Since it was a private event with series tickets going for a whopping $1500, it had all the frills and spit-and-polish that a high-spending crowd deserves. Starting with a VIP party at McDavid Studio across the street from the Bass, it became apparent that not all Dallasites agreed on the Fort Worth  dress code for special events.

Usually it’s the ladies who are all in a tizzy about what to wear. Not on this night! The gents were really in a quandary about what is appropriate at the Bass for a Faith Hill concert. Some came in their best bib-and-tucker dark suits like Troy Aikman (pictured, he had an excuse since he was co-hosting the reception); Drew Pearson in a bold-striped suit with brown/black striped shirt and goldfinger metallic tie and handkerchief; George Riba (pictured) in a very sportscaster flash-and-dash orange tie, blue shirt, and camel-colored suit; and Bill Lively (pictured) in CEO-styled uniform with a natty orange tie and his ever-present dazzling smile.

On the other hand, those who have probably frequented Joe T’s knew that dress-down is thumbs up in FW and opted for the open shirt with the windowpane sports jacket look. The fashion question of this group was, “Do you unbutton the top one or two buttons on your shirt?”

Leading the charge for the undone-one-button was legend of legends Roger Staubach (pictured) in blue jeans, blazer and open shirt. Doug Brooks looked right at home in his red-white-yellow-blue striped shirt and gray/white jacket. Jerry Jones Jr. (pictured) must have been thinking along the same lines as Doug, since he wore a gray/white jacket but opted for the windowpane design with a pink shirt. Rich Dalrymple (pictured) played it safe in a navy and light striped blue shirt with blazer.

The most daring look of the night belonged to Shy “Cleavage” Anderson (pictured) with his top-two-unbuttoned shirt. Oh, my, what would mother say! But Shy’s so charming, he can get away with anything.

Exception to the male fashion either-or breakdown was party co-host Joe Buck (pictured), who walked the fashion line by not wearing at tie at the reception but putting one on for his on-stage emcee duties.

Alas, have no idea which category Mayor Tom Leppert would have fit in, because he and wife Laura couldn’t attend due to a prior commitment in Dallas. Bet that won’t be the case on May 22 when concert #2 takes place with Sting at the Winspear.

But let’s not discard the ladies thinking they were in hoop skirts and bonnets. Why these gals have been playing dress up since their mamas taught them the phone number for Neiman’s at NorthPark. There was nary a Daisy Duke in the crowd. Still, it wasn’t the traditional cocktail fluff either. Event co-chair Marianne Staubach (pictured) rejected the safe black look for a remind-me-of-Santa-Fe turquoise outfit that dazzled with her blonde hair and multi-strand pearl necklace. Another color standout was Andrea Alcorn (pictured) in hottest pink leather jacket over a black beaded dressed with floral appliqués. How cute that she managed to find matching pink and buff boots to top things off. Speaking of leather, Barbara Daseke (pictured) must have compared notes with Andrea with a black dress overlaid with a belted leather jacket, but Barbara went the reddish brown route.

Then there were the gal pals. For instance, Linda “First Lady of Arlington” Cluck, Charlotte “First Daughter of Cowboys Stadium” Anderson, and Kathy “First Daughter of Arlington” Beatty (pictured from the left) interpreting the ever-popular black. However, that Charlotte in the skin-tight black leather pants gave a whole new meaning to chaps.

And then there were the showstoppers Sonia Black in her faux fur collar and black boots with Lori Jones (pictured right with Sonia), who must have checked with sis-in-law Charlotte about the pro’s and con’s of wearing black leather slacks. Or perhaps it’s just a Jones family uniform.

Joni McCoy (pictured) didn’t bother with all that boot and leather stuff. She went for the simple, classic look of “Wow!” in her beige oh-so cling, past the knee dress, bouquet of blonde curls, and a “Thank God for Texas” smile. Hey, this gal’s an oldtimer when it comes to Super Bowl who-ha. She and her husband Mike attended all three of  Troy’s Super Bowls conquests (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX, if you’re counting).

But enough of the fashions. Let’s do a quick check of the activity:

One minute the very notables were at the McDavid reception and then they all seemed to disappear. Not to worry. They were led to the tunnel connecting the McDavid facility to the Bass, put in an elevator to the ground level, and into a meet-and-greet with Faith herself.

You didn’t know there was a tunnel? Yup. Even Mayor Mike Moncrief admitted that this was his first time to walk under Calhoun Street. It was really cute watching him stroll the tunnel handholding with the love of his life/wife, Rosie.

