The Crowd:

The Orange County Performing Arts Center announced this week that Diana Ross Diana Ross will headline the 35th Annual Candlelight Concert on Dec. 5.

The center’s lavish holiday concert and dinner is one of the most important fundraisers of the year. Ross will be followed the next evening by two more legendary stars handling the Candlelight Encore dinner and concert. Broadway’s Barbara Cook and opera’s Deborah Voigt will hit the high notes in Segerstrom Hall on Dec. 6. They are calling it “A Ten Gallon Tribute — Celebrating a Decade of Progress.”

The 2008 OC Barons’ Ball is set for Oct. 18 under a massive tent on the grounds of South Coast Plaza. Donors, sponsors and friends will converge at Five Crowns in Corona del Mar on Sept. 18 for an evening garden reception in honor of all of the dedicated citizens raising funds for the American Cancer Society. Since 1999, sponsors of the OC Barons’ Ball have collected more than $4 million for the fight against the disease that touches so many American lives both directly and indirectly. Anne Moore and Sharon Esterley are set to chair this year’s extravaganza.

Share Our Selves will hold its 18th annual Celebrity Chef Dinner on Oct. 11 at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa. The much-loved event will feature 11 local chefs preparing incredible five-course dinners paired with appropriate wines for the crowd in support of the local charity.

The Hilton will also be the site of the upcoming SOS “Adopt A Family Festival of Trees” for the holiday season. Ashley Carlton, the SOS coordinator, said, “The Hilton has been a major supporter of SOS. We greatly value the relationship.”

For 18 years, the SOS Celebrity Chefs have not only made this evening possible, but also worked to feed locals facing hunger. Proceeds from the big dinner have helped purchase two vans, which are used by SOS year-round to pick up usable food that would be thrown out from restaurants, markets and vendors, helping to feed some 250 families each day at the SOS Costa Mesa facility.

The rock band the Guess Who fronted the summer party for the Great Park Conservancy.

The crowd of hundreds of park lovers from all over the O.C. reminisced to songs like “American Woman,” “These Eyes” and “No Sugar Tonight.”

Cocktails were served inside one of the massive former air hangars with guests browsing and bidding on the now famous Great Park Jewel auction featuring fabulous gems for fabulous ladies and gents.

Dinner was served al fresco followed by an update on Great Park progress and then the rock concert.

Supporting Ray and the Conservancy were Joni Brice, Kathy Taylor, Michelle Howowitz, Peggy Clay, Don Akin, Christine Comp, Ellen Hansen-Walker, Darcy Poss, Laurie La Plante, Kevin Hansen, Paula Cole, Tricia Wilhelm and Janet Ray.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.