Wednesday night the valets were advised to expect a crowd of 150 for the Partners Card‘s Million Dollar Soiree at Blue Print on Fairmount. That estimate seemed to be off by about 100. The place was so jammed that it was body wedging time through the first floor. What? You think we’re exaggerating? It made Holly Golightly’s party seem downright sparse.
But unlike Holly’s anything-goes-gathering, this was strictly charming and filled with gorgeous types. Rightly so, since most of the past chairs and partners card presidents were on hand. Just trying to get them together for a group photo was as challenging as shooting an SMU sorority photo. Finally it was decided to pose the gals on the Blue Print stairs. Even then it required a couple of shots (pictured).
The reason for the event was to celebrate this year’s Family Place‘s Partners Card program hitting the million-dollar mark. Now, sit down and count on your fingers. If each Partners Card is $60, how many Partners Cards does it take to hit that goal? OK, so we had to use a calculator to learn 16,666.66 cards.
The duo who made this happen were the 2010 chairs Maggie Cooke Kipp and Molly Nolan (pictured right with Maggie Cooke Kipp). It was easy to spot them because they were wearing “platinum” blouses and the biggest smiles in honor of the occasion. Actually, they didn’t raise one million. Nope, they raised $1,003,080. And you know every penny counts when it comes to supporting The Family Place.
TFP Development Director Melissa Sherrill admitted that it “took a lot of marketing” to reach the $1M goal. “We (Americans/Dallasites) were ready to shop this year,” she added.
TFP Executive Director Paige Flink (pictured) explained that the economic downturn in recent years has created a double-trouble situation — an even greater need for services and fewer coffers to help provide for those needs. That makes the accomplishment of the million dollar plus even more amazing.
Luckily, many of those supporting the Partners Card were present including Bank of Texas’ Bob White (pictured), who announced a belated Christmas gift.
“It’s our pleasure to be involved. . . you all do the work, we just come along aferward and put our logo on things. . . It’s not easy to raise one million dollars especially in 2010. That happened because you had people for 18 or 19 years before faithfully doing the work, year after year. So,” Bob continued, “I’m honored to announce tonight that we are committing to this partnership again in 2011!”
Talk about a man who knows how to be popular at a party! And talk about a party. Remember it was a nose-to-nose gathering. What were they talking about?
- Sue John and Susan Wilson (pictured left with Sue John) were chatting about Ron Chapman‘s talk at the Dallas Woman’s Club earlier in the day. First thing he told the assembled group was Suzie (Humphreys) is doing great — living in the Hill Country and traveling through the world giving talks. The man still knows what women want to hear.
- Partners Card Board Member Jennifer Lott was wearing a neat cocktail dress that fiancé Chris Blackwell picked out as a Christmas gift. They’re planning on a September wedding in Maui with a honeymoon in Bora Bora.
- Family Place volunteer Lisa Mareuglio was in a side room comparing notes with Dallas Morning News advertising associate Arnette Harris (pictured right with Lisa Mareuglio).
- Past Chair Brynn Bagot Allday was updating friends on the flap earlier in the day about husband Taylor‘s Green Room rumors. Seems there was a question about the restaurant/bar’s being open or closed. According to Brynn, Taylor had decided that the end of the year was a good time to temporarily close the place, work on the menu and fix some of the things. She thought it was scheduled to reopen on the 18th, but hadn’t gotten the confirmation from Taylor.
- With shocked expressions, Jeanne Marie Clossey and David Nichols (pictured right with Jeanne Marie Clossey) were caught off guard to learn that Bill Lively had been named president/CEO of the Dallas Symphony earlier in the day. Jeanne Marie had chaired the Performing Arts Center grand opening, which Bill had spearheaded. When asked if she would come out of retirement to help Bill raise $150-million in the next five years, she raised her sky-blue eyes to the ceiling and said, “No, no, no!” with David repeating, “No, no, no!” But then someone nearby added, “You know promises are made to be broken.”
- Andrea Weber was checking out items in a less crowded side room with Teffy Jacobs. Did you know that Andrea is starting a fashion blog?
- Jennifer Buxton was in Hue stockings and Italian shoes she bought in London and JB Hayes was wearing Manolo Blahnik from Barneys with Spanx leggings. When the twosome was asked who made the ultimate, very best opaque stockings, a chorus of DKNY rang out.
And the celebration continued past the 8 o’clock bye-bye time, but not to worry. They’ve already started working on next year’s Partners Card.
Katy says
Way to go Molly and Maggie!