Then it was on to the concert with segments of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington blending into one big melting pot. Before Faith even hit the stage, the two warm up acts were enough to leave the room talking.

FOX football commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman had their timing just right even when they missed cues. From walking on stage with a couple of bags of presenting sponsor Frito-Lay chips to Troy’s wearing a sign (“emcee sponsors Diane and Hal Brierley“) on his back, these totally different personalities won over the audience with their style and humor. They gave Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin a run for their emcee money.

With the mood set, the boys introduced the infamous debut of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV version of Faith Hill’s “Kiss” with area notables (Roger Staubach, Tony Romo, Nolan Ryan, Jerry Jones, Clarice Tinsley, Tom Leppert, Mike Moncrief, Arlington Mayor Dr. Robert Cluck, Dirk Nowitzki, Emmitt Smith, and many others who might not want their names mentioned) sacrificing their reputations singing like a two-for-one night karaoke bar. Tony Romo captured the “Most Painful Looking and Sounding Award” of the off-key singing luminaries. With sounds as pleasing to the ear as nails across a chalkboard, there are serious doubts that a Christmas album is in the makings.

Perhaps it was the tone of the evening, but the video was rewarded with an exuberant round of hooting, hollering, and applauding. . . much better than the following week’s Internet/media critical reviews. Let’s face it. Some things just take on a different feel in the light of day.

Finally, it was time for Faith to perform. For the intimate setting. . .  well, it was intimate compared to the likes of Gilley’s or Billy Bob’s. . . she wisely chose to use only a handful of musicians and three backup singers for the concert hall. During the first few songs, even this small coterie of musicians seemed to overwhelm Faith’s voice, but the group juggled a couple of knobs allowing her voice to take the lead.

In between sets, her interaction with the crowd seemed a little tentative. Perhaps it was the fact that she was due to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards the next night with hubby Tim (The Blind Side) McGraw. Just like any wife trying to pick out the right outfit for her husband’s big company party, she admitted that she was still trying to figure out which dress to wear — The Louis Vuitton or the Roberto Cavalli. The crowd leaned toward the Vuitton. (She decided to go with the black lace Cavalli, which garnered reviews from “a little bit red-light district” to “easy and sexy.” Interesting for a gal who prefers sweats.)

Irritating moment: Four people insisted on standing up and swaying throughout the concert. While it’s perfectly understandable because of the music and their exuberance, it was downright irritating to the folks seated behind them, who were forced to stand just to see the stage.

Growing issue facing performers: At least one person in the audience was seen recording the entire concert on her iPhone, while scattered throughout the hall phone cameras were shooting Faith. Don’t think Faith’s agent would have taken very kindly to all this activity, but what’s a guy to do?

Following an encore and a SO, the VIP’s strolled back to McDavid Studio for a dessert party and the rest headed home.

Orchestrating all these concerts and parties were the five Action Team Honorary Co-chairs — Linda Cluck, Gene Jones, Laura Leppert, Rosie Moncrief, and Marianne Staubach along with their team of 111 female volunteers from North Texas.

Can’t wait to see what the fashion theme will be in May!

You just know you’re in for an evening of incredible food and wine already, don’t you?

At this point, we probably need some translation for those of you who slept through your French class.  Les=The, Dames=Ladies, d’Escoffier=of Escoffier. Who was Escoffier? Oh, you so non-cookie type! Legend goes that all haute cuisine and fine dining was started by Auguste Escoffier, considered “The Chef of Kings” and “The King of Chefs.” Besides being a mouthful of a name, Les Dames d’Escoffier is an international organization made up of professional women in the food, fine beverage, and hospitality industry.  Funds raised from Raiser Grazer will benefit the Dallas Chapter’s established scholarship program and endowments at five Texas colleges and universities for women in the industry. So far, the ladies have raised more than $1M over the years.

This year’s event will feature:

• California wine women: Joy Sterling (Iron Horse Vineyards), Dolores Cakebread (Cakebread Cellars), Janet Trefethen (Trefethen Family Vineyards), Robin Lail (Lail Vineyards), Amerlia Ceja (Ceja Vineyards), and Kathryn Hall (Hall Wines) and
• Texas wine gals: Susan Auler (Fall Creek Vineyards), Gina Puente-Brancato (La Buena Vida Vineyards and La Bodega Wineries), and Caris Turpen (Lightcatcher Winery).

