It’s hard to imagine that the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas has been around for 51 years. Why, when it was started a young comedienne name Joan Rivers made her debut on the “Tonight Show,” the Dallas Cowboys were playing football in the Cotton Bowl and Dallas-based Braniff introduced a new ad campaign called “End of the Plain Plane,” complete with Emilio Pucci-designed uniforms for the flight crews.
Today Joan is doing her shtick for the angels, professional football is no longer played on the Cotton Bowl turf and Braniff’s herd of unplain planes flew their last flights ages ago. Still, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Dallas is thriving with more than 7,500 Club members at 31 sites through the Metroplex.
But to support the programs “to enable all young people, especially those who need the most help, to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens,” funding is required. In addition to donations and grants, one vital source has been the Billiard Ball. In more than a decade the gala has provided more than $2.5M by honoring area leaders like Ruth Altshuler, Norman Brinker, Linda Pitts Custard, Caren Prothro, Dee and Charles Wyly, Henry S. Miller Jr., Gay and Bill Solomon, Bobby Lyle, Barbara and Steven Durham and Lee Ann and Alan White.
This year’s event on Saturday, November 12, at the Hilton Anatole will honor Helen and Clint Murchison thanks to Billiard Ball Co-Chairs Laura and Dennis Moon. There will be dinner, dancing, auctions and, of course, billiards. And the theme is “Solids And Stripes!”
While table sponsorships starting at $3,000 are available, individual tickets will be limited. However, if you get to it, you might be one of the lucky ones.
* Photo provided by Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas