When store publicist KJ Murphy warned Crawford Brock that he was about to host some horses inside his specialty emporium, the Stanley Korshak owner did a double take. “Are you kidding?!” Crawford asked. Turns out, she wasn’t. And the horses—actually, two miniatures named Cisco and Dare—turned out to be extremely well-mannered inside the swank boutique. But, what else would you expect from the two goodwill ambassadors for Equest, the equine-assisted-therapy nonprofit? After all, instead of hors d’oeuvres, they had buckets of hay for munching.
The occasion for all the horsing around was Equest’s 2019 Gala kickoff party, held at Korshak on Wednesday, January 30. The gathering attracted about 100 guests, including the likes of Carol Seay, Cara French with her mom Prissy Gravely, Abby and Will Armstrong, Lili Kellogg, Daniel Mofor, Rob Bertino and Tricia Sims. While DJ Blake Ward kept the music lively, party-goers including Annie and Teal Griffeth posed for pix with Cisco and Dare, who were both outfitted by Equest wrangler (aka Operations Coordinator) Joan Cutler in costumes reminiscent of “Arabian Nights” (think Aladdin and Ali Baba).
Which made sense, guests learned soon enough, because Equest’s upcoming, 38th annual fundraiser will be called the 2019 Arabian Nights Gala. The bash on Saturday, March 23, at Sixty Five Hundred will include a cocktail party, a seated dinner, live and silent auctions, DJ Lucy Wrubel, and an after-dinner performance by the Taylor Pace Orchestra.
While co-chairs are Annie and Teal—he’s the son of Equest Women’s Auxiliary founder Louise Griffeth— Cindy Thomas and Bert Headden will serve as honorary co-chairs. The costume-friendly gala will also feature Equest’s first-ever Citation Award—it’s going to Connie and Denny Carreker—for excellence in supporting Equest. The award is named after the legendary Citation, the first racehorse to win $1 million.
Funds raised from the evening will support a variety of Equest’s equine-therapy programs. Among them: Hooves for Heroes, which helps the military and first responders and their families.