
There may have been a few 11th-hour dress-fitting snafus and more than the usual number of “wobblies” during the famous Texas Dip. When all was said and done, though, the 2023-2024 La Fiesta de las Seis Banderas Presentation Gala on Saturday, June 8, at the Hilton Anatole was an amazing event that all involved could be proud of.
Placing a focus on Spain with the theme “Celebración De La Costa De España” — that translates to “Celebration of Coastal Spain” — the black-tie gala under La Fiesta President Kim Quinn and Co-Chairs Kay Herring and Courtney Wiles raised funds for a total of 18 groups (Boys And Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas, CARE Dallas, Connecting Point of Park Cities, Friends of the Highland Park Library, Friends of the University Park Public Library, Highland Park Education Foundation, Highland Park Literary Festival, HP Arts, HPHS Community Service Council, HPHS Counseling Department And Student Council, HPHS Science And Technology Festival, HPHS Student Emergency Fund, MIS/HPMS Student Emergency Fund, MIS Mental Health Program/Center for Integrative Counseling And Psychology, Moody Family YMCA/Ashford Rise School, Park Cities Heritage House At Old City Park, PC TAG and To Be Like Me) supporting the Park Cities community.
Kay and Courtney were assisted in the undertaking by Gala Co-Chairs Lanier Monk and Meredith McBee; Corporate Underwriting Co-Chairs Meg Salter and Vanessa Sloan; Individual Underwriting Co-Chairs Paige Sachs and Laura Thomason; Social Co-Chairs Carrie Cothrum and Renne Lokey; Luncheon Co-Chairs Chris Palmer and Rachel Stienke; and Guild President Elaine Peterie.

And, what an undertaking it was.
Following a committee kick-off meeting last fall, no fewer than 15 functions honoring this year’s group of 40 duchesses and their escorts had taken place in the months since.
They all culminated in the black- and white-tie June 8 gala, where guests including Heather and Ray Washburne, Vicki and Dulany Howland, Shelle and Michael Sills, Margo and Bill Goodwin, escort mom Anne McPherson, Duchess parents Susan and Michael Glassmoyer, Elisa and Stephen Summers and Kristi and Ron Hoyl with sons Alex Hoyl and Luke Hoyl and Duchess grandparents Vicki and Dulany Howland enjoyed a cocktail reception and the formal presentation of the duchesses and their escorts before dinner, music and late-night dancing.



While guests gathered in the Chantilly Ballroom’s foyer for the champagne reception, the duchesses and their escorts gathered in the ballroom for the official photos of the night. There was just the slightest hiccup in the plan as a couple of the duchesses were MIA. It seems that their gowns needed a bit of last-minute attention. But not to worry. The ladies arrived rushing on stage to join their escorts of the night.

The configuration of the ballroom had been changed a bit from years past, with a smaller dance area across the way from the stage. It would be where the 40 couples would assemble after the presentation for their first dance of the night. When questioned how such a small area would accommodate the rest of the guests, organizers smiled and explained that the adjacent Wedgwood Room was set for the “late-night dancing.”


But before all of that happened, the reception seamlessly transitioned into the ballroom for the program to commence. with Kay and Courtney welcoming the guests from the stage. As the co-chairs exited the stage, the escorts paraded into the ballroom through the center doors and took their places on stage. After the evening’s emcees Dina Jones Steele and Al Raya introduced each of the escorts (Andrew Baker, Whit Basso, Brice Beaird Jr., Carter Benson, Preston Bond, Jackson Cullum, Barrett Denton, Paul Flowers, Wyatt Freeman, Jack Fuller, Drew Gregory, Colin Hale, Hunter Hegi, Luke Herring, Walker Kashata, Martin Kemp, Blain Leinart, Beau Lilly III, Lucas Lindwall, Lance Lorio, Tom McArtor, Wayne McCullough Jr., Todd McPherson, Lewis Montgomery, Catcher Murphy, Mark Philbin, William Pitzer, George Roberts, Ben Salter, Henry Schieber, Scotty Sealy III, Christopher Sims, Bowden Slates, Max Sloan, Clay Staunton, Hunter Thornton, Jack True Jr., Jack Wall, William White and Ben Woodward), the program got underway, with the following 40 duchesses being presented by fathers, brothers and family friends: Avery Allday, Caroline Annett, Maren Ayres, Emily Bailey, Elle Barrett, Emery Clarke, Olivia Coker, Marin Davenport, Vivian Downie, Andre Dugas, Greer Dunston, Margo Flint, Olivia Fox, Lillian Glassmoyer, Cate Gould, Lizzie Griswold, Caolinn Grove-Collins, Gigi Hagen, Rachel Hanna, Margaret Hopper, Sydney Hoyl, Elizabeth Morgan, Isabella O’Brien, Avery Owens, Anne Blanche Peacock, Riley Peterie, India Roberts, Mary Ellen Schoellkopf, Katie Shults, Hattie Speicher, Mary Stone, Emily Summers, Elizabeth Sweet, Katelyn Tanner, Tatum Thomason, Amanda Toole, Virginia Turner, Parker Wideman, Charlya Williams and Ellie Williamson.










Dinner, by the way, was just as amazing as the formal presentation. On the menu were baby spinach salad, filet of beef, lemon cello tiramisu and dark chocolate mousse and pearl crunch cake.
For a full look of the Duchesses, their escorts and other white- and black-tie guests, check out MySweetCharity Photo Gallery.