To complement the palates for these vinos, the following 20 lady chefs will provide samplings:

1. Kay Agnew – Margaux’s A Restaurant by Design
2. Liz Baron – Blue Mesa Grill
3. Dunia Borga – La Duni
4. Shari Carlson – Dessert Dreams
5. Tsuki Caspary Brooks – State and Allen Lounge / Savory Catering
6. Chena Civello – Civello’s Raviolismo
7. Mynetta Cockerell – Milestone Culinary Arts Center
8. Cristiana Ginatta – Paciugo Gelato & Caffè
9. Sharon Hage – York Street Restaurant
10. Michelle Hudson and Andrea Hagar – Food Company
11. Bonnie Itzig – Globex America
12. Mary Kimbrough – Food Roots
13. Paula Lambert – Mozzarella Company
14. Jennifer Brightman Moschel – Brightman Moschel Culinary Consulting
15. June Naylor & Lisa Perini – Cowgirl Cooking from Perini Ranch Steakhouse
16. Louise Owens – Windmill Lounge
17. Janice Provost – Parigi
18. Lori Finkelman Short – SODEXHO
19. Wendy Taggart – Burgundy Pasture Beef
20. Sharon Van Meter – Texas Chefs Association

Plus, the students of El Centro College’s Food and Hospitality Services Institute

Suggestion: Use the North Akard entrance directly across from the Fairmont.

“Sadly, our services were needed this year more than ever as we saw record numbers of families affected by the economy and the shelter had to turn away more than 1,000 women and children due to lack of space and lack of resources,” said Paige Flink, executive director of The Family Place.  “In this tough economic climate, we are incredibly thankful for the generosity and support of our participating retailers, thousands of shoppers, the community, our volunteers and our dedicated sponsors who helped contribute to us raising these much-needed funds for those escaping family violence.”

Partners Card 2009 sponsors include:

Emerald Sponsors ($25,000 – $49,999): Bank of Texas

Ruby Sponsor ($10,000 – $24,999): Cadillac, NorthPark Center, and Ylang | 23

Sapphire Sponsors ($7,500 – $9,999): Galleria Dallas

Pearl Sponsors ($5,000 – $7,499): Highland Park Village and Mockingbird Station

Opal Sponsors ($2,500 – $4,499): All Vac, Inwood Village, LakeSide Market, Preston Royal Village, RBC Wealth Management, The Ritz-Carlton, Skintastic, St. Bernard Sports, and West Village

In-Kind Sponsors: Bachendorf’s, Brynn Bagot Public Relations, The Dallas Morning News, 100.3 Jack FM, 103.7 Lite FM, Jason Wynn Photography, PaperCity, People Newspapers, Pink Memo, Premium Passport, Reinhardt Creative, Ridgeway Mailing and Fulfillment, Sleep Experts, Star Community Newspapers, StarPower, Texas Monthly, Tom Thumb, and ABC Channel 8

If you’ll recall, Thursday morning Dallas was showing the first ripple of the blizzard of Sno-10 as snow and more snow fell (pictured). But it was not enough to deter the 800 Ladies Who Limo from helping to raise funds in the battle for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of North Texas.

First challenge of the day was making it to the event. Smart ones entouraged. Brynn Bagot hitched a ride with her former step-mom Shelle Sills. Amy Stainback and Cathy McKnight had no troubles navigating the route because they “came with a friend Boston who had no problem.” Clever ones carpooled ala limousines ranging the color spectrum from black (pictured) to white. Hummer limos were MIA. Guess they’re just not that fashionable nowadays.

As the guests arrived at the Anatole’s Chantilly Ballroom’s covered walkway, they were greeted by a sea of black bumbershoot-toting valets. The guests were rewarded with major handholding for their trek efforts. Hardly a toe touched slush or a follicle was christened with a snowflake.

While the guests arrived and chit-chatted about their mushing to the luncheon, Runway General Jan Stimple had all her legions of models, stylists, and dressers (pictured) nestled warmly backstage preparing for the show. Yes, it would be delayed a bit, but that was to be expected. Only unexpected news was word of Alexander McQueen’s suicide in London. Such a loss to the fashion world.

But back to the gathering out front. Once inside the hotel, many of the fur-bearing ladies opted to keep their coats on even though the temperature was not too toasty, not too chilly, but just right. Unlike the traditional colored limos, the furs came in all colors — brown, black, pink (pictured), red, white, you name it. For NBA-visiting guests at the Anatole (aka NBA Home Away From Home), it may have appeared that a convention of meerkats was sharing their digs.

