There was singing, dancing, wining and dining in the Peacock Room at the House of Blues on Thursday. No surprise there, except that the party action took place in the middle of the day — for Beth Muecke's 50th birthday bash, a gathering as delightfully quirky as Muecke's playful sense of fashion.
The Peacock Room, for example, is more associated with late-night club action than with a Ladies Who Lunch affair. The hip hop dance routine — starring Bob Luna, Channel 13's Gina Gaston and the birthday girl — was as unexpected as the cocktail attire that some of the femmes donned just for the fun of it. (Muecke was a dance major at the University of Texas. While she did mostly ballet turns, Gaston and Luna rocked the room with their bootie moves.)
The turnout of guests approached 100 and included family, long-time friends, newer friends and a sprinkling of men including Bryan Muecke, who hosted the party for his wife. Joining him in putting it all together were hostesses Marian Cisarik, Liz Decker, Debbie Festari and Karen Payne.
Surprise guests were her father, Milt Brown in from Rockford, Ill., and her son, Harrison Muecke, a junior at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles. The Mueckes' daughter, 17-year-old Kendra, with musical backup entertained from the stage with two of Beth Muecke's favorite songs.
The sentimental moments between Beth and her father and between Beth and Harrison had practically everyone in the room — including Ceron — wiping tears from their eyes. Among those getting weepy were Ellen Wagnon, Kelli Blanton, Cabrina Owsley, Dancie Ware and Jane Brennan-Martin.
In the end, it was a cheerful party where guests included Liz Glanville, Beth Sanders Moore, Phoebe Tudor, Greggory Burk, Linda Brown and Janet Gurwitch.
Book party for Brinker
Former Ambassador to Hungary Nancy Brinker was the toast of a chichi gathering Thursday night at the home of John and Becca Cason Thrash in honor of her new memoir Promise Me. The book recounts her sister's, Susan G. Komen, her battle with breast cancer and Brinker's deathbed promise which led to the creation of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The 30-year-long effort is today one of the world's leading breast cancer non-profits.
Maria and Neil Bush were on hand to congratulate Brinker, a White House chief of protocol under President George W. Bush. Also in the mix of around 80 fans were Ann and Matthew Wolf, Dr. John Mendelsohn, Elizabeth and Gary Petersen, Joyce and Hugh Echols, Debbie and Rudy Festari, Diane Lokey Farb, Ceron, Bill Caudell and Candice and Lonnie Schiller.
Bush not so under the radar
It's pretty hard to keep an event a secret when METRO is momentarily halted and the streets are cordoned off surrounding the venue. Just ask the downtown workers who were redirected away from the Corinthian during rush hour on Wednesday.
Clearly, the only entity that could command such a forceful redirection of traffic would be a sitting U.S. President, a head of state or a most-recent U.S. President. That would be former President George W. Bush, who was in Houston briefly for a fundraising dinner in support of the George W. Bush Presidential Library on the Southern Methodist University Campus in Dallas.
It's all very hush, hush. The library hasn't returned phone calls on the subject. The caterer won't talk. It appears that it's all in keeping with 43's wishes to keep the library donors — and apparently fundraisers — secret.
So we can't confirm what went on inside the Corinthian, but we can tell you what the word on the street is — tickets were $25,000 per plate and those attending included Nancy and Rich Kinder, Terri Havens and Mindy and Jeff Hildebrand.
Giving a hoot
The ballroom of River Oaks Country Club resonated with Owl spirit during "An Evening in Rice's Honour," the biennial fundraiser for Rice University Athletics. Cynthia and Bucky Allshouse and Linda and Dr. Walter McReynolds (both men former Rice football players) chaired the black-tie dinner evening that brought in $300,000 for athletic programs and scholarships.
The evening honored Kent Anderson and baseball coach Wayne Graham. Among those applauding the honorees were new Rice athletic director Rick Greenspan and wife Jenny, Y. Ping Sun and David Leebron, Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, Molly and Jim Crownover, Becky and Ralph O'Connor and Waverly and Adam Peakes.
A healthy read
Recipe for Success founder Gracie Cavnar is still beaming over her visit to Washington D.C. for the launch of Norah O'Donnell's new book "Baby Love: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Meals for Your Baby and Toddler," a collection of homemade baby food recipes that she created along with her husband, chef Geoff Tracy. A who's who of the broadcasting world turned out for O'Donnell, chief Washington correspondent and anchor for MSNBC, including CNN's Dana Bash and ABC's John Cochran.
Cavnar is bringing O'Donnell to Houston as keynote speaker at the Recipe for Success "Blue Plate Special Cafe Harvest Lunch and Market" on Nov. 10 at the Hilton Americas-Houston. Karen and Frank Steininger chair the fundraiser which supports the Seed-to-Plate Nutrition programs of the non-profit.
Sight 'ems
Cathy and Giorgio Borlenghi dining at a poolside cabana table for two at Hotel Granduca where Maureen and Jim Hackett had dinner as did Cynthia and Bucky Allshouse with Karen and Mike Mayell. Annie Amante and a bevy of girlfriends swooped through as well . . .
Holly Moore, Gregory Fourticq, Randy Powers and Neal Hamil having a late supper in the bar at Tony's . . .
Mary Ann McKeithan and David McKeithan, Maryann and Jodie Hoffer, John Sullivan and Barbara and Ulyesse LeGrange lunching at Nino's.
Former President George W. Bush swooped in for a fundraiser for his library.
Wally Funk became a hometown hero in Grapevine. Facebook/Wally Funk's Space for Race 
Wally Funk in her '20s as a flight instructor. Facebook/Wally Funk's Space for Race