{"id":172158,"date":"2026-02-10T18:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T18:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/172158\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T18:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T18:04:08","slug":"scene-and-seen-casa-o-c-annual-holiday-luncheon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/172158\/","title":{"rendered":"Scene and Seen: CASA O.C. Annual Holiday Luncheon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/F36A0487-1024x624.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-167094\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"  \/>Analisa Albert, Wendy Tenebaum, Lourdes Bottger Nark, and Beth BidnaCredit: PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN WATKINS<\/p>\n<p>What began as a holiday tea 30 years ago has grown to become one of Orange County\u2019s top must-attend holiday luncheons, raising more than $8 million through the years to support Court Appointed Special Advocates (also referred to as CASA) efforts to champion and provide mentorship to children who have experienced abuse, neglect, and abandonment. This year\u2019s luncheon, attended by 433 guests and held at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort, netted more than $670,000. Guests bid on 154 curated auction packages and tried their luck at an opportunity drawing featuring a dazzling bracelet adorned with 4.87 carats of pear-shaped diamonds.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"523\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HE7A7511-scaled.jpg\"  \/>Liz deSousa and Marjie Zethraus Mros<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/F36A0082-scaled.jpg\"  \/>Friends of CASA President Inga Sanders-Marcereau at the Starfish Wish Tree<\/p>\n<p>However, perhaps the most spirited opportunity of all centered around a special Starfish Wish Tree that allowed guests a chance to help grant the holiday wishes of 220 foster care kids. Then there was the fashion show. Models paraded down runways in gorgeous fashions by Monique Lhuillier South Coast Plaza. But it was the compelling words from keynote speaker Amy Spencer, a CASA volunteer, that tugged at the hearts of all who attended. She shared the story of a youth she mentored for four years. \u201cThese kids need us to guide them, to support them, to advocate for them,\u201d Spencer said, \u201cand most importantly, to believe in them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"558\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/F36A0225-scaled.jpg\"  \/>Linette Dai and Michelle Adam<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"509\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/F36A0441-scaled.jpg\"  \/>Courtney Wittkop, Nicole Joseph, Jenny Gross, and Christina Hahne<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Analisa Albert, Wendy Tenebaum, Lourdes Bottger Nark, and Beth BidnaCredit: PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN WATKINS What began as a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-172158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}