Then it was time for lunch. Much to the relief of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of North Texas’ Tina Garcia and Michelle Northcutt, nearly all the tables were filled. They were amazed at the turnout. . . Janie Condon table hit-and-ran despite surgery on her arm just a day before. . . Amy Turner (pictured right with, from the left, Kathy Klingaman and Christine Handy) was also on the mend with a hard-to-see band aid on her forehead covering a little surgery to remove an old scar . . . Rob Sumner of Park Place Dealerships laughed when asked about potential body work resulting from the pending blizzard. . . Winnie Anderson (pictured) was having fun scene-snatching in her black and white. Think Carnaby Street meets Harley-Davidson . . . All in white, Marilyn Klepak chuckled that even at 76, she’s still lunching around. . . Doris Jacobs looked all nice and warm in her coat with matching muff, while daughter Teffy (pictured left with Doris) was in a colorful coat of fabrics and fur. The gals could take the day off from real estating. It’s doubtful anyone would want to see an estate in this snowstorm. . . Past luncheon chairs DeeDee Lee and Claire Emanuelson looked terrific. DeeDee was probably grateful that when she chaired last year’s luncheon the AC had to be turned on.

As lights dimmed, FOX Channel 4’s Clarice Tinsley brought the group to order. She’s an old hand at it since this year is her eighth and according to organizers, “all she gets is a free lunch.” First on the agenda was a fashion show with volunteers and special friends including the likes of Denise Wolford (pictured) accompanied by a Cavalier Spaniel, that looked a tad bit nervous with all the furs in the room.

Then it was time for co-chairs Rainey and her daughter Natalie to enthusiastically thank the gathering for being there. Special thanks went to Crawford Brock (Stanley Korshak provided the clothes), committee members, underwriters and especially Nancy C. Rogers.

Rainey didn’t tell the audience (but sent word to SweetCharity via email) that Nancy, who helped provide $100,000 underwriting for the event. . .

“. . . woke up yesterday (ed. note: Thursday) money and felt so bad and worried that we would not make our numbers as we do raise quite a bit of money thru raffle and selling those 130 beautiful flowers crystal leaded bowls. She told herself that she was going to give us an additional 25K over what she had originally pledged. What a Saint!! When she told me that. I was floored but I had the presence of mind to ask her if she would also throw in that beautiful necklace that she was wearing!! She looked at me and thought about it for 2 split seconds and gave me a big NO!!!!”

They then announced that the “Heart of Gold Award” was being made in the name of the late Lynda Adleta, who died this past September after a battle with blood cancer. Her longtime friend Ellen Terry made the presentation with a moving introduction for this year’s recipient Gigi Potter (pictured left with Ellen), who had chaired the luncheon in the past but also is celebrating her tenth year of being cancer free of lymphoma.

Then Clarice introduced Alicia Landry for the presentation of the “Spirit of Tom Landry Character Award.” Now, Alicia knows how to make an entrance — on the arm of former Dallas Cowboy Randy White, who still looks mighty powerful. Named after Alicia’s late husband, the award was given to Zach Rigby (pictured right with Randy and Alicia), who is an adorable version of Jake Gyllenhaal. Zach’s story of being diagnosed with Adult Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on March 8, 2007 (his 16th birthday) and his treatments were almost as remarkable as his understanding of the challenges facing him. It’s a story worth reading time and time again about this University of Texas freshman. Attention, class: Be very nice to this young man. He’s going to be very important in the years ahead.

The final award of the day went to the Rapp group, which had donated all the creative elements (invitations, website, etc.) to the event. All of their work was rather gangbusters.

It was now time for the show of Korshak finery finishing the parade of lovelies with the spring line (pictured) from hometown sweetheart Lela Rose, who videotaped a message to the crowd. As usual, it was a stellar show, but then what else would you expect when Jan and Korshak get together? Only challenge in the whole procession of clothes was one model who almost let one of the highly-platformed shoes throw her off balance. But like a pro, she regained her footing and carried on with that model glare.

As soon as the lights came up, the raffle items were announced. The Fogiel family did well and not so well. Son Patrick (pictured), who wore his Troy Dungan tie (we thought he looked more like Tucker Carlson), bought a ticket and won a $1,000 gift certificate to HP Village. Mom Rainey bought ten tickets and got “nada.” Well, that’s not exactly right. Seems that big-spending Patrick treated the Fogiel clan to dinner at Mia Cocina in HPV that night. The moment the dinner was on the table, the lights went out, and the family enjoyed dinner in the dark. Thank heaven for Patrick’s gift certificate, because none of the Fogiels had any cash and the credit card machines were dead.

