As the cars lined up for the 2023 Women’s Council of the Dallas Arboretum‘s A Writer’s Garden early on Tuesday, November 7, featured Co-Speakers/International Designers/authors Paola Moschino and Philip Vergeylen couldn’t resist taking in the grounds of the Dallas Arboretum. Inside the Arboretum’s Rosine Hall, Featured Co-Speaker Hillwood Estate Executive Director/author Kate Markert was busily signing her book, “A Garden For All Seasons,” and talking with guests.
Leading up to the big day had been warm-up events in the previous months like a Barbie-themed party, a sunset cruise on White Rock Lake, a special buying event at Swoozie’s and a patron party the night before at Hôtel Swexan hosted by Presenting Sponsors Ann Barbier-Mueller and Hôtel Swexan.
But now the big day was at hand and before the program got underway, Women’s Council of the Dallas Arboretum President Karen Sargent and A Writer’s Garden Co-Chairs Sharon Ballew and Mari Epperson were welcoming guests like Sandy Sec0r, who reported that her household had added Miles, a blond Labrador puppy. At first husband John Secor wondered what it would take raising a puppy. But that question had calmed down. Sandy admitted that after having Golden Retrievers and other breeds, Miles was so “chilled.”
As the crowd grew including Christine Volkmer, Ka Cotter, Lisa Loy Laughlin, Emilynn Wilson, Therese Rourk, Bettina Hennessy, Karla McKenzie, Carla Russo, Patricia Cowlishaw, Linda Spina, Jan Barboglio, Kristina Wrenn and Sarah Jo Hardin, one of the faux cherry blossom tree centerpieces near the stage was receiving a last-minute pruning. It seems that the guests at the table just behind it feared that the lower branches might interfere with their view of the stage.
2023 Mad Hatter Co-Chair Anne Stodghill admitted that she was going through the anxieties of her 16-year-old son Dash Stodghill earning his drivers license. She added that after the deaths of her parents this past year, she was adjusting to a period of “grieving.”
A surprise guest in the crowd was retired Arboretum President/CEO Mary Brinegar, who was seated next to Kate.
When the guests finally took their places at the tables, Women’s Council of the Arboretum President Karen Sargent explained how the year’s theme — “A Garden of Possibilities: Cultivating a Brighter Future” — meant “reaching towards a new generation of women to carry on the legacy of this great organization.” So it had only been in keeping with this theme that the event’s Honorary Co-Chairs were Ann Barbier-Mueller, her daughter Niña Tollett and daughters-in-law Katelyn Barbier-Muller and Bridget Barbier-Mueller.
In honor of Ann’s support, Garden Co-Chairs Sharon Ballew and Mari Epperson presented Ann with “an engraved stone in the Women’s Council Circle of Honor.”
Emcee JD Trueblood seamlessly kept the program going by introducing Kate, who told how the Gilded Age’s Marjorie Merriweather Post had created the Hillwood Estate garden back in 1913 by collaborating with a few landscape architects. “She would send them the drawings and they would implement them, following her declaration that beauty was paramount.” The gardens would be the scene of events for “1,000 and more, as well as host education tours with students from schools from far-reaching destinations” and such notables as First Ladies Jacqueline Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson.
Following Kate’s talk, a brief break took place for guests to stretch their legs with a game of heads-or-tails.
JD then introduced Paolo and Philip, who took their places in leather chairs on the stage. Their conviviality and camaraderie made guests feel like they were old friends, with topics ranging from how they had met in Paolo’s shop 30 years ago to their most recent collaboration, “An Entertaining Life: Designing Town And Country,” which “is much more personal and illustrates how they live in London as well as their life in the country.” Their projects have taken them around the world, designing “everything from south-of-the-border haciendas, a hotel originally bought by Oscar de la Renta, a literally in-the-mountainside retreat to a villa in central Italy.”
Funds resulting from A Writer’s Garden support the Women’s Council and A Woman’s Garden.