In nine decades of community service, the Junior League of Houston has evolved from a small group of genteel ladies with a desire to improve the community into a high-octane volunteer organization that this year will register more than 71,000 volunteer hours and $800,000 in grants and project support.
The 90th anniversary celebration began in earnest with the annual fall fashion show and luncheon at Junior League headquarters on Briar Oaks Lane. And for both the luncheon and dinner presentation of fashions from Tootsies, the theme was the 1920s. White ostrich plumes, strings of pearls and a flapper headdress or two were nods to the Houston chapter's founding in 1925.
When the Houston league was formed, working women were an anomaly while today 80 percent of league members are employed.
According to the JLH website, the league was founded by "12 visionary women as a means to fund a well-baby clinic for underserved children." That clinic has since expanded over the decades to become the Junior League Health Care Clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital.
League president Elizabeth Love reminded the sellout crowd of the league's mission to "develop the potential of women through training and education" thereby "creating agents of change." She also noted that when the Houston league was formed, working women were an anomaly while today 80 percent of league members are employed. Love works with Houston Endowment.
Key to the event's success were Tea Room chair Josie Morgan; the Tea Room special events team Bethany Buchanan, Katie Kildal and Cherish Bradshaw and the beloved Tea Room general manager Malcolm Rowland.
Look for more 1920s-themed activities through the 2014-15 season. As a special nod to the league, corporate partner Tenenbaum & Co. is hosting a special offer through February — 10 percent discount for those who mention the Junior League of Houston and an additional five percent of the sale goes back to JLH. (League officers were draped in dazzling Tenenbaum jewels for the fall fashion event.)
Among the luncheon guests were Amber Mackle, Cheryl Ormston, Kimberly Davis, Pam Ploss, Andrea Davidson, Amy Holmes, Danielle Durocher, Marian Hilpert, Christina Stith and Shelby Damiani.
Patty Freeman, from left, Malcolm Rowland and Marsha Smith.
