Had Mother Nature played nicely on Wednesday, April 2, the Turtle Creek Association’s 2025 Azalea Luncheon presented by WRMC would have been lovely. But as any event planner knows all too well, Ma Nature is notorious for sometimes throwing a hitch in the day’s plans … especially in North Texas
So it was that, as the Azalea Luncheon VIP-types gathered for the event at The Joule, the first of the day’s “issues” took place.
Early arrivals who’d wanted to take advantage of the break in the morning’s rainstorms discovered a new way of looking at downtown Dallas traffic. Before turning over their wheels to the valets, they discovered there was only one valet stationed at the hotel’s Main Street entrance, with cars already parked on both sides. So, most guests headed around the block to the hotel’s Commerce Street entrance. Alas, they only found another backup of cars, and the head valet looking rather blindsided.
Like a lifeguard trying to help swimmers after a shark is sighted, he apologized for the situation, hinting that valets hadn’t gotten the memo that an event was taking place that day.
One guest said, “Well, at least it’s not raining.” But that “break” wouldn’t last long.
Guests only thought the worst was behind them after handing over their cars to The Joule valets.
The very earliest arrivals had been told to go to the Glass Eye Elevator on the exterior of the hotel to get to The Terrace, where the champagne reception would be held. But that lift required an operator, and no such person was on the scene — and wouldn’t be until just before the VIP reception got underway at 10:30 a.m. With the glass elevator frozen in place as a result, guests were then told to go into the hotel and take the elevator there to the fifth floor. But due to the hotel’s security system, the interior elevator wouldn’t budge, either. When the doors opened, a hotel staffer suddenly realized the problem and reached inside, flashing his card on a pad. Immediately the elevator responded, whisking guests up to the fifth floor. When the doors opened, there was a hallway with hotel rooms, but, alas, no sign of a Terrace or a champagne reception in sight.
In the meantime, Event Chair Sharon Ballew and fashion presenter Betty Reiter were in the ballroom on the second floor, preparing for the luncheon and fashion show.
But back to the elevator and the search for The Terrace.
When a hotel staffer was confronted by TCA President/CEO J.D. Trueblood about the problem of getting to The Terrace, the hotelier didn’t hesitate, saying, “You need to go to The Terrace level.” The guest did an eyeball roll, but had the good manners not to say, “Been there. Done that. No Terrace.”
Escorting J.D. and the guest back to the elevator, the staffer studied the buttons on the board, only to discover that indeed there was no button for The Terrace.
Undeterred, he hit “5,” and once again the doors opened to the hallway of hotel rooms. He then led J.D. and the guest out of the elevator, turning left into the hallway leading to yet another hallway, and finally turning right. At the end of the maze was a door leading up four steps to the long-sought Terrace, which seemed to glisten thanks to the morning’s rain.
Someone voiced concern about the guests eventually arriving via the Glass Eye elevator and sloshing across the Terrace’s “pond” to the covered reception area. So, men with squeegees were summoned to sweep away the puddles that were now growing, thanks to the return of the rain and wind. It was all rather reminiscent of St. Augustine’s story of the boy trying to fit the ocean into a tiny hole with a seashell.
Soon enough the squeegee-wielders were replaced by men holding umbrellas at the Glass Eye elevator, ready to escort guests across the Terrace that now sported brown floor mats providing a soggy walkway, with signs on either side warning of “Wet Floors.” One guest chuckled that it was like seeing people being escorted back to the Titanic after the ship hit the iceberg.
Inside the reception area were pots on high tops containing azaleas, in keeping with the Azalea Luncheon feel. It looked lovely, but if one took a deep breath, a distinct fragrance hit the olfactory system and it wasn’t a scent usually associated with floral beauty. Rather, it was the distinct odor of mold and wet carpeting.
As the room filled with guests and a glambot nudging through the crowd to capture moments, one guest upon taking a bite of a passed tastie immediately searched for a place to deposit the remainder, admonishing a friend, “Don’t eat the chicken. I almost vomited.”
To his credit, J.D. addressed the situation prior to the program, once the ballroom was filled with guests like Honorary Chairs Emeriti Deborah Stanford and Ann Stuart, Association Founding Member Judy Lifson, Sue Krider, Carol Brinegar Hoey, Karen Sargent, Allison Brodnax, Carole Ann Brown, Sarah Jo Hardin, Nikki Beneke, Rose Gault, Susan Scullin and designer Levi Palmer. J.D. apologized for the valet issues, which he said would be taken up with hotel management. In the meantime, Sharon B. admitted that when she toured the ballroom beforehand, she hadn’t realized its stout columns might create sight-line issues. So, she recommended that guests scoot their chairs around the columns for a better view.
Luckily, things improved vastly with the presentation of fashions from Betty Reiter and Pockets and the recognition of Luncheon Honorary Chair Mary Brinegar. Said Mary: “You all know I rarely lend my name to an organization, but when you find something important, it’s important to recognize it. I am honored to be the honorary chair for this luncheon, and thank you all for joining me in supporting the Turtle Creek Association and all they do.”
J.D. presented a status report on the Association’s efforts to enhance the Turtle Creek corridor, including a video revealing “the dumping that occurs in Turtle Creek, with trash washing down from Central Expressway and surrounding areas, resulting in more than 10 tons of debris each year that must be manually removed.”
He recognized Patrick Rea, who manually cleans the creek, and reported that Turtle Creek will benefit from the $1M in funds from the City of Dallas 2024 Bond Program that “are designated for future dredging and critical bank stabilization efforts.”
Regarding the area’s wildlife, J.D. said that after an absence, the blue herons and kingfishers are returning.
He pointed to the future that included a brief description of “The Bridges Of Turtle Creek,” a collaboration with the Turtle Creek Conservancy and the City of Dallas to “not just aesthetically restore and enhance eight historic bridges, but to reinforce and re-imagine the connections they facilitate.”
Less than a month later, the “Dallas Business Journal” reported that, in an interview with J.D., work on The Bridges Of Turtle Creek was “expected to begin by Q3 of 2025 — before the weather gets too cold, which makes it harder for paint to stick. J.D. Trueblood, president and CEO of TCA, explained there isn’t exactly a set completion date as maintenance for the bridges will be ongoing.”
For more looks of the fashions and faces, check out MySweetCharity Photo Gallery.