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Catholic Charities Holiday Home Tour Starts Today And Ends Tomorrow

More than 1,000 people are expected to tour seven fabulous homes for the Catholic Charities Holiday Home Tour today and tomorrow. Among the homes on the tour are those belonging to

• Jennifer Gates – daughter of Marianne and Roger Staubach
• Andrea and Bob Neuhoff– They have a gigantic two-story train room with two levels of trains. The room was created by the same designer of the NorthPark train exhibit.
• April and Mike Bosworth — Homeowner April and home tour chair Mary Linn Clifford created the holidays designs. The Bosworth home will also feature the Angel Cafe Bistro with homemade box lunches and a soup bar for $10.
• Patty and Glenn Bellinger — Trees with different themes will be in each room.
• Trudy and Bob Wright – This home will feature a Thanksgiving theme with fresh floral harvest.
• Carole and David Klaudt
• Colleen and Jody Collins  

Each home will have a different workshop for guest interaction. What a lovely way to head home for the holidays!

Ah, The Best-Laid Schemes Of Mice And Men and Event Organizers

Dallas event organizers for outdoor events know from the start that they’re playing a game of Russian roulette with Mother Nature. The good folks involved with last night’s 2009 Dinner in the Wild Construction Zone gala recognized that a gala at the new site of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science was tempting fate in November, so mammoth adjoining tents were erected just to be on the safe side. And smart the organizers were. Because as the days got closer, rain and chilly temperatures were in the forecast for the Thursday night soiree. No doubt, they counted their lucky stars for the decision to proceed with the tents. But then, great news! The rain would not hit until after the party. Whew! Missed that bullet, so let’s proceed with the action.  Continue reading "Ah, The Best-Laid Schemes Of Mice And Men and Event Organizers"

Brit Hume And Laura Bush Add Political Aura To Annual Salvation Army Lunch

Thursday’s Salvation Army luncheon packed Trinity Hall at the Anatole. Traditionally the lunch provides the crowd with inspiration, but this year they got a double dose of political fiber from the start. As guests arrived at their tables, it was obvious that things were stirring at the front of the room. With FOX News Senior Political Correspondent and featured speaker Brit Hume (pictured) at one table and across the aisle former First Lady Laura Bush (pictured) at Gene Jones’ table, guests were stretching their necks from watching the two. Photographers were being pulled in two different directions. Luckily, Brit and Laura came together like old classmates at a reunion. Then Brit graciously stepped back just a smidgeto let fans. . . or rather, friends both old and new, surround her. It was rather endearing to see even the most sophisticated ladies -who-lunch come clear across the ballroom (and that’s quite a hike) to say “Hi” to Laura. But as typical of the Laura, she greeted each one as if they were the only ones in the room.

Then it was on with the big show! Continue reading "Brit Hume And Laura Bush Add Political Aura To Annual Salvation Army Lunch"

Dallas Rocks Checks In With A Nice Check

Last weekend’s Dallas Rocks 2009 tallied up over $400,000 for Diamond Empowerment Foundation. More is anticipated to be added to this chunk from a raffle and online auction that’s being conducted and will close in December.

And Today’s Honorees Are . . .

There’s a lot of honoring going on tonight –

Texas Exes Dallas Chapter (6 p.m. at Union Station) is honoring Libba and John Massey (pictured) at the 2009 Scholarship Dinner. It’s being hosted by Melinda Gonzales-Boe and Jeff Duchin. The event will have several Longhorn dignitaries including UT President William Powers.

United Cerebral Palsy of North Texas (7 p.m. at Neiman Marcus Downtown) is honoring Debbie (pictured) and Jim Francis at the Vine & Dine dinner and auction. Janie Condon and DeeDee Lee are co-chairing the event. Don’t even think of trying to get in. It was sold out before the invitations hit the mailboxes.

Cattle Baron’s Kristi Sherrill Hoyl Is Heading ‘em Up And Moving The Herd Back to Southfork

The Cattle Baron’s Ball gals are already regrouping and taking steps to show naysayers that 2010’s American Cancer gala is going to be newer, better, and safer than ever before. CBB Chair Kristi Sherrill Hoyl has pulled on her big girl boots and announced this morning the following plans:

First, the hoedown will be held at Southfork Ranch. Yeah, we know. Been there, done that before, but it’s made to handle almost any situation except a reunion of the Dallas cast.

According to Ms. Kristi, “We chose Southfork for its easy accessibility, beautiful setting and indoor options in case of inclement weather. Our loyal sponsors, underwriters, and committee members have enthusiastically embraced our return to Southfork.”

