2 CommentsBoosting school spirit
Memorial High School’s Booster Club will kick off its annual Spirit Fiesta 6-8 p.m. Sept. 21 with an evening of shopping and cocktails at Tory Burch in the Galleria. Tory Burch, a women’s boutique, will give a portion of the evening’s proceeds to the booster club, which supports students in extra-curricular activities. Gearing up for the shopping are co-chairs Angela Poujol and Rebecca Thibodeaux as well as publicity chair Melinda Overstreet. Contact Melinda at melo1554 (at) aol (dot) com for more info.
Leaving food allergies behind
Lace up your walking shoes and join thousands of other Houstonians Sept. 11 for the 5th Annual Walk for Food Allergy: Moving Toward a Cure event at Sam Houston Park. The walk is sponsored by the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). Ashton Avery, pictured (in front) with friends and family, will participate in the event, and dad Allen Avery will be cheering on Team Ashton. The 2.5-mile walk is non-competitive, and there is no entry fee. Food allergies affect more people every year, and young children have the highest incidence. Last year’s FAAN Walk included nearly 2,000 Houstonians who raised more than $175,000 – making it the top fundraising walk among 35 similar walk events held nationwide. This year’s race coordinator is Mike Lade, a longtime supporter of FAAN. Funds raised will be used to increase awareness and support food-allergy research. Visit www.foodallergywalk.org for more info.
Making beautiful music together
Houston Christian High School’s 120-member Concert Choir, known as Una Voce, and its 18-member Show Choir traveled to Dallas to compete last spring in the Park Music Festival, held at the Meyerson Symphony Center. David Dalton performed solos in Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat from the musical Guys and Dolls and also sang Climbing Up the Mountain, a traditional spiritual piece. The choir and show choir both won Best in Class awards. Singers who performed include Sarah Stagg, Carrie Craft, Merrill Bohmbach, Ashleigh Rogers, James Whitcomb, Harrison Paret and Brian Scheel. Pictured celebrating their accomplishments as part of Una Voce are (from left) Parker Malone, Katie Dawkins, Nico Zulli and David Dalton. Houston Christian has won private-school choir honors at the state competition for the past 11 years.
An artful anniversary
Cornelia Long and Peter Marzio welcomed guests to a cocktail reception in June celebrating the first anniversary of the opening of The Nidhika and Pershant Mehta Arts of India Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. More than 100 guests attended the celebration, many dressed in Indian-inspired clothing. Seen in the summertime crowd were Renu and Suresh Khator, Prabha Bala and Chong-Ok Matthews, Sumant Patel, Ninan Mathew, Neda Ladjevardian, Ravi Chidambaram, Christine Starkman, Shantha Raghuthaman, Sushila Agrawal, Krishna Mudan and Valerie Greiner. Pictured toasting the gallery’s anniversary are (from left) Bhupinder Gill, Nidhika Mehta and Jaleh Sallee.
Hitting the links for education
The Spring Branch Education Foundation’s 15th annual Golf Classic, Oct. 24 at River Ridge Golf Course, will celebrate Spring Branch ISD’s 65th birthday. The event co-chairs are SBEF board members (pictured, from left) J. Carter Breed and Terry Breuer. Members of the planning committee include Patty Busmire, Gary Cooper, Warren Matthews, Roy Montalbano, Ted Nowak, Ron Nunley, Rudy Ramos, Doug Rapier, Portia Willis and Cece Thompson. SBEF funds programs for students and faculty. You can register your golf team by calling 713-251-2381 or go to springbranchisd.com/sbef/events.htm#1 for more info.
