriend. We travel together a lot. I work for her charities, and she works for mine,” Withers said.
The 69-year-old actress is still working--she’s recording the voice of a gargoyle for Disney’s upcoming animated feature, “Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
Connecting to Youths
Proceeds from the party will help provide free psychosocial assessments for troubled youths and their families. Youths are usually referred to the Juvenile Connection Program (JCP) by school counselors, parents or law enforcement. Typically, youngsters are running away from home, getting involved in gangs, experimenting with drugs or having trouble in school.
Sometimes the behavior problem is simple to diagnose.
“Some children have undiagnosed hearing problems. Those are the best cases,” said Cynthia Scheinberg, executive director of CCAP. Their behavior problems usually disappear as soon as the problem is corrected.
Most youngsters, however, have problems that stem from deeper causes. They and their families are referred to therapists and psychologists for counseling, provided on an ability-to-pay basis. JCP serves about 600 families a year. Medical, dental, psychological and social services are available.
“We even have dermatologists who do tattoo removal at reduced costs” so a youth can disassociate from a gang and have a better chance at getting a job, Scheinberg said.
Others attending the party were Jo Alexander, Steve Collins, Marge Freeman, Patricia Gomez, Phyllis Green, Jane Hansen, Royal Radtke, Michael Schumacher and his daughter Stacy Howell.