Like Mahjong games and quilting bees, letter signings are ripe for the exchange of news among the participants. Recently one such example was the Foundation for the Callier Center’s Callier Cares Luncheon signing letters to underwriters about the Callier Center for Communication Disorders that is scheduled for Monday, April 17, at the Dallas Country Club.
The signing took place at the Crestpark with early arrivals including Luncheon Chair Kim Hext and Honorary Co-Chair Rosemarie Ewton, who had gotten to know about Callier through her belonging to the Northwood Woman’s Club.
When one person asked if it was part of the “country club,” Rosemarie admitted that people often confused Northwood Woman’s Club (NWC) with Northwood Club. No, they were not associated except for the vicinity. She told how the Woman’s Club had been started by less than a dozen women in the Northwood Hills area of North Dallas. Over the years, thanks to fundraisers and volunteering, the 300+ members have donated more than $6M to area charities.
As it turns out when NWC turned 50, it designated Callier Center for Communication Disorders as its single beneficiary that year and established a $500K permanent endowment to support the delivery of care to patients of the Callier Center whose families have limited financial resources.
In addition to Rosemarie and her husband Dr. Maynard Ewton Jr. serving as honorary co-chairs of the luncheon, the Moody Foundation will be the recipient of the Ruth and Ken Altshuler Callier Care Award for its being “instrumental in growing Callier’s pediatric programs including the Innovation Hub for Pediatric Care and advancing Alternative and Augmentative Communication for children without verbal speech.”
But the chatting wasn’t just about the Callier connection. Kim reported that her son Preston Hext was engaged to blonde Aussie Claudia Lode. Thanks to a helpful friend, Kim had already arranged for the wedding to take place in a year at the Nasher Sculpture Center. Just as she was providing more details, her husband Greg Hext texted her that her father, who lives in Oklahoma, had fallen and was being taken to the ER.
Still another one juggling responsibilities was Callier Foundation President Beth Thoele, who had just flown in from Indiana, where she had been caring for her father. Before arriving for the letter signing, Beth had met with the new Crystal Charity Ball members as part of her role as new member liaison. After the letters were signed and on the way to the post office, she was hopping a plane back to Indiana.
However, the show-stopper of the day was Rosie, Callier Foundation VP Pam Busbee’s 18-month-old Shih Tzu that has logged more air miles than some flight attendants, thanks to Pam’s busy itinerary.
In the meantime, sponsorships and tickets for the Callier Cares Luncheon are available here.
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