[photo credit: Casa Treatment Center]
The NBC4 anchor and longtime Pasadena resident will host the 29th Annual Colleen Williams Charity Golf Tournament on June 8 at San Gabriel Country Club, with all proceeds going to Casa Treatment Center, a women’s addiction recovery center that has operated from its El Molino Avenue location in Pasadena since 1967. Williams and her husband, Jon Dudley, have organized the event since the mid-1990s, channeling golfer fees, sponsorships, and auction proceeds into Casa’s residential, day treatment, outpatient, and sober living programs for women with substance use disorders.
“We are incredibly grateful for the unwavering support of community partners like NBC4 and Colleen Williams,” said Nely Meza-Andrade, executive director and CEO of Casa Treatment Center, in a statement. “For nearly 30 years, Colleen Williams and her husband, Jon Dudley, have brought the community together through this annual charity golf tournament in support of women seeking recovery.”
Casa opened in 1967 as The Pasadena Recovery House for Women — among the first recovery homes in the country to focus exclusively on women, according to the organization. Today it provides affordable, 24-hour residential treatment, day treatment, outpatient services, and sober living from its Pasadena campus, serving women 18 and older.
The tournament has grown into a full-day affair. Registration and a silent auction begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by brunch and a helicopter ball drop before the 11 a.m. shotgun start. The format is a Walt Stanley Scramble. The afternoon brings hors d’oeuvres, complimentary beer and wine, and a second round of silent auction viewing, followed by a sit-down dinner at 5:30 p.m. Williams will present golf awards, and a live auction closes the evening.
Last year’s 28th edition drew 144 players across 36 teams, according to a sponsor’s account of the event. Over the tournament’s history, the effort has raised more than $2 million for Casa’s treatment programs, according to Meza-Andrade.
Williams co-anchors NBC4 Southern California’s weekday newscasts at 4:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. and has been at the station since 1986. Her work has earned multiple Emmy Awards, Golden Mike Awards, and Associated Press Awards, and the Radio & Television News Association recognized her with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She has said her connection to Casa is personal. “Anything that has to do with women or children and the need, I get involved,” Williams told the Pasadena Outlook in 2016. “That’s what Casa did. It really did speak to me on that level.”
The 29th Annual Colleen Williams Charity Golf Tournament takes place Monday, June 8, at San Gabriel Country Club, 350 East Hermosa Drive. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m., with a shotgun start at 11:00 a.m. and a sit-down dinner at 5:30 p.m. Sponsorship opportunities begin at $3,000; dinner ticket reservations must be made by June 4. Parking information was not available at press time. For more, call 626-792-2770, ext. 202, or visit casatreatmentcenter.org.
Forty years at the anchor desk, 29 years on the golf course. For Williams, the math adds up the same way every June — one more day in the sun, and a few more women who might find their way to recovery.