Extreme spirit
The design team from ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition returned to Houston July 25 to help another family, and students of First Baptist Academy were on hand for a community pep rally. The family of Elaine and Eric Johnson and their five daughters lived in a 720-square-foot home in Houston’s Third Ward. The family inherited their house and planned to update and improve it before Hurricane Ike struck, making those plans impossible. Watching the show’s signature production van pull up in front of the Johnsons’ home for the big announcement were cheerleaders Renee Alphonso and Awbrey Foster. More than 3,500 volunteers worked over six days and nights to build a 4,500-square-foot, two-story home for the Johnsons. The episode will air locally on Sept. 26. Seen volunteering their time during the construction were (pictured) First Baptist Academy music teacher Joy Harris and her husband, Josh Harris. Others seen with hammer and nails include FBA grad and Baylor student Alyssa Savana and Mary Torregrossa, an assistant at FBA’s middle school.
From this day forward
The storybook wedding of Molly Doherty and Bobby Welling took place at St. Anne Catholic Church July 17, with a celebration after the ceremony at River Oaks Country Club. Guests, including Kathy and John Scott, Janey and Jim Lee, Candy and Scott Thompson, Susan and Pat Doherty, Suzanne and Kurt Guenther, Cathy and Tom Robinson, Debby and Rick Liesse, Suzann and Terry Richardson, Julie and Tim Samson, and Marie and Dan Guarino, toasted the bride and groom in their new life together. Molly wore her family’s cathedral-length heirloom veil, a rose-point Brussels lace accessory purchased in Europe by her great-great-grandfather for her great-grandmother. Molly was the fourth-generation bride to wear the heirloom veil. Pictured are (from left) father-of-the-bride Mike Doherty, Molly Doherty Welling, Bobby Welling and mother-of-the-bride Crissy Doherty after the wedding ceremony.
Passing the gavel
Gayle Barnett, the outgoing president of The Houston Junior Forum, handed the gavel to incoming president Janet Juban at Roz Cooley’s home this summer. Janet will be in charge during the community group’s 65th anniversary year. She and luncheon chair Lynda Gilbreath will welcome guests to the HJF Fall Luncheon and Fashion Show Sept. 8 at the Houston Country Club. Guest speaker Maureen Hackett, who serves as chair of the Greater Houston Community Foundation, will share her philanthropic wisdom. Seen holding flowers to symbolize the blooming new year are officers (pictured, from left) Janet Juban, Carolyn Shelton, Paula Howeth, Ann Gibson and Gayle Barnett.
Ways to age gracefully
Oct. 27 is the date of the 12th Annual Women’s Health Summit featuring Emmy-award winning broadcast journalist Lesley Stahl, co-editor of television’s 60 Minutes news hour. The event at River Oaks Country Club will feature educational programs about health from 10 to 11:30 a.m., followed by a noon luncheon. Mary Bain Pearson and Bain Pearson Pitts are the event’s co-chairs, and Nancy Dinerstein and Mary Ann McKeithan will receive the Spirit of Excellence Award. Kelli Cohen Fein and Denise Hazen will be recognized with the Excellence in Bloom Award. Honorary chairs for the summit are Terry Huffington and Ralph Dittman. The summit is sponsored by the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine and will offer up-to-date information on issues relating to women’s health. Pictured are (from left) 2009 honorees Kimberly DeLape and Diane Gendel, author and keynote speaker Barbara Taylor Bradford, Donatella Benckenstein and Betty Hrncir.
One last dance
Crowds turned out in force for the Houston premier screening of the movie Mao’s Last Dancer at the Museum of Fine Arts. Seen in the crowd were actors Kyle MacLachlan and Bruce Greenwood, who had starring roles in the movie, ballet star Li Cunxin, and Ginya and Clayton Trier along with daughter and Houston Ballet fan Kelley Trier. The movie tells the story of young, poverty-stricken Li Cunxin from China and his inspirational journey as a world-class dancer and principal with Houston Ballet. Li joined friends and former dance partners Suzanne Longley, Janie Parker and Martha Butler at the screening. As a young man he was discovered by Houston Ballet artistic director emeritus Ben Stevenson, who brought Li to America as part of the first cultural-exchange program allowed between China and the United States, with the help of immigration attorney Charles Foster. The film is showing this month at Landmark River Oaks Theatre.
Bee Seen in Buzz About Town
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