At this point, most event descriptions would end happily-ever-after, but there was a hiccup that needs to be mentioned. As the 800 snow angels scurried to the valets for their modes of transportation home, they were directed to the Anatole Tower’s porte-cochere. It was much more protected from the elements than the original drop off walkway. But even so, the wait times ended up varying from a few minutes to more than a half hour. The Pampered Patrons now looked like a casting call for March of the Penguins as they huddled together for warmth. They couldn’t go inside for fear of missing their cars.

One bundled-up committee member muttered, “I left the lunch early, so I could make a 1 p.m. meeting. I was one of the first ones here and I’m still waiting 30 minutes later.”

A professional in the valet business shook his head saying that not enough parkers had been hired to “handle the 200 cars.” While SweetCharity was not running a tab on the number of vehicles, it is highly suspect that there were only 200 vehicles for the 800 guests. From our vantage point, it appeared that one of the problems was the mega limos trying to do-si-do with the luxury SUV’s into the two available lanes, as well as confusion on locating vehicles in the snow. On the lighter side, it was rather humorous seeing a little SmartCar sneak in among the mega-wheels.

One Nike salesman in town for the NBA All-Star weekend waiting for his car marveled at the long-legged beauties getting into their limousines and proclaimed, “This is beautiful, just beautiful.” (Did he really think this activity was part of the “Welcome to Dallas” program?)

What especially made this $400,000+ day for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society especially beautiful were the generous underwriters and donors including:

Hope Diamond Valentine ($50,000–$99,999) – Richard and Nancy C. Rogers

Diamond Valentine ($25,000–$49,999) – Rapp

Pink Diamond Valentines ($10,000–$24,999) – American Airlines, Park Place Motorcars Dallas,  Ruth Robinson in memory of Edgar A. Robinson, Stanley Korshak, Becca Cason Thrash, Jack Turpin, Billie Thomas, Jack Turpin in memory of Sally Turpin, and Gloria Somerville Wagner

Sapphire Valentines ($5,000–$9,999) – Claire Emanuelson and Muffin Lemak, Mr. & Mrs. Stanford C. Finney Jr., Modern Luxury, Cindy Rachofsky and Meghan Looney, Michelle and Tim Brookshire, Inette Brown, Rosann Gutman and Ruthie Pack, Maura Costello in memory of Ollie Belle Patrick, The Robert and Nancy Dedman Foundation Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas, Al G. Hill Jr., Tavia and Clark Hunt, Gene Jones, Diane Scovell, Dannye Thomas, and Denise and Larry Wolford

Ruby Valentines ($3,000–$4,999) – Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine,
Cordelia and Tom Boone of The Boone Foundation, The Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, Holly Pellham Davis, Ann and John Delatour, Neva Hall and Shelle Sills of Neiman Marcus, Francis Ryburn of The Moss Foundation, Mac, Lisa and Taylor Tichenor,
Tracy Castleman and Ellen Terry in memory of Lynda Adleta, Elbit Systems of America,
Jill Goldberg and Janet Nylund, Kayla Roughton, Jane Sparks and Maria Stafford, and
Christine and Stephanie Schuepbach

Pearl Valentines ($1,650–$2,999) – Rebecca, Anne and Molly Bruder, Mrs. Michael A. Cagle and Mrs. J. Bruce Martindale, Mona Carlton & Grey Stogner,Sally and Tom Dunning Advised Fund of The Dallas Foundation in honor of Gigi Potter, Rusty and Bill Duvall and Janet Evans,
Linda Perrin, A. L. Chilton Foundation, Baker Botts LLP, Mike and Susie Barnett/Benchmark Bank and Title, Tricia Besing, Ann Carruth, Heather Cooper, Lissie Donosky, Lynn Lemon, Rebecca Lutz, Debra Miller, Sara Sands, Carolyn Toledo and Tamareh Tuma, Kym Comer,
Leah Davis of Right Angle Interiors, Friends of Gigi Potter, Debbie and Lauren Gilmore and Loyd and Jennifer Zisk, Lista and Hayley Hightower, Investigators Club, Gigi Potter, Sandra Roberdeau, Kathi and Scott Shuford of Dallas Auction Gallery, and Tom Thumb

