It’s the little things that count and add up. From the mini-burros to a sweet boy’s telling a mega-star that he liked her work, the 2024 Cattle Baron’s Ball outdid itself with nearly $1M donated in one fell swoop during the live auction for cancer research in North Texas on Saturday, September 28, at Southfork.
After setting up for the big night and the beautiful weather, some of the baronesses like Aarica Mims grabbed the wrong name tag.
Indeed, things had gotten off to a rough start. The day before, the Ferris Wheel had had issues and lay in pieces on the Southfork grounds like a broken tractor. Another wheel was hauled in. Don’t tell the old wheel, but its replacement was better than any in the past.
And then there was the mechanical bull. Instead of snorting and being just plain bullish, he was down and out just as guests were arriving. Immediately a gold statue of a rearing horse was carried in. After a couple of placements, Trigger found the perfect spot next to a New Horizons backdrop.
As the cars, limousines and party buses pulled up unloading more than 3,000 dolls and dudes in boots, cowboy hats and Texas chic western wear, they were not greeted as usual by riders on towering steeds at the entrance. Instead they were stopped in their tracks by 2-year-old mini-burros Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash that proved to be more than pretty faces for photo opps. Known in party circles as the beer burros express, they were packing beer in their baskets.
Then it was off to explore all types of activities, from taking a chance at Choctaw Casino tables, shopping at the Market Place with jewels, bags and hats, watching the college football games in the Sports Lounge, bidding on the silent auction that included everything from beds to beaded jackets and the Neiman Marcus Glam Room for a makeup refreshening for all those photo opps.
Unlike years past, when the heavy hitters had enjoyed a meet-and-greet with both the live auction and main stage talents, this year all bets were off. Well, that was the word, anyway. However, at the last minute, a scant few actually did get to meet with Andrews Main Stage songbird Carrie Underwood. Greeting her, a 6-year-old proved his cowboy charm, saying, “I like your work.”
But not so smooth was an emerging problem. While the libations flowed, so did a plumbing problem in the Conference Center’s ladies room. Needless to say, the gals wearing boots that cost as much as Jimmy Choo stilettos heel-and-toed it to other facilities on the property upon hearing about the unplanned “pool” room.
On the other hand, unlike years past when a mosh pit developed in between the VIP seating and the Live Auction Stage, 2024 CBB Co-Chair Lora Farris and Marjon Henderson positioned the VIP tables so close to the stage that an anorexic roadrunner would have hardly been able to squeeze through. Even when the general admission folks joined the VIP set for ’90s country tribute band Straight Tequila Night and the live auction, the area in front of the stage remained unblocked for the VIPers, allowing them to witness over-the-top results.
Why all the fundraising excitement? Simple. Everyone from the baronesses and the guests to auction purveyors had a real grudge when it comes to cancer, and this was their chance to take it on. As one person said, “Name me a person whose life hasn’t been hit by cancer.” Throughout the night, stories about taking on the disease abounded.
Some, like former CBB Chair Mary Martha Pickens, have had a history with cancer. Having been diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the age of 12 in 1976, she and her family undertook the treatments that saved her life, despite the loss of her right leg. On this night the blonde, who will be chairing the 2025 Crystal Charity Ball, was wearing a short gold glittery skirt proudly showing off her newest prosthetic right leg in a cowboy boot.
On the other hand, Rich Enthoven has just recently encountered the disease. With a twinkle in his eyes, he looked the picture of perfect health except for his newly bare pate. His story was one of surviving melanoma cancer that would have been impossible years ago. Pulling up his jeans leg, he proudly showed off his Grateful Dead boots. He just recently had gone through weeks of chemotherapy with an equal bit of flare. Each time he showed up for his treatment, he said, he’d worn a different outfit, ranging from laid-back hippie to surfer dude. For his final one, he wore a tuxedo and Mardi Gras beads to celebrate.
But the Enthoven household had been dealing with cancer on a double front. In addition to Rich, his wife Tucker Enthoven’s mother Julie Ford had been battling pancreatic cancer. Just before heading to Southfork on this night, Tucker and Rich had been with the rest of the family at Julie’s beside. So, attending CBB was a way to support the war against cancer. [UPDATE: Julie passed away on Tuesday, October 23]
Another story was the night’s auctioneer, Letitia Frye. This tall drink of champagne with microphone in hand took to the floor and infused a type of gusto into the live auction that came with amazing results, like the Night at the Perot Museum package going for $65K. Baronesses shot each other wide-eyed looks of amazement. But that was just an inkling of how the paddles would rise to new heights.
Example: The Chefs (Nick Barclay, Richard Chamberlain, Eric Dreyer, Dean Fearing, Kent Rathbun and Gerard Thompson) declared that they wanted to beat the previous year’s package that went twice for $125K. Letitia and the boys worked the crowd into a bidding frenzy resulting in two packages going for $200K each.
As Letitia continued working the crowd like a tent revival evangelist, she revealed that just a year ago, she had battled breast cancer herself.
However, the piece de resistance of the night’s paddling was when former Baroness Claire Phillips stood on stage with her daughter Caroline Phillips. They looked so small on the stage as Claire told how her husband, 37-year-old Kace Phillips, had died this past New Year’s Day after battling glioblastoma brain cancer for 16 months. Now the paddle raise for $1M was to name “a promising research project focused on testing the effectiveness of a newly developed antibody to explore how it enhances the immune system’s ability to eliminate glioblastoma” in honor of Kace.
Letitia declared that the paddle raising would start at $150K. Across the hall, a lone man stood raising his paddle and said something. Word quickly made its way through the room resulting in shouts of “Wow!” and others just shaking their heads in dismay. Letitia announced that the man had kicked off the call-to-action with $500K. That reveal literally sucked the air out of the SRO ballroom. The man was White Rhino Foundation Founder Chris Parvin. Like others in the crowd, he had his own story of dealing with cancer. He had lost both of his parents to the disease and was leading the charge to find the “new horizons” in the battle against cancer.
For more looks of the evening of barons and baronesses, check out MySweetCharity Photo Gallery.