He may be young and the son of Katherine and Key Coker, but Key Coker Jr. was guilty of stealing Tuesday. More about that later.
The 2012 Equest Auxiliary Luncheon was the first official get-together following Saturday’s Cattle Baron’s Gala at Southfork. Boots had been dropped off at Deno’s, jeans had gone through spin dry a couple of times and sparkling outfits had found recovery at dry cleaners.
It was now time to get back to the work of fundraising. Co-chairs/mother-daughter Prissy Gravely and Cara French, all decked out in Bill Noble jewels, were delighted with a sell-out event at Brook Hollow Golf Club.
However, it couldn’t be helped that a line of eight seats went unfulfilled at the show and a table was empty at the follow-up luncheon. Perhaps those MIA guests got their dates mixed up or forgot to turn them back in for the fundraisers to use.
But other guests didn’t care or really notice. After all, when one is greeted by a pair of horses in the front lawn of Brook Hollow and a miniature pony at the doorway, who gives a hoot about those who couldn’t make it.
Also making a great first impression was Lezlie Noble and her gals pals in Equest white riding breeches, dressage jackets, white show shirts and boots. Any place else they might have raised an eyebrow, but here they were the best dressed of the crowd.
When the show started Prissy and Cara asked Honorary Chairs Helen McGraw, Lee McGraw Dansby, Monica McGraw and Tara McGraw to stand. The McGraw ladies graciously stood for the acknowledgment and quickly sat down. Then it was announced that a small token of appreciation would be presented to Helen. At that point a handsome male model in riding attire appeared on stage with a Tiffany blue box in hand. He walked the runway and walked and walked right past Helen. Edging toward the end of the catwalk, the expression on his face betrayed his trying to figure out which of the hundreds was to receive the gift. At that point Prissy fessed up. Seems she had told the young fellow that Helen would be standing. Helen then immediately stood up and in accepting the gift asked if she could keep the presenter as well.
Equest Women’s Auxiliary Founder Louise Griffeth was next up and gave a very personal introduction for her lifelong friend Karen Shuttee, who received the 2012 Equest Award for Community Service.
It was now time for the fashion show featuring clothes from Escada, Trina Turk, Lela Rose, Jimmy Choo, Billy Reid, Stella McCartney Kids, Anne Fontaine, Tory Burch and Carolina Herrera. It was during the Stella McCartney presentation, when children of the Equest supporters modeled the outfits, that Key rose to the ranks of thievery. All the munchkins were adorable, but it was Key who deliciously worked the catwalk with an air of mischief and charm. His mother Katherine sat in the audience astonished. During the earlier rehearsal, he had just walked on stage like all the other children. Now, she saw her son handling the crowd like Justin Bieber and the women of all ages loved it.
Yes, the event was adorable kids, adoring parents like Ray Washburne leaning against the wall to see his daughters in the show, beautiful clothes from HP Village and a delicious lunch (mixed green salad with paillard chicken breast, sliced avocado, roasted pumpkin seeds, apricots and dried cherries, Dijon shallot vinaigrette and orange muffin followed by warm chocolate pudding cake with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce).
But the reality of the fundraising efforts sank in just before the fashion show took place when Equest Director of Development Linda Kordek Milton revealed news about 21-year-old Jonathan Wentz, who had been born with cerebral palsy and been a beneficiary of the Equest program resulting in his participating in the London Paralympics. She had just learned that Jonathan had suddenly died Sunday. While this news was greeted with shock and sadness, it also emphasized how Equest made such a dramatic difference in a youngster’s life.
yvonne says
Key Coker, Jr.. adorable.. what a fun fun luncheon.. The Gravely/French women.. doing good yet again.. kudos..
Jan Strimple says
Jeanne .. thank you for this lovely coverage! We had a great day at Brook Hollow that continued back at Highland Park Village, as the above mentioned stores all participated in a shop and stroll that added additional dollars to Equest’s programs. Was pretty much a perfect day: a great show, a lovely lunch, good companionship, and a reminder of how fortunate we are to be able to offer a hand to others along the way. This Women’s Auxililary does some beautiful work and Prissy and Cara provided perfect leadership for the luncheon!