Fresh out of the gate for the season’s fundraising was the Crystal Charity Ball Fashion Show & Luncheon Platinum Circle Patrons Tuesday night. This crop of beautiful people is the top tier of donors for the September 12th Crystal Charity Ball Fashion Show & Luncheon. Not only did they make substantial financial contributions to the CCB, they got their checks in early. . . way early. According to CCB Chair Caren Kline, the show sold out within three weeks. What can you expect when the headlining collection for the Neiman Marcus-produced show will be Alexander McQueen?
And typical of NM, CCB and McQ, the show is going to be unique. But that’s a story for next week.
Tuesday night CCB and Comerica hosted a seated dinner at Abacus with a cocktail party filled to capacity. Vinnie Reuben and Emilynn Wilson had their hands full greeting guests and distributing table assignments.
Almost from the beginning, the lounge area was so crowded. How crowded? Well, nine of the 10 Best Dressed (Tricia Besing, Mary Clare Finney, DeeDee Lee, Patty Leyendecker, Lynn McBee, Francie Moody-Dahlberg, Pam Perella, Aileen Pratt and Christi Urschel) immediately assembled in the private dining room for a group photos with Hall of Fame Honoree Lisa Troutt, Caren, Luncheon Chair Claire Emanuelson and Comerica’s Ralph Babb.
After the photos were taken, the ladies found that, even with their slender figures, they had trouble getting to their husbands through the crowd including Connie and Denny Carreker, Pat and Charles McEvoy, Barbara and Don Daseke, Laree Hulshoff and Ben Fischer, Jennie and Stuart Reeves, Lucy and Steve Wrubel, Debbie and Nickey Oates, Heather and Todd Furniss, Doris and Jack Jacobs, Tanya Roberts and Jacque Wynne.
Oh, in case you’re wondering where the 10th BD was, Nancy Carlson was on her way back from London.
Speaking of the other side of the pond, DeeDee and bow-tied husband Jim Lee went to Europe twice this summer, but DeeDee admitted that they fell in love with Vienna. Why? Because it reminded her of London, only not as expensive.
On the other hand, Ralph was just back from Detroit and reported that things were a lot better there than the media portrayed. It seems that the auto industry is recovering and people are starting to buy houses.
2014 CCB Chair Robyn Conlon was solo. Husband Don was still recovering from shoulder surgery. Thanks to stellar nursing duties, Robyn was rewarded with new earrings that she wore for the occasion.
Erin Mathews in a “summery Chanel” reported that son Travis Mathews, in addition to his duties with Allie Beth Allman, was in SMU’s Executive MBA program. Translation: She doesn’t expect to see him much. Erin’s fav date Russ Davis was wearing his Charvet blue tie with rust-colored pattern that he had worn to Travis’s wedding earlier this year to Brittany Jones, Erin’s former assistant. How did Russ pick that tie? The colors matched Erin’s mother-of-the-bridegroom dress.
And speaking of fashion and Neiman’s, NM Downtown General Manager/VP Jeff Byron looked right at home despite only have arrived in Dallas six months ago. When asked about the CCB Fashion Show & Luncheon, he admitted that he was looking forward to it because it’s legendary.
In addition to Jeff and NM NorthPark’s GM/VP Macolm Reuben, NM’s newest hire was part of the festivities. He’s Kevin Hurst, who had just completed his first day on the job as director of corporate giving for NM. Originally from Houston, Kevin has most recently worked in Chicago, where he raised money for nonprofits after working for years for JPMorgan Chase.
As guests made their way to their tables, diminutive Caren tried to get them to settle down, but the chatter was overwhelming. Caren finally got their attention and told the group, “Someone told me, you are way too small to be telling me what to do. I may be small, but we got you seated.”
After recognizing many people scattered throughout the restaurant, Caren handed the mic over to Ralph, who made his remarks short and sweet. Then Caren presented the nine BD’s and Lisa and announced dinner was served.
Only mishap of the evening was when one of the guests seemed a bit under the weather in the restroom. Upon discovering the guest’s situation, the Abacus staff immediately hopped into place and had paramedics on the scene. Now, don’t go thinking it was something dramatic. All ended well with the paramedics leaving without the guest and hardly anyone taking notice of the situation. The Abacus staff is just very careful when it comes to their guests’ well-being.
As it was, everyone headed safely home by 10 p.m. It was a school night, after all.