Patron Tickets ($500 and above) – Janet Cobb, Janie Condon, Ola Fojtasek, Tricia George, Natalie and Dr. Edwin Ornish, Barbara Sanger, and Laurie-Jo Straty

Donations ($1,000 and above) – Marguerite Hoffman in memory of Robert K. Hoffman, DeeDee Lee in honor of Rainey and Natalie Fogiel, Mr. and Mrs. Ross Perot, in memory of Henry Jamison Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Fronterhouse in honor of Gigi Potter, Heather Furniss, and Deedie Rose

Donations – Naomi Aberly, Heather Balestri in honor of Gigi Potter, Kerry and Lewis Brown Jr. in memory of Lewis E. Brown Sr., Nancy Carter in honor of Nancy Rogers, Robyn Conlon, Juli Harrison in honor or Crawford Brock, Jennifer Karol in memory of Lynda Adleta, Kathy Mattai,
Cynthia Miller in honor of Lisa Kopecky, Mollie Pin in memory of Sara Foxworth and in honor of Christine Schuepbach, Dorothy Singhal, Dolores & Jeff Staffin in memory of Bruce Staffin,
Vera Thornton in honor of Gigi Potter, Diane Butler, Chris and Becky Carroll in honor of Debbie and Hayley Evans, Mark and Martha Crites in honor of Paul May, Barbara Hunt Crow in honor of Gigi Potter, Leeanne Hunt in honor of Gigi Potter, Max and Betty Anne Hunter, Dorothy Lay,
Becky McCamey, Elaine Notestine, Carol Seay in honor of Gigi Potter, Vicki Stensrud, Charlotte and Alexis Claire Tripplehorn, and Susan Ware

As usual in any house, everyone seemed to gather in the kitchen. Thank heaven, Sharif & Munir houses boast really big kitchens. Squeezing her way through the happy-go-party crowd, Junior League President Meredith Camp (pictured) took charge of the program by standing on the staircase and providing thank you’s and welcomes to the crowd of celebrants.

Then she introduced Fred “Mr. Bank of Texas” Ball (pictured), who took his place on the stairs. He told the group that he was so glad that he and the Bank of Texas could be with the ladies of Crystal Charity Ball. Momentary silence. Then a voice from the back of the room said loud enough for all to hear, “Junior League.” It was Fred’s wife and Junior Leaguer Charlotte (pictured). That shout out nearly brought down the house almost literally. One had to wonder if the Balls hadn’t planned the misspoken words.

From that point on, Fred had one and all in his hand. Let’s face it. The crowd is thrilled about the upcoming February 20th event at the Anatole. Ball chair Angela Nash and her co-conspirators have really got the excitement going with their having Rick Springfield as the featured entertainer. Everybody wants to be Jessie’s Girl.

(Ed. note: If you’ve gotten an invitation to the February 20th gala, check out the stamp. They even had custom-made stamps produced for the envelope. Don’t you just love invitations that go that extra mile instead of a meter posting?)

Once the thanks and welcomes were exchanged, the crowd got back to chattering. Such as? Well, Starpower head star Dan Pidgeon (pictured) reported that his business wasn’t that involved with the NBA and he had been surprised at this past year’s numbers: 40% up in transactions but 6% down in sales. Seems that the homebuilders’ slowdown affected their overall sales, but individuals were still adding media rooms and all those goodies. . . . Antonia Hubert (pictured) arrived looking rather spectacular in a leather coat. “I can’t remember which designer,” she said. . . Randall Graham and Cody Baker were just a few seconds late getting to the party. Seems that they had been at the Special Care and Career Services (SCCS) party in the Park Cities with Ebby Halliday. On their way, they dropped Ebby off at her home, where she discovered a box of Mrs. See’s candy on her doorstep for a gentleman admirer. . . . Another late arrival from the SCCS gathering was Elizabeth Grambell. Don’t be too upset with Elizabeth’s being late. She had an excellent excuse. She’s co-chairing the SCCS gala. . . Maggie Kipp was still another arriving from the SCCS. Heck, why didn’t they all just carpool?

Wanna bet nobody is late to see Rick on the 20th?

Photo provided by the Women's Board of The Dallas Opera

We have now moved into the next generation of leaders for the opera. These are the people who took the dreams of their predecessors and turned them into reality. Need an example? Drive on over to the Winspear Opera House.

