While the Yellow Rose Gala was under way across Stemmons Freeway for Multiple Sclerosis, and the No Tie Dinner and Dessert was raising funds for AIDs Services of Dallas at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, Aware’s “Aware Affair” was filling the Atrium lobby of the Anatole with about 300 guests on Saturday, April 8.
As Aware vets like Kay and Jim Hammond checked out the silent auction items, honorees Myrna and Bob Schlegel were thrilled to have fellow Canadians Sandi and Jim Treliving on hand. Jim, who owns the Boston Pizza company, has also been a regular for 12 years on the CBC-TV show “Dragon’s Den,” which is the Canadian counterpart of ABC-TV’s “Shark Tank.”
Aware President Venise Stuart, decked out in a Patti Flowers ensemble, hardly made it past the check-in as she greeted guests like Dolores and Larry Barzune, Dee Holley, Debra Nelson, Harriet Kelly Gibbe, Misty Keown, Jolie and Bart Humphrey, Honorary Co-Chairs Amy and Greg Osler, Chairs Penny Reid and Thomas Nolan and Angela Fontana and Andre Szuwalski, the Center for BrainHealth’s Sandi Chapman, and Kimber Hartmann with husband Michael Hartmann.
Master of Ceremonies WFAA’s Ron Corning arrived with graying Eye Opener’s Shane Allen and Asheville, North Carolina, TV reporter Justin Hinton. Ron reported having had a full day, as only a few hours earlier he’d been emceeing the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival in Ennis.
In another part of the lobby, honorees Pam and Dan Busbee greeted guests with Christie Carter, Debbie Oates, Gregory Dunbar and Terry Van Willson, as they entered the Stemmons Ballroom for dinner, a live auction and dancing to the Georgia Bridgewater Orchestra.
Thanks to funds raised from the dinner as well as the live and silent auctions, checks will be handed over to the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas, Juliette Fowler Communities, NorthPark Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Communities and Services Foundation, The Senior Source, Texas Winds Musical Outreach, and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
For more photos, check out MySweetCharity Photo Gallery.