Our entrepreneurial friend Lydia was able to acquire tickets for us to attend a dinner at the Hilton Hotel where the who’s who of the Houston upmarket set were out in their finest attire. The cost of each seat was $750 or if you so desired you could purchase a table for the small outlay of $25,000 !!!!
The purpose of this gala event was to raise money for college scholarships for students of Texas history – it was also to give thanks for the life of the late Ron Stone, a former tv anchorman who had a love of Texas history and whose family set up the Ron Stone Foundation in order to achieve Ron’s vision. Many people graced the stage with stories from the past and a particularly moving speech was made by his daughter on behalf of the Stone family.
There were 5 Texan Governor’s in the room – the current one (Rick Perry) and 4 former governors. In fact on our way into the building we thanked and had a chat to a nice old man for giving way to us in the line of traffic as we were trying to get into the Hilton driveway and were amazed to see him take the stage as one of the former governors! The former President George Bush Sr and his wife Barbara were to attend however he fell ill with a cold and earlier that day videoed his sentiments for the cause and apologized for not being there. (If I had paid the $750 I think I would have wanted a refund!!!) Current President George W. Bush also sent a letter of congratulations and paid tribute to the late Ron Stone. There were also many, many tv personalities in the room – thank goodness Lydia was there to point them all out and tell us who they were!
The purpose of this gala event was to raise money for college scholarships for students of Texas history – it was also to give thanks for the life of the late Ron Stone, a former tv anchorman who had a love of Texas history and whose family set up the Ron Stone Foundation in order to achieve Ron’s vision. Many people graced the stage with stories from the past and a particularly moving speech was made by his daughter on behalf of the Stone family.
There were 5 Texan Governor’s in the room – the current one (Rick Perry) and 4 former governors. In fact on our way into the building we thanked and had a chat to a nice old man for giving way to us in the line of traffic as we were trying to get into the Hilton driveway and were amazed to see him take the stage as one of the former governors! The former President George Bush Sr and his wife Barbara were to attend however he fell ill with a cold and earlier that day videoed his sentiments for the cause and apologized for not being there. (If I had paid the $750 I think I would have wanted a refund!!!) Current President George W. Bush also sent a letter of congratulations and paid tribute to the late Ron Stone. There were also many, many tv personalities in the room – thank goodness Lydia was there to point them all out and tell us who they were!
Joanne King Herring delivered a speech about her association with Ron Stone. She is a local Houstonian - socialite, political activist, businesswoman, and former talk show host. In the 1980s she played a role in helping U.S. Representative Charlie Wilson persuade the American government to train and arm resistance fighters in Afghanistan to fend off Soviet troops, which invaded and then occupied the country in 1979. These events inspired the book Charlie Wilson's War followed by a film in 2007 where Joanne Herring is portrayed by actress Julie Roberts - there is just no end to the people that cross our path!
There was an auction and John & I made sure we were sitting on our hands during that little event! The highlight of the evening for me though, was the country singer Clint Black (married to actress Lisa Hartman Black) – he was great – I just love country music! We were also encouraged to take home the engraved Texas wine glasses from the table – we managed to retrieve a set of 4 – yee haa!
The following night we had dinner at a Vietnamese/Chinese Restaurant called “Hollywood” (who would have ever thought….) with John & Cheryl, two EDN employees who are leaving in a couple of weeks to go back to their former life in Adelaide and they will really be missed. Following dinner we went to a club where we met up with friends Pat & Sam, Jan & Charles, Jeanne & Russ and Candace and her daughter. It was a CD Release Party for a group named “Traveler” and they were really entertaining. Unfortunately we had to leave quite early as John & I had a 4.30am start the following morning for a 14 mile walk with Houston Fit – boy we must be keen eh!
Anna & I also attended two craft shows this week – one organized by our yoga friend Phillipa for the International Connections Houston group and the second one was recommended by our friend Pat and was the ‘Betsy’s Holiday Show’ located in a little suburban house in Montrose where art and craft work created by 12 different artists were on display and sale. Would you believe that at both these events I enjoyed looking at all the different works of art and didn’t actually open my purse at all !!!
Anna & I also attended two craft shows this week – one organized by our yoga friend Phillipa for the International Connections Houston group and the second one was recommended by our friend Pat and was the ‘Betsy’s Holiday Show’ located in a little suburban house in Montrose where art and craft work created by 12 different artists were on display and sale. Would you believe that at both these events I enjoyed looking at all the different works of art and didn’t actually open my purse at all !!!
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