While the big draw for the 2021 Crystal Charity Ball’s Circle of Angels seated supper on Wednesday, October 27, was a “private viewing of Legacy Hall” at The Perot Companies’ headquarters campus in Dallas, the event also afforded a chance for guests to enjoy a get-together with their hosts for the evening, Sarah and Ross Perot Jr.
Sarah and Ross—he’s chairman of The Perot Group—were celebrating 36 years of marriage. When asked how they met, they each gave the other a look, smiled and in unison said, “A blind date.” It happened when Sarah was 16 and Ross was 19. The date was nice, but it would be four more years before they had a second meeting.
While Ross chatted with a guest about Dallas’ booming, diversifying economy—fueled partly by transplants from New York and California—Sarah laughed and said, “Like red wine, he only gets better with age.”
Almost immediately on arriving at the sleek, three-story stone, wood and glass building off Turtle Creek Boulevard, the $25,000+ CCB underwriters made a beeline for Legacy Hall, a remarkable museum of mementos, historical photos and artifacts from the business, philanthropic, military and political careers of Ross’s late father, H. Ross Perot.
Among the fascinating things people have been able to see there: a flag from the original U.S.S. Constitution, military busts, a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, a copy of the Magna Carta and a whole room devoted to Perot’s presidential campaigns. Greeting guests just to the left of the entry: a row of bronze sculptures of children.
One guest admitted they wished they could have spent the entire evening exploring the memorabilia of the late Perot.
When asked whether the museum was open to the public, Ross didn’t hesitate: “Sure. If they call and make an appointment, they can come.”
As four string musicians played softly on a landing in the stairway, Leslie Diers (in a golden Michael Faircloth) greeted the 120 or so guests at the annual dinner, which was sponsored by Deloitte. Women of Distinction Luncheon Co-Chair Mary Martha Pickens was preparing for the Girls Scouts of Northeast Texas fundraiser to be held the following Friday. … Gail Fischer was pacing back and forth just outside the museum, deep in conversation with someone on her cellphone. … Susan and John Farris were still a bit hoarse from the previous weekend’s Cattle Baron’s Ball. … Lisa and Clay Cooley were delayed slightly because they got their signals mixed up, thinking the dinner was taking place at Hall Arts.
As the chimes called the guests like Laura and Jason Downing, Sharon Friedberg, Cheryl and Richard Joyner and Pat and Charles McEvoy away from their museum-browsing, they all took their assigned seats for the supper. Just outside, through the building’s tall glass windows, they could see a number of tall trees festooned with tiny festive white lights.
Soon enough, though, they were more enthralled by their dining companions and the stellar meal prepared by The Food Company. It began with a lobster bisque, followed by a filet mignon with red wine demi-glace, mushroom ragout, garlic confit fingerling potatoes and vegetable mille feuille. The finale was an apple crostada with maple ice cream and caramel sauce.
For more photos of the evening, check out MySweetCharity Photo Gallery.