If Dallas CASA President/CEO Kathleen LaValle looked giddy on Thursday, July 25, at the 2019 Parade of Playhouses’ closing party in NorthPark’s Design Within Reach, there were a couple of reasons why.
First, the 24th annual fundraiser for Dallas CASA was having incredible results. Thanks to KDC’s coming on board as the grand marshal and Crest Cadillac/Crest Infiinit/Crest Volvo staying on board as the presenting sponsor, many of the playhouse builders and sponsors had gone great guns in promoting their mini-mansions.
As the crowd grew to capacity, including Champion of Children’s Award Dinner/Our Children’s Council President Hannah May, board member Dave Kroencke and Dallas CASA-ers Lynn Brooks and Becca Leonard, talk grew that one local commercial builder had called in wondering why they hadn’t been included. They soon learned that it wasn’t an invitation-only build-athon. All had volunteered their time, talent and materials resulting 17 masterpieces.
And then there was chatter about which houses were getting the most attention — She Shed, Lemonade House, Crest Camper? Actually, one and all had its own following. Why, word had it that one fan has asked outright if they could just bypass the raffle process that would end the following Sunday and buy their house of choice. As much as the Dallas CASA organizers were flattered by the request, it just wasn’t fair to those who had already entered the raffle for the house in question.
But back to Kathleen and her second reason for smiles. All dolled up, she was a wee bit embarrassed to report that she and daughter Stephanie LaValle had had a makeup rehearsal for Stephanie’s September 28th wedding.
With false eyelashes and a new hairdo, Kathleen told how the makeup artist had reviewed her new look as “it’s so wonderfully natural.” Kathleen laughed, “Gee, I wonder what all glammed up would look like?”
Didn’t matter. Husband Mike LaValle totally approved of his two girls, who were wearing matching leopard print jumpsuits. Kathleen admitted, “We haven’t dressed alike since Stephanie was ten.”
In addition to Design Within Reach furnishings, there were plenty of refreshments for the crowd. While longtime supporter Duni Borge provided samples of her jarcakes, a table of goodies from Allice Hall across the way included Thai Meatballs. At the far end of the room, the bottles of wine stood ready on a table to be pulled up for a $25 or $50 donation. Over on another table, the vino star of the night — a three-figure Vega-Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial -— was displayed in a see-through box and was ready to go home as the pick of the litre.