Family- friendly Holiday Tree Fantasy at Balboa Bay Club will honor Newport's David A. Colton

Newport Coast resident David A. Colton, shown here with his son Scott, will be one of two honorees at Child Guidance Center’s 32nd Annual Holiday Tree Fantasy as it holds its sumptuous, family-oriented event at the Balboa Bay Club on Sunday, December 7 from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Colton, founder and president of The Colton Companies , a commercial property management and leasing company based in Newport Beach, has long been involved in supporting the Child Guidance Center, which helps children and families function better at school, at home, and in their family relationships.

The centerpiece of the daytime fundraiser: seven opulent, theme-decorated holiday trees laden with valuable gifts. Guests are invited to purchase $5 raffle tickets to try to win the tree of their choice. The lucky guest whose raffle ticket is drawn from each tree’s individual ticket box wins it – delivered to their home. New this year, special $100 raffle tickets give guests a chance at the “cash tree,” festooned with $5,000 in greenbacks. The event’s other honoree is Nicholas Owen of Irvine, a middle school student who has made the Child Guidance Center the focus of his bar mitzvah work.

The event is an important tool for spreading the word and raising funds for Child Guidance Center (CGC), which since 1967 has provided quality outpatient mental health and child abuse-related counseling services to children and families in Orange County. CGC’s programs are particularly effective with children who struggle with challenging behaviors at home, school, or in the community. Many have experienced trauma, demonstrate poor social skills, or have impaired parent-child relationships. CGC programs also meet the unique needs of veteran and military-connected children and their families. CGC is known for its innovative, award-winning coaching approach known as Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, or PCIT. Proven to enhance parent-child relationships, improve child behavior, and empower parents to use effective consistent parenting strategies, a therapist observes the parent and child (ages 2 -10) from behind a one-way mirror, coaching the parent through a wireless earpiece on how to handle behavioral issues as they occur. CGC is the largest, most experienced PCIT Provider in Orange County and has had an ongoing training partnership with UC Davis since 2004.

At its Anaheim, Santa Ana, Fullerton, and Buena Park clinics and family resource centers, 80-plus professional CGC child behavioral health specialists and support staff work with more than 1,000 clients each week, with the goal of strengthening family relationships and empowering children and parents to reach their potential. The center’s impressive multilingual capacity includes counseling support in many languages including English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Arabic, Romanian and Farsi.

Event tickets can be purchased at Bidpal.net/htf2014.

For information on CGC please visit www.childguidancecenter.com. The Balboa Bay Club is located at 1221 West Coast Highway, Newport Beach.