While there are individuals who have been part of the driving force for the opera’s growth, it’s become a true passion for certain couples. With as much concern as parents of a child, they have nurtured the opera to its present position. One of those couple is Marnie and Kern Wildenthal. They have used their individual strengths to help so many organizations in our community. For instance,

• Kern is currently the president of the Dallas Opera as well as a founding board member of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. He has  served on the boards of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, Dallas Citizens Council, Dallas Assembly, The Science Place, Dallas Symphony and Dallas Museum of Art,  Dr. Wildenthal was President of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas from 1986-2008, and in September of 2008 was appointed President of Southwestern Medical Foundation. He received the TACA Silver Cup Award for Volunteer Leadership in the Arts.
• Marnie was a teacher at the Episcopal School of Dallas for 30 years before retiring in 2008.  She has served on numerous boards including the Mental Health Association, Vickery Meadow Learning Center, Highland Park Education Foundation, Uplift Education, Chiapas Project, Shelton School, and Friends of WRR. She was elected Chairman of TACA in 2005 and she was President of Charter 100 in 2006-2007.  She was also docent chairman for Dallas Opera Guild.
• Together, the Wildenthals received the Virginia Chandler Dykes Award for Public Service.

With all of these accomplishments in mind, the Women’s Board of The Dallas Opera will honor Marnie and Kern at the 19th annual Henry S. Miller Jr. Founders’ Award luncheon on Wednesday, February 17, in the Main Ballroom of the Rosewood Crescent Hotel. Jolie Humphrey and Sarah Seddelmeyer are the event chairs, so you know that it will an exceptional occasion.

A well-deserved bravo to the Wildenthals!

The annual Attitudes & Attire covered the full range of emotions today  at the Dallas Trade Mart. Ranging from the runway antics of playful models wearing delicious clothes designed by Paulette Martsolf (pictured) of Allie-Coosh to the heart rendering stories from beneficiaries of the A&A program, the room of ladies and gents had a memorable time.

Surprise highlight was Ebby Halliday Acers, who donated one of her suits to A&A, and then pulled out her ukulele to sing a tribute to honoree Caroline Rose Hunt. At one point, Ebby kept strumming and stopped singing trying to recall the lyrics. Then the nearly 99-year old smiled and said, still strumming, “I’m showing my age.” She brought the house down.

As hard as it was to follow up that act, A&A Executive Director Lyn Berman started the presentation of the Kim Dawson Attitude Award by introducing Laurie Harrison and her mother Caroline Rose Hunt (pictured with Laurie). It was Laurie’s task to introduce her mother. It was a marvelously rich and strong introduction filled with a daughter’s love and admiration. So much so that Caroline hesitated to receive her award. “I didn’t know what Laurie was going to say,” as she teared up. Capturing the mother-daughter exchange was Caroline’s granddaughter/Laurie’s daughter Hassie Harrison (pictured) with her trusty iPhone. What a cutie!

Instead of the traditional bouquet of roses, Lyn presented Caroline with a bouquet of flowers with “teeth” added in. Why teeth? Why to promote A&A’s highly-successful dental program, of course! After all, it takes more than clothes to develop a healthy attitude.

The next part of the day’s agenda were testimonials from three women who had participated in the program. Each woman came from a different backgrounds, but each had truly fallen on hard times. The last speaker (let’s call her Ms. T) brought home the need for the dental appearance/care. Guests learned that due to her years of drug abuse, she had lost many of her teeth. Trying to recover and salvage her appearance with no funds, she started using Super Glue to attach everything from artificial nails to whatever in place of the missing teeth. Eventually her oral health was at risk and she learned about the A&A program. Voila! Ms. T received “new teeth” from A&A. Not only did her physical well being return, but her self-esteem changed her life. At the end of the talk, Ms. T flashed a beautiful smile and was rewarded with applause and smiles in return.

With that story, hands went up to buy more raffle tickets to support the efforts of A&A. In the crowd were Ellen Terry with card playing compatriot Nance Chapman (pictured left with Ellen), who reported that Dee Lincoln has her sights on adding another restaurant to her stable. This one will be in Lewisville. And Dee’s successful wine room at Cowboys Stadium has been such a hit, she’s looking to other sports venues. Hmm, Nancy, you need to check with Dee.. . . Sisters Barbara Crow and Libby Allred with their mom Nancy Hunt were beaming as their aunt Caroline and cousin Laurie made their way to the stage. They were equally pleased to hear the many success stories that have resulted from A&A. How about 13,000!

