Party in the park
Houston Chronicle - Thursday, April 23, 2009
For the second time in as many months, Houston’s fickle weather tried to wash away a Hermann Park Conservancy benefit, this time “An Evening in the Park,” held last Friday during the monsoons.
But a hardy band of stalwarts, 400 strong, braved the elements to make the event a success. Early in the soggy afternoon, conservancy executive director Doreen Stoller announced a fashion change in an e-mail blast. She suggested “summer whites and wellies” for the party that would go on “rain or shine.”
A few guests dressed accordingly, such as conservancy president Don Short,who stepped out in a Burberry raincoat, Wellingtons and a slouchy rain hat. Others wore rain boots, and plenty opted for waterproof Crocs with their linens and summery cottons.
The rains subsided long enough for chairs Kara and Ray Childress and Terri and John Havens to welcome guests to the cocktail reception at the new Kinder Station. Still no rain by dinner time, which allowed the throng to head for the party tent via the train, golf carts and on foot across the new $1 million Tiffany & Co. Foundation bridge.
The evening celebrated completion of the new train station and the Lake Plaza and raised nearly $390,000 for ongoing conservancy programs. Bill Coats, accompanied by his wife, Nancy Manderson, and their children, was honored for his many years of contributions to the park.
Among those persevering between the downpours were Andrea and Mayor Bill White, Cherie and Jim Flores, Cathy and Giorgio Borlenghi, Mary Tere and Ricardo Perusquia, Anne and Noble Carl, Ann Short, and Susie and Sanford Criner.
And, of course, all three mayoral candidates were on hand — City Controller Annise Parker, City Councilman Peter Brown and attorney Gene Locke.
Zac attack
Zac Posen, that youthful designer with the seductive dark curls, wooed everyone at the table at Gracie Cavnar’s aerie last week at an intimate dinner in his honor. Posen was in town as the guest of Saks Fifth Avenue for a Houston Grand Opera luncheon/style show at Hotel ZaZa.
At Cavnar’s party, Posen charmed guests including Lynn Wyatt, Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, and Greggory and Patrick Burk.
Who knew that Posen is as talented in the kitchen as at the design table? He was taken with chef Randy Evans’ creations. Remember Evans, late of Brennan’s, is opening his own restaurant, Haven, and the Posen menu was straight from the new eatery. Posen and Evans are new best friends.
Joining in the feast were Denise Bush Bahr and Philip Bahr, Sharin and Scott Gaille, and Saks’ Terry Zmyslo and Sylvia Forsythe. Terry Wayne Jones stood in for Bob Cavnar, who had a last-minute biz call to New York.
Well-heeled
Click, click, click! The high-heels clattered down the main corridor of the Galleria recently for the Neiman Marcus Stiletto Strut that drew 100 women to the unusual, early-morning benefit for the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor College of Medicine.
Sue Smith and Judy Smith (no relation) chaired, and Judy’s daughters, Coco Mahoney and Noelle Jahncke, co-chaired the event sponsored by Smith Production Inc. and the Smith Foundation. Special guest was Ken Downing, senior vice president and fashion director for Neiman Marcus, who served as emcee. The event included the 8:30 a.m. strut down the mall, followed by a champagne brunch in Neiman’s, and raised $270,000.
Sight ’ems
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison making a splash at LaGriglia, where the gubernatorial candidate lunched with Dynegy CEO Bruce Williamson, her state finance chair John Nau, supporter Larry Finder and Sue Walden, Hutchison fundraiser for the Houston area …
Designer Zac Posen touring the Menil Collection, the Twombly Gallery and the Rothko Chapel with Menil curators Kristina Van Dyke and Michelle White. Later in the day, the Menil’s Vance Muse and Posen pal Becca Cason Thrash escorted the designer through the Menil House, where he swooned over the Philip Johnson architecture and the Charles James interiors.