The rule of thumb on the Dallas luncheon circuit is, “You don’t want to follow Ruth Altshuler at the podium.” She’s notorious for stealing the hearts, minds and laughter in the room. Last Tuesday she may have met her match in the late Annette Strauss‘ two daughters at the “Hearts of Texas” fundraiser for the Volunteer Center of North Texas at the Dallas Omni. But more about that later.
As 680 guests gathered outside the Omni’s Trinity Room, the key players (honorees Nancy Strauss Halbreich and Janie Strauss McGarr, Luncheon Chair Jeanne Whitman Bobbitt, Honorary chair Ruth, VCNT CEO Julie Thomas, emcee Scott Murray, Rabbi David Stern, VCNT Chairman of the Board Chuck Eikenberg and Lisa Kraus, who would introduce Janie) assembled in Fair Park Room to review plans. VCNT event organizer Ashlie Williams had everything planned to the second as she looked at the agenda. The whole thing would be over by 1:07 p.m. One person commented that it was a rare occasion that ended that precisely. Ashlie assured them that speeches had been gone over and it would indeed happen.
Meanwhile the guests in the lobby were a mix of people who were fans of Nancy, Janie, their late mother Annette Strauss or volunteering. Lindalyn Adams was chatting with Pam Perella, who will be co-chairing the Celebrating Women luncheon with Pam Busbee. “It’ll be the year of the Pam’s,” Lindalyn said, adding that she had just become a great-grandmother. . . Longtime Democrat politico sage Jess Hay admitted that he had been mighty impressed with Barbara Bush‘s comments about the presidential campaign being “the worse I’ve ever seen” the day before. . . Jeremy Halbreich was in town to attend wife Nancy’s being honored. Despite the sale of his Chicago
Sun-Times, Jeremy is still commuting between Dallas and Chicago for business. . . Since leaving Hockaday, Jeanne Whitman Bobbitt has been involved in various projects besides chairing the Hearts of Texas luncheon. She admitted to being a bit amazed at the consulting assignments that she’s been tapped to handle.
Ah, soon. . . very soon, it was time for the lunch to start, as Scott’s voice could be heard over the PA system announcing a five-minute countdown for guests to be seated.
Like the recent TACA luncheon, Rabbi Stern’s words were so eloquent that most of the guests didn’t realize he was giving the invocation until they heard him say, “Amen.” Sooner or later, someone is going to figure out that he’s not doing an introduction to his invocations.
To get into the mood for a volunteer lunch, guests at each table were asked to have one of them serve the centerpiece of cupcakes to the others. No wonder people love to volunteer!
Following 20 minutes for guests to eat, event organizer Ashlie took her place in the back of the room to check off her timeline. It soon became apparent it was going to require a little adjusting. In addition to introducing Nancy, Ruth decided to address the importance of volunteering. Just as Bobby Lyle had amazed guests at the 2010 “Hearts of Texas Luncheon” reeling off the funds and jobs generated by area nonprofits, Ruth told how organizations like the Visiting Nurses Association and North Texas Food Bank are so in need of volunteers. Throughout her talk, Ruth quoted Albert Schweitzer.
Then Ruth introduced Nancy with the love of a mentor and the wink of a friend. A couple of stories included:
- “When Nancy and Jeremy were remodeling their kitchen, Nancy spied an open space saying, “I could use that as a closet.” To that Jeremy notified Nancy the space was for the refrigerator. He told Ruth, “I could have a girl in the kitchen and Nancy would not know it.”
- Knowing that her dog, Coco, was not a good airplane passenger, Nancy’s vet provided a couple of pills to give the pooch to calm her down on a trip. Instead of soothing the little beasty down, it only seemed to make her more rambunctious. On the flight home, Nancy took the remaining pill.
- Nancy is so gracious that when you eat with her, she’ll thank the waiter four times who fills her water glass. If the waiter spills red wine on her white skirt, Nancy will only thank them three times.
It was now Nancy’s turn at the podium and to take on the daunting task of following Ruth. Using passion, sincerity and the theme “How lucky am I,” she reminded many of her mother with her gracious acceptance and thanking everyone from sister Janie, father Ted Strauss, husband Jeremy and everyone present. She even reeled out a bunch of first names, which left some folks playing the game of which Jeans, Jeannes and Genes were being personally thanked.
But regardless, her acceptance speech received with a standing ovation from everyone in the room.
The bar was set with Lisa up next immediately confessing that she wished she had proceeded both Ruth and Nancy. But it soon because apparent that Lisa was just fine as she described her old friend and fellow Stanford grad. Unlike Ruth’s telling tales on Nancy, Lisa’s introduction was an intimate and admiring talk that only a very dear and longtime friend could deliver.
Like Nancy, Janie’s acceptance reminded many of Annette, who was one helped establish the Volunteer Center of North Texas. Janie told how her own daughters were carrying on the legacy that Annette had instilled in her daughters. One example that Janie revealed was when her daughters were very little and Janie was trying to coordinate arrangements for TACA. One day she walked into a room to find one of the girls on the floor with reply cards, invitations and envelopes scattered all over the floor. When asked what she was doing, the little one said, “I’m playing the TACA game.”
Once again the audience provided a second standing ovation.
Then Julie Thomas asked the guests to stay for a video and an announcement by Lyda Hill. The lights dimmed. No, change that. They went out like a black hole had engulfed the ballroom. Problem! Some guests who had hoped to sneak out found themselves practically walking into tables and each other. Quickly, Ashlie got the right person to bring up the lights just slightly. It was just enough that the video was in full bloom and it also revealed those early-bird-departing guests.
As the video finished, Lyda was at the podium and with the enthusiasm of a SMU. . . oops, no make that a Longhorn cheerleader. . . she told how the need for younger people to join the volunteer ranks was more important than ever. The way to reach them was social media and she had come up with VOLY, a social network of volunteers and non profits.
It was now 1:25 and Ashlie’s precise time line had been busted, but it was well worth it.