• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    Shelby About Town

    A New Year's Eve blowout they'll be talking about all year long

    Shelby Hodge
    Jan 5, 2010 | 12:00 am
    • Mylar confetti showered from all corners at the stroke of midnight.
    • Judy and Glenn Smith
    • The Eagles were the surprise entertainment.
    • The 72-inch mirror ball dropped at midnight.
    • Davis Jahncke and Noelle Smith Jahncke
    • Kelly Biggs, from left, Lisa Newburn, Jackson Hicks, Alexander Rogers, JohnWilbanks and David Kurio
    • Kelly Mahoney and Coco Smith Mahoney, from left, with Judy and Glenn Smith andNoelle Smith Jahncke and Davis Jahncke
    • Coco Smith Mahoney

    The Glenn Smith family has hosted a few incredible parties in recent years, but none could top the New Year's Eve blowout at the Hilton Americas-Houston that is sure to have guests swooning all the way to 2011.

    While the decor and food were over the top (imagine the ballroom modified into three tiers of seating), the entertainment line-up scored way off the party charts.

    Following the cocktail hour, guests entered the fantasy ballroom where the sizzling Starlight Experience from New York ruled with two hours of drop dead fabulous dance music.

    Next up was Frankie Valli, joined by a close facsimile of the original Four Seasons, who performed all the familiar top hit golden oldies. As his set concluded, Valli led the countdown to midnight when a 72-inch-diameter mirror ball descended from the ceiling and confetti guns in all four corners of the ballroom exploded in an endless shower of Mylar confetti. In what guests thought was the party finale, Valli crooned Auld Lang Syne.

    But wait, there was more. At the moment Valli hit the last note, the wall on the opposite side of the ballroom opened to reveal the Eagles on stage firing up their 90-minute set with Hotel California. It was a near-riot (well, close enough) as all 650 guests surged across the vast ballroom to vie for space on the dance floor. The camera phones and personal cameras popped like holiday firecrackers. It was a singing and dancing frenzy for the entire set.

    Judy and Glenn Smith and their daughters and sons-in-law, Noelle and Davis Jahncke and Coco and Kelly Mahoney, were over the moon with the success of the party that launched at 7 p.m. and didn't shut down until 3 in the morning, after a lavish breakfast buffet. It was exactly what the family had hoped for when planning began in earnest on this party last spring.

    It was no small production army that made this soirée sizzle. The Smiths tapped party planner extraordinaire Lisa Newburn of Boerne, who then brought on board floral designer David Kurio of Austin, linens maestro Harry Rice of Galveston and Nelson Robinson of Fort Worth-based Nelson Robinson/Stageworks. The Houston-based team included Jackson & Co. with Kelly Biggs as point man, John Wilbanks of Pro Sound, Glenda Haley of Haley Productions and Alexander Rogers, who was there to photograph it all.

    The '40s Hollywood theme was executed in a palette of white, black and silver, the ballroom floor carpeted in white just for this evening. A black-and-white zebra carpet covered the upper tier seating area. Decor highlights included a crystal dragon suspended above the Grauman's Chinese Theater food station, a 10-foot tall ice sculpture bear at the Russian Tea Room station where caviar and smoked salmon were washed down with vodka shots, and a recreation of the Brown Derby Restaurant where prime rib was on the menu. And that's just to name a few of the intriguing dining options.

    Of course, Kurio worked his expected magic with zillions of white flowers — orchids, peonies, hydrangeas and amaryllis. Guests are still talking about the twin floral peacocks that stood inside the entrance, their tails comprised completely of white orchids.

    New Year's Eve merger

    Following their marriage in a small chapel on the Middleton family ranch in Liberty, Macy Shaver and Mayes Middleton led the parade to Tony's for a no-holds-barred celebration that continued from one decade into the next. The champagne flowed into the wee morning hours as guests, numbering more than 250, danced to a 15-piece band, the restaurant large enough to accommodate all.

    Guests grazed through a variety of food stations that included everything delicious under the sun from lobster and stone crabs to a Viennoise table laden with 20 different desserts. No typical wedding cake for this creative couple. The center of culinary attention was a colossal ice cream bombe 6-feet-tall.

    unspecified
    news/society

    Comedy for a Cure

    Mike Birbiglia brings heartfelt laughs to sold-out Houston fundraiser

    Joel Luks
    May 12, 2025 | 4:00 pm
    Broach Foundation for Brain Cancer Research 2025
    Photo by Priscilla Dickson
    Gildy Lang, Mike Birbiglia, and Dr. Frederick Lang.

    Laughter met legacy at the 13th Annual Stand-Up for Brain Cancer Gala, held at the River Oaks Country Club. Hosted by The Broach Foundation for Brain Cancer Research, the evening welcomed award-winning comedian Mike Birbiglia back to Houston, where his singular storytelling style had guests roaring with laughter — and perhaps shedding a few meaningful tears along the way.

    Birbiglia, known for acclaimed shows like Sleepwalk With Me and The Old Man and The Pool, brought his signature blend of humor and heart to the sold-out gala. Fresh off a 2024 Emmy nomination, he weaved relatable tales that ranged from awkward moments to poignant reflections, showing why he's a master at making life's absurdities feel profound.

    The Broach Foundation, founded in memory of James Broach, honors his resilient spirit. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2011, James and his wife Jamie Broach Byrd transformed personal struggle into a passionate drive for progress.

    The night proved their efforts are far from in vain, as the gala raised more than $750,000, pushing the foundation’s total impact past $6.5 million since its inception.

    More than 450 guests filled the room, among them Jeff Byrd, Parker, Harrison and Oliver Broach, Deanna and Bryan Kotrla, Jan Bres, Kate and Steve Gibson, Chuck Yates, Jennifer and Farzad Askari, Ilona Carson, Amy and Wynne Snoot, Patty Biggio, Sally Holzinger, Megan Davis and James Kalick, and David and Cory Le Norman.

    Broach Foundation for Brain Cancer Research 2025
      

    Photo by Priscilla Dickson

    Gildy Lang, Mike Birbiglia, and Dr. Frederick Lang.

    fundraisersbroach foundation for brain cancer research
    news/society
    Loading...