(Please note the inclusion of “indoor options in case of inclement weather.” These gals are gonna have ironclad backup plans that will withstand a 10.0-magnitude earthquake.)

Continue reading "Cattle Baron’s Kristi Sherrill Hoyl Is Heading ‘em Up And Moving The Herd Back to Southfork"

Never Send A FrontBurnie To Cover A SweetCharity Assignment

One of the reasons that SweetCharity is hesitant about sending others to report on events is that. . . well, they just seem to miss the good stuff. The stuff that you like so much. For instance, today SweetCharity could not make the groundbreaking of the Museum of Nature and Science at Victory Park, so she arranged to have a FrontBurnie to attend the event.  Here is his report:

• A steel-drum band welcomed attendees at the bash today (picture).
• Other pic is Nicole Small, president and CEO of the museum.
• In the crowd: Pierce and Allie Beth Allman, Carol Reed (she has the PR contract), John Crawford, developer John Sughrue (sp?) –Said state Rep. Dan Branch, addressing the crowd: “It kind of feels like “Jurassic Park” comes to Victory Park.”
• Caraway said: “Dallas today scores more points. We continue to put points on the board.”

The above info was provided with typos and grammatical errors nicely intact.

This situation will be reviewed with the blogger later, but for now let the SweetCharity home team try to salvage the event with what we’ve been able to pry out of the reluctant FB cub reporter. Continue reading "Never Send A FrontBurnie To Cover A SweetCharity Assignment"

Barbara Bush Provides A True Feast of Literacy Despite A MIA Author

Okay, let’s get the disappointing news over with now. Mary Tyler Moore got sick Friday and called to say she couldn’t make it to “A Celebration of Reading.” Yes, we know, we know. If it had been anyone else but Barbara Bush (pictured), it would have spelled absolute disaster. Like we said anyone but Barbara Bush. She wasn’t First Lady for nothing.

So, she pulled a rabbit out of her hat, or make that the Erma Bombeck of Texas — Louise Bayless Parsley. Haven’t heard of her? Well, check with the 1,000+ that attended the Monday night event. By the time this never-had-a journalism-course author had had her way with the Dallas book lovers, Mary’s absence was totally forgotten.

But let’s start at the beginning of the evening.

Continue reading "Barbara Bush Provides A True Feast of Literacy Despite A MIA Author"

Ready, Set, Vote — Quick!

You’ve got til Thursday. Remember that.

Now, let’s get on with the urgent matter at hand. CNN has been working on a project to recognize CNN Heroes. They’ve been besieged by very incredible candidates. But they just couldn’t recognized all of them. So they whittled it down to the top 10.

 Guess what? Dallas native Brad Blauser (pictured) is one of the 10.

He got to this prestigious top 10 spot in a rather unique way. You see, Brad has lived in worn-torn Iraq, where one in seven children (ages 2-14) lives with a disability and practically no health care. Since 2005 Brad’s Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids program has distributed over 650 wheelchairs to children in need.

So far, he’s been awarded $25,000 for his accomplishments and stands to receivethe $100,000 grand prize if he is selected the CNN Hero of the Year later this month at a star-studded gala in Hollywood.

But he can only win this title and the $$$, if he receives the largest number of votes. You can help Brad by going to CNN.com/Heroes to vote. Now here comes the “but”. The voting is only open until November 19. Yup, that’s this Thursday. Day after tomorrow.  

Let’s face it. North Texans have managed to vote locals to the top spots for American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. Surely, we take this vote challenge on.

The Nasher Touch Makes A WISH Come True!

The Nasher brain trust did it again. They’re just always ahead of the pack when it comes to combining creativity, excellence, and beauty. Whether it’s the Nasher Sculpture Center or the legendary NorthPark Center, it’s going to be the talk of the talk among the flock of influencers.

That flock got its feathers over to NorthPark for the newest “Wow” occasion Sunday night — The WISH Gala benefiting the Nasher. Despite the gloomy rain and the gloomier reports of the Cowboys defeat at the hands of Green Bay, the crowd queued up like shoppers on Black Friday to enter the newest Nasher adventure into top-caliber fashion, cuisine, and art.

The first part of the evening was held in the Court that just became the new digs for Louis Vuitton. The guests, who sipped champagne and cosmos, looked a bit like Lilliputians standing next to the Hammering Men and the statuesque models in couture designs complemented by jewelry just made for holiday gifting. However, they knew that they were there for more than sipping and being charming. They had a mission. You see, those clever NorthPark and Nasher folks were playing genie. The guests were presented with three wishes:

Continue reading "The Nasher Touch Makes A WISH Come True!"