The sky was blue without a cloud in the sky on Tuesday, March 1. While primary voting was ending, guests were gathering at Michal and Lloyd Powell’s too-comfy home. The occasion was the Callier Cares Luncheon patron party. Thanks to the perfect weather, the terrace with the outdoor bar was as inviting as the Powell dining room with a table set with sliders, stuffed tomatoes, mini-ice cream cones and a centerpiece from Garden Gate.
On the terrace, Powell son Caleb Powell joined his parents as they talked with Callier Cares Honoree Stuart Bumpas, who explained that wife Diane Bumpas was on her way. No sooner had he said that than Diane arrived at the doorway.
Other arrivals who appeared right on time were Ruth and Ken Altshuler, who found themselves merrily on the couch talking to Pat Harloe and Lynn McBee.
But eventually the crowd, including University of Texas at Dallas Provost Dr. Hobson Wildenthal, Interim President of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences Dr. James Bartlett, Carol and Don Glendenning and Cece Smith and Ford Lacy, gathered to hear about plans for the upcoming Callier Cares Luncheon at Brook Hollow on Tuesday, April 19.
Callier Center Foundation President John Stuart did the official welcome. thanking Michal and Lloyd for hosting the party, and then introduced Luncheon Chair Angie Kadesky.
As Angie pointed out, it was “especially meaningful” to have Michael and Lloyd serve as the honorary chairs, since Michal chaired the 2015 Crystal Charity Ball and Callier was one of its beneficiaries.
On a personal note, Angie told how her personal connection with the Center was due to one of her children benefiting from its services.
She thanked her committee and reported that tickets were moving briskly before turning the program over to Callier Center Executive Director Dr. Tom Campbell, who acknowledged Ruth and Ken’s establishing the Callier Care Fund that benefits “children and adults who would otherwise be unable to afford treatment to overcome speech, language and hearing disorders.”
Seamlessly, he went on to explain how fitting it was that Stuart Bumpas would receive the Ruth and Ken Altshuler Callier Care Award, which is annually presented to “an individual or group who has contributed significantly to advancing care of patients with communication disorder.”
For the past 30 years, “Stuart has influenced and contributed to the Callier Center’s growth through his service on the board of trustees of the Foundation for the Callier Center.”
After reminding guests of Callier’s unique, three-part mission — treatment, training and research — he told of future projects that would help the mission including the the new autism center that opened in May, the Crystal Charity Ball’s providing funds to provide hearing aids and services to children of poverty, and the groundbreaking of the new 50,000-square-foot Callier Richardson Expansion with its state-of-the-art clinic and training facility scheduled to open in the fall.
With ticket sales moving along, Tom broke the news that the luncheon speaker would be Highland Park honors graduate/University of North Texas freshman Bailey Turfitt, who “will share the challenges she faced and the victories she celebrated growing up with severe hearing impairment.”