Despite the need to build an ark, North Texas philanthropists steered their way to Brook Hollow on Wednesday, October 17, for Crystal Charity Ball’s Circle of Angels seated supper sponsored by Deloitte. This group is considered the top-most tier of the CCB donors, providing $25,000 or more to benefit this year’s Dallas children’s nonprofits including After-School All-Stars North Texas, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas, Buckner Children and Family Services, Friends of the Dallas Public Library, Mosaic Family Services, Nexus Recovery Center, Ronald McDonald House of Dallas and The Crystal Charity Ball Endowment Fund.
Once inside, guests like Aileen and Jack Pratt, Marilyn Augur with daughter Margaret Hancock and her husband Barry Hancock, Beth and Chuck Thoele, Lauryn Gayle and Tom White, Mary Catherine and Don Huffines, Robyn ad Don Conlon, Jacqueline Fojtasek with Ross Ameringer, Christie Carter with Hudson Weischel, Tucker Enthoven with her mom Julie Ford, Deloitte’s Jason Downing with wife/CCB member Laura Downing, found the newly refreshed ballroom divided into an elegant setting. On the left was the bar and seating, with greenery suspended from the ceiling insets. In the center of the room was a white floral arrangement that dominated a round table with small envelopes for guests to learn their seating assignments.
There were only three long tables extending from the center of the room to the far right end of the ballroom. In the center of the rows were arrangements of white flowers and candles. In keeping with 2018 CCB Chair Claire Emanuelson’s “A Celebration of Nouvelle-Orléans” theme, the dinner menu was New Orleans cuisine at its finest, including Commander Salad (Mesclun greens, crumbled bacon, grated parmesan cheese, egg and Commander’s dressing) and an entree including a petite filet of beef with bordelaise sauce, pan seared red snapper with chive beurre blanc and haricot verts and caramelized pearl onions. Complementing the supper were Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay (2014) and Hanzel Sebella Pinot Noir (2016). For dessert, it was a soufflé duet of Grand Marnier with crème anglaise and chocolate with fresh whipped cream.
As Party Chair Lisa Cooley greeted the nearly 120 guests, Claire and husband Dwight Emanuelson didn’t let on that they were facing two weeks of packing. Seems their two-lot home in old Highland Park had sold, with the new owners eager to take possession. Oh, well, Claire had nothing going on, except putting on the 2018 CCB Ball on Saturday, December 1, at the Hilton Anatole.
Snapshots: Annette Simmons and Jerry Fronterhouse tableside with Gene Jones and across the way from Nancy Dedman and Brady Kelly…Cristina and Chris Durovich recalling how Children’s first involvement with CCB was due to past Children’s Foundation Chair Pete Kline… Lee Bailey was back from London and getting ready to move out of her home so that its hardwood floors could be refinished. Her date for the night was Doris Jacobs… Michal and Loyd Powell in the final stages for their daughter’s destination wedding. The timing is pulling Michal in two directions. Just days before the Saturday, October 27, wedding, she’s co-chairing the 2018 Celebration Women fundraiser for Baylor Health Care System Foundation on Thursday, October 25, with Pat McEvoy… Aimee Baillargeon Griffiths and Paul Griffiths were hardly there. Seems the twosome had decided that there needed to be reduction in their lives. Results: Aimee had lost 50 pounds. and Paul had dropped a whopping 153 pounds. Another family drop had been Aimee’s dad, Bob Baillargeon, who peeled off 50 pounds himself. In other words, Aimee, Paul and Bob had lost more than 250 pounds. BTW, Aimee was just back from Warsaw as part of her duties as head of the MoneyGram Foundation. Her next travel for MoneyGram will take her to the Orient.
Speaking of travels, Mary Martha and John Pickens were back from Iceland. John recalled how as they were on their way to see the Northern Lights, he realized that his Canon DSLR needed to be adjusted. Without hesitation, he turned to YouTube for a quick lesson or two.
For more looks of the evening, check out MySweetCharity Photo Gallery!