On the heels of last week’s announcement of Myrshem George‘s succeeding Equest CEO Lili Kellogg, Equest’s 2023 Blue Ribbon Gala Co-Chairs Lindsay Ballotta and Jenny Merkle and Honorary Co-Chairs Kristina and Phil Whitcomb have just announced that they’ve locked down all types of developments.
First of all, Pendery’s is returning as the presenting sponsor of the partying at Texas Horse Park on Saturday, June 3.
To commemorate Lili’s retirement at the end of this month, there will be a special presentation of the organization’s Founders Award to Lili. Previous Founders Awardees include Louise Griffeth, Cindy Thoms and Bert Headden and Dolores Neustadt.
In addition to the Founders Award, the presentation of the 2023 Citation Award will be presented to Nancy and Ron Natinsky, who in addition to having supported Equest for years were “instrumental in the oversite of the construction of the Al Hill Jr. Arena.”
Wait! There’s still more!
Another highlight of the evening will be keynoter Clint Bruce, who has risen to the top in everything he’s undertaken. From his collegiate award-winning days at Annapolis’ Naval Academy moving onto the NFL playing for the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints, he was inducted into the Navy/Marine Corps Stadium Hall of Fame in 2009.
His “desire to serve was deep and firmly rooted. He left the NFL to pursue becoming a Navy SEAL and successfully completed BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL Training) in 1998 with Class 217.”
In “joining SEAL Team FIVE, Bruce completed multiple deployments pre- and post-911 directly involved in counter-terrorism and national security missions globally.”
But he didn’t stop there.
Since then he has become an entrepreneur with “a passion for building companies and organizations that are both deeply impactful and highly purposeful, which includes Equest partner, Carry The Load (now led by fellow Navy grad and former SEAL Stephen Holley), which was founded to restore true meaning to Memorial Day and celebrate the service and sacrifice of police, fire and rescue personnel and their families during the month of May.”
While all of these accomplishments are eyebrow raising for most, Clint admits that his college sweetheart/wife and their three daughters “are not impressed that he played football or was a Navy SEAL.”
Tickets and sponsorships are now available for the night of horsing around here!
BTW, give the stilettos and tuxedos the night off. This one is strictly a stetsons and breezy cotton dresses night to party.