And drum roll for the sponsors who gave this event special meaning to guests and A&A participants:

• Platinum Sponsors ($20,000)- Allie-Coosh, Dallas Market Center, Ming Wang, Nortex, and The B.E.L.I.E.F. Foundation
• Gold Sponsors ($10,000) – Cheryl MacLennan, I Make Your Video, Margaret and Al G. Hill Family, and Sephora
• Silver Sponsors ($5,000) – E-Rewards Inc., ExxonMobil, FedEx Kinkos, Mrs. Trammell Crow, Sarah Losinger, and The Rosewood Corporation
• Bronze sponsors ($2,500) – 7-Eleven Inc., Bibbentuckers, Brinker International, Frost Bank, Lay and Associates, Rebecca L. Euwer M.D., Republic National Distributing Company, Wendy Krispin Caterer, and Whole Foods
• Pewter Sponsors ($1,500) – BeautiControl, Ebby Halliday Realtors, Harold B. Berman – Attorney, Kathleen Smith, Kim Dawson Agency, MPD Ventures, Neiman Marcus Group, Peter and Lael Brodsky, Rent-A-Center, Roach Howard Smith and Barton Inc., SAP, Stila Cosmetics, Taylor Winfield, and Tom Thumb

To get area people, both men and women,pumped up, two groups are offering great opportunities to do the “red” thing:

• Park Place Dealerships (pictured) is turning red but not with envy. Rather, it’s getting behind the heart-healthy program for both clients and associations. Its employees are also getting into the effort through a one-day-only opportunity to dress down. PPD is “allowing employees to wear jeans with red shirts/blouses” in exchange for $5. May not seem like a big deal to most folks, but the PPD staff is notorious for being buttoned-down fashion plates. As for guests, they can come any old way. But if they take a test drive of a vehicle on Friday or Saturday, PPD will make a $25 donation to the American Heart Association.
• Need Him Ministries is holding the Tender Hearts luncheon at its new location, The Hope Center in Plano, with music by local artist Jenn Petersen and guest speaker Amena Brown. Sponsored by Baylor Regional Medical Center and The Heart Hospital Plano, the luncheon will benefit Need Him Ministries. One request: please wear red.

Here’s some “FYI” provided by the Park Place Dealership on women and heart health:

• While 1 in 30 American women dies of breast cancer, almost 1 in 3 will die from cardiovascular disease.
• Research shows that 80% of cardiac events in women could be prevented if women made the right choices for their hearts involving diet, exercise, and abstinence from smoking.
• African-American and Mexican-American women have higher heart disease and stroke risk factors than white women of comparable socioeconomic status.
• Heart disease rates in post-menopausal women are two to three times higher than in pre-menopausal women of the same age.

So, here’s your excuse to buy that luscious red lipstick and wear it for the sake of your heart.

Since this group of very un-bookworms cuts to the chase, the author announcement was made early in the evening — Chicago’s Jen Lancaster. If that name is new to you, settle back, have a good laugh, and join her fan club. Getting her start as a blogger, Jen’s talents have resulted in such books as Bitter is the New Black; Bright Lights, Big A-s ( a word that SweetCharity is not allowed to use); Such a Pretty Fat; and Pretty in Plaid.

Now normally guests exit quickly after such an announcement is made, but, oh, no, not with this group! They stayed; they chatted; they drank; they met Chick Lit Luncheon sponsors Lara (pictured) and Robert Tafel; they tried on clothes; they bought clothes, perfume, purses (with a nice percentage going to Community Partners of Dallas).

Must admit that the shower curtain-style changing rooms at times proved to be a bit revealing themselves. As one guest passed by, her purse accidentally pulled the curtain open revealing a guest who was in a state of undress. Thank heaven, she heeded her mama’s advice to wear her prettiest undies. Oh, well, it was a girly party, so what the diff.

And speaking of girls, those gals responsible for the Chick Lit fun

were the likes of Event Chair Jennifer Tobin and Honorary Chair Sarah Losinger. And of course, since the whole Chick Lit program benefits CPD, its President Paige McDaniel (pictured) provided her well-known magic spark of energy and zeal. Has she ever met a stranger?

Bit of trivia: Did you know that last year’s luncheon raised $70,000 for CPD to provide necessities for the children in the care of Dallas County Child Protective Services?

Suggestion: Make plans to attend the luncheon, but for heaven sakes start following Jen’s blog and read her books. You’ll laugh all the way to the luncheon.