It was just a year ago that Todd Wagner had an over-the-top celebration at Cowboys Stadium for hundreds of his friends. While many were attracted to an evening of being entertained by ZZ Top and palling around with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dan Rather, Troy Aikman and Nicholas Sparks, Todd had a message that he wanted to get across — “I view that we are at a crossroads in this country” regarding the youth.
To emphasize his point, he had representatives from After-School All-Stars, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and KIPP. It made a powerful impact on the guests.
One result was the creation of the After-School All-Star of North Texas. That’s well and good, but even star-supported programs need good, old-fashioned funding. So, on Thursday, May 30, Anne and Steve Stodghill opened their estate for 100 to fundraise for Camp US, a week-long sleep-away camp at Paul Quinn College.
Guest of honor was former TCU/NFL running back LaDainian “LT” Tomlinson, who was a little late in arriving. But didn’t matter. The Stodghill mansion is a treasure chest of collectibles. No matter how many times you visit the home, you discover a new OMG item. For instance, the Waterloo chess set that Anne and Steve got in Bellinzona on their honeymoon 12 years ago.
Course, it didn’t hurt that the crowd was pretty darn interesting, too. The Dallas Film Society’s Lee Papert and James Faust reported that Art of the Film was on schedule for a November date but the name of the headliner was still under wraps. . . ASAS board member/Highland Park Village marketing maven Kersten Rettig had just finalized plans for a fall fashion show with a major non-profit. It will be held in conjunction with the release of the fall issue of the “HPV Magazine.” You’ll have to wait to learn what group is going to be the beneficiary. Kersten and her husband Clark Knippers had also just celebrated their birthdays (hers on May 25 and his on May 28). . . Another summer tease was the almost reveal of who would be chairing the New Friends New Life’s spring fundraiser luncheon. That’s soon to come. . . Peter Foster was brushing up on his presentation plans with daughter Taylor being one of the Las Fiesta de las Seis Banderas duchesses. When asked if Taylor would be a Dallas Symphony Orchestra League deb like her sister Katie, he shook his head. Seems the idea of relearning how to waltz was too daunting. But who knows? . . . ASAS President/CEO Ben Paul was in from the Los Angeles headquarters and explaining that the North Texas chapter was launched by MetroPCS last year. Because things like art/music/drama/athletics were cut due to shrinking budgets, ASAS was concentrating on those areas in 15 cities serving 92,000 students in nearly 400 schools. The budget of $30M is provided via 1/3 private, 1/3 local-government and 1/3 federal-government funds.
When the key players took their places on the winding staircase in the entry hall, the program was on. ASAS North Texas Chair Phil Terry, who had been senior VP for MetroPCS marketing until May 1, reported that MetroPCS had signed a three-year, $1M commitment with ASAS, adding, “This is a coming-out party.”
Lynn McBee made the ask for contributions saying they had a “great opportunity to really change lives.” Camp US will be July 22-26 and it “takes $500 to sponsor one child.” She then explained how this was a great opportunity for kids so see “what college is like.” Lynn added that each $500 donation would qualify the donor to a raffle drawing of items provided by ASAS board members.
Then LT told of his years at TCU, San Diego with the Chargers and New York with the Jets. Since retiring from football, he is a partner with the ASAS. He recalled his childhood when his mother was working two or three jobs and his father was in-and-out of his life. Since there was no ASAS program, his mother sent him to a similar program resulting in the “best decision his mother ever made.” The result? LT was the “first of my family to go to college.”