There are rare occasions when Mother Nature takes heart and blesses Dallas with moments of gloriously fabulous weather. Wednesday, April 9, was such a day. Perhaps the old girl was trying to make up for the previous weekend’s nasty weather. Hello, Final Four weekend!
Taking full advantage of the day were the following events:
Wednesday’s Child Luncheon
Friends of Wednesday’s Child Luncheon Chair Cachet Weinberg actually was worried that the day’s perfection of blue skies and user-friendly temperatures was going to hurt the luncheon attendance. What if folks decided to enjoy the outdoors as opposed to the fundraiser at Union Station?
How wrong she was!
After all, there were two big reasons to celebrate — the 30th anniversary of the Friends of Wednesday’s Child program and recently retired WFAA anchor Gloria Campos, who has been the on-air face of the program. There was no way not to attend the event, if you had even a hint of a connection with the program that provides remarkable opportunities for North Texas foster children.
As guests like Adam McGill and Nancy Hunt arrived, other VIP types like Honorary Chair Libby Hunt, her husband David, her folks Sharon and Mike McCullough, Nancy Carter and siblings Caroline Rose Hunt and Herbert Hunt had already gathered in the Frisco Room. Gloria was having a quiet conversation with Wednesday’s Child grad Ke’onte Cook.
Clad in a beige silk suit, Gloria laughed holding a flute of champagne that now that she was retired, she could actually have a glass of the bubbly at lunch.
The luncheon in the Great Hall revealed a story about Cachet that many didn’t realize. In a video presentation, it was learned that she is “from an abusive home, emotional and physical. She was taken out of the house when she was 8 and put in various foster homes. Finally when she was 15, she was adopted. Cachet said she learned to make something of her life and use it to give back to others. That’s what she’s doing now.”
Speaker Darlene Ellison‘s presentation was also powerful. She was “divorced and one day drove by her ex-husband’s house and saw police cars everywhere. The FBI talked with her and told her that her ex was one of the main organizers of a group of men that ‘loved’ boys and had been involved in that group since before they were married. He went to federal prison. The message she gave was about how she had to set the example of how to cope for her children to survive emotionally and learn how to cope with this news and circumstance themselves.”
She summed it up: “My favorite saying is, ‘She saw the light at the end of the tunnel and then she became that light for others.’ Everyone in this room has an opportunity to be that light. Everyone in this room has the opportunity to be the light and help these children see the light.”
Crystal Charity Ball New Members Luncheon
Unlike typical fraternity harrassing pledges, the Crystal Charity Ball gals celebrate their newbies with style and grace. For the class of 2014 (Tiffany Divis, Gail Fischer, Amy Hegi, Leigh Anne Haugh, Angela Nash, Mary Martha Pickens and Lauryn Gayle White), it was lunch at the Carolina Herrera salon in Highland Park Village.
The question pre-event: How were you gonna fit all the newbies and vets for a meal and fashion show in the slender salon?
Really!
Heck, this was a Carolina Herrera production. Down the main aisle was an eon long white-clothed table with vases of perfect white roses positioned down the center.
But the chairs were placed facing away from the table. Oh, on second thought, how smart! It allowed the CCB guests to watch a CH fashion show. No wonder Herrera is the name repeated time and time again at galas and on society pages.
But before the fashions commenced, it was necessary to call the membership to order. The chatter was so great that it was hard to imagine how to get the guests’ attention. No chimes nor clinking glassware was going to do the job. Showing true leadership with a wink attitude, 2014 CCB Chair Robyn Conlon literally dragged Melissa Macatee midway in the salon and said, “Whistle.” The diminutive Melissa, who had looked a bit bewildered up to this point, followed the boss’s orders.
Now, if you’ve ever experienced a Melissa Macatee whistle, your hearing has never been the same. Just imagine what the New York-based Herrera ladies, who were in attendance, reported back to headquarters about how a call-to-order is achieved. This ain’t the Big Apple. It’s the Big D.
Immediately the local ladies took their seats, while the New Yorkers appeared ready to see cattle stampede outside.
After Robyn and 2015 CCB Chair Michal Powell welcomed the group, the new CCB members were formally introduced by their “sponsors.” It was obvious that the 2014 class was pretty stellar. Alas, Amy Hegi was tagged forever as “Precious” thanks to Elizabeth Gambrell’s description.
Then it was time for the show. With fur trim, wools, Herrera hostess gowns and trains leading the parade of models on the catwalk, even the accessories earned comments and second looks. Example: the dangling earrings that looked like someone had strung up red fuzzy caterpillars.
Just moments after the show, the ladies turned their chairs 180 degrees, had lunch from Gill and ramped up the chatter level again.
But the lunch and talk was brief because the ladies had appointments to keep. Alas, the breezy day got to one adorable cutie in a short silk dress. Just as she was within a yard of her SUV, she got sideswiped by a gust of wind. Up went her skirt all the way reminding some of Marilyn Monroe’s legendary scene. Don’t bother asking who she was. We ain’t into namedropping.
Cocktails & Flautas
By the evening the winds had toned down, resulting in absolute perfection for Elizabeth Robertson’s “Cocktails & Flautas” party honoring Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary. The couple, who have Jack Geary Contemporary in New York City, were in town for the Dallas Art Fair.
Jack and Dolly had visited the Dallas and Fort Worth art scene (the Nasher, DMA, etc.) during the previous days and said the Art Fair had grown, becoming both very eclectic and international. The Elizabeth-Geary connection was made 35 years ago when Elizabeth’s son Searcy Ferguson met Jack in Southampton.
Jack admitted that on his wish list is to add a Dallas contemporary artist to his collection of clients like Michael Sagato, Andy Hall, Ceyda Aykan, Vadis Turner, Federico Cattacneo and Ayse Wilson.
Speaking of collections and pieces of art, Elizabeth’s home was spectacular, both inside and out. Only the day before, the rains had put in jeopardy the possibility of the outdoors entertaining around the new outdoor fireplace. But evidently Lady Elizabeth has connections with Mother Nature, and everything fell into place just hours before the guests like Margaret McDermott, Kelli and Jerry Ford and Joanne Stroud arrived.
Looking at the fabulous gardens, one couldn’t help but think they had been transported to Southampton. Inside the exquisite blending of textures, magnificent colors and collectibles appeared to be straight out of “Architectural Digest.”
While art power couple Allison V. Smith and Barry Whistler were chatting with Dolly, and Elizabeth’s daughter-in-law Hannah Ferguson was taking compliments about her jewelry designs that can be found at Korshak, flautas were indeed being made in the kitchen, and out on the street Nathan Burke had his oven in overdrive making Superfly Pies. Parked just a couple of cars away from the oven was Elizabeth’s show-stopping vintage Mercedes convertible with the license plate reading: “SBetty”. Too bad she couldn’t have had the plate done in Elizabethan Blue.