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    Shelby About Town

    She super-sizes Super Bowl events

    Shelby Hodge
    shelby hodge
    Jan 26, 2010 | 12:00 am
    News_Shelby Tuesday Column_Kristen Buck_Jan 10
    Kristen Buck, from left, Debbie Robinson, and Jeanie Chandler celebrating the Junior League of Houston's 85 years of service.
    Photo by Terry Blackburn

    Our town's Fontaine Swope and her team at Eli Marketing are on a roll. After the Saints' win in New Orleans and with the Super Bowl on the horizon, this mega event planner is readying for some real party action.

    She has organized the hotter-than-hot Maxim magazine bash at most of the recent Super Bowls and is doing it again in Miami, along with the ESPN Tailgate party. On Monday morning, she was already hearing from hotel contacts in Florida that the New Orleans contingent was booking fast and furiously.

    While Swope has to sign gag contracts for most of her events, she did allow that Maxim's party this year will be big and bodacious. After passes for the game, it's the most sought-after ticket of Super Bowl week with requests pouring in from celebrities and players by the hour. "The RSVP cutting room floor looks like an A-list crowd to me," she e-mailed from party central. "But we only allow 1,500 guests. So you can imagine the struggle."

    She did allow that at the Maxim Super Bowl party in Miami two years ago the star line-up included David Spade, Jamie Foxx, Tom Brady and loads more. One uninvited guest at that party was a businessman in blue blazer and khaki slacks who shimmied up a palm tree at the hotel next door and launched himself into the fray. He landed smack in the middle of a VIP (which sort of ruined his party plans), jumped up and sprinted away with security in hot pursuit.

    Magic wand

    There was an added note of space-age interest to last week's launch of the Houston Symphony's performance of The Planets — An HD Odyssey. Astronaut John Grunsfeld returned a special conductor's baton to maestro Hans Graf, one he had carried with him on his most recent mission in May to repair the Hubble telescope. Graf had made the baton himself using a 1928 Krug Champagne cork as the base — the perfect item for a culturally-significant NASA memento.

    The astronaut was allowed to carry several personal items with him on the mission and, as a huge Houston Symphony fan, he chose to take along Graf's baton. (Grunsfeld had narrated the Houston Symphony's performance of The Planets in 2006.) At last week's performance, he made a formal presentation of the baton on stage in Jones Hall. Applause, applause.

    Film fest

    Iranian-born, Hollywood actor Shaun Toub headlined the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's packed presentation Friday night of the Iranian film, No One Knows About Persian Cats. Before introducing the film, Toub met with members of the MFAH's Friends of the Arts of the Islamic World subcommittee in a behind-the-scenes discussion on Persian carpets from the Bayou Bend Collection. That discussion was led by Walter Denny, adjunct professor of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Massachusetts.

    Subcommittee members attending included Sima Ladjevardian, Lily Kooros, Sima Sharifian and Rania Daniel. Sampling Persian fare from Caspian Caterers and Epicure Bakery were guests including Shoaleh Shirvani Nosrati, Faranak Zafarnia, Soodabeh and Jim Babcock, Soody Sharifi, Ahmad Adam and MFAH film curator Marian Luntz.

    A league of their own

    Big on community service, long on volunteerism, the Junior League of Houston marked a milestone last week with a cocktail reception celebrating 85 years of serving the city. More than 150 league members, community leaders and charity reps saluted the organization on the night that also served for presentation of the league's Community Assistance Grants. Close to $95,000 was awarded to five non-profits.

    So much more than a fancy ladies social group, which might have been the misconception years ago, the Junior League of Houston today provides $1.9 million in volunteer hours and direct financial support to 33 community programs. Saluting the league for its accomplishments were guests including Junior League president Kristen Buck, Association of Junior Leagues International president Debbie Robinson and Junior League president-elect Jeanie Chandler.

    Sight 'ems

    Neal Hamil, Paula and Sam Douglass, George Lancaster, Rob Taylor, Bess and Rob Wilson and oh so many more celebrating on Friday night at the reopening of Armandos after a brief locking of the doors due to a dispute between owners. Few were celebrating more than Armandos proprietors, husband-and-wife team, Cinda Ward and Armando Palacios . . .

    Becca Cason Thrash, Dr. Mary Riley, Annie Amante, Karen Henry and Adriana Longoria lunching at Grotto 610 on Friday . . .

    Clyde Drexler dining at Hugo's . . .

    Retired Houston Chronicle food editor Ann Criswell lunching at Mockingbird Bistro.

    Kristen Buck, from left, Debbie Robinson, and Jeanie Chandler celebrating the Junior League of Houston's 85 years of service.

    News_Shelby Tuesday Column_Kristen Buck_Jan 10
      
    Photo by Terry Blackburn
    Kristen Buck, from left, Debbie Robinson, and Jeanie Chandler celebrating the Junior League of Houston's 85 years of service.
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    Recipe for Success

    Houston’s chicest support kids’ health at farm fashion show

    Joel Luks
    Jun 19, 2025 | 1:30 pm
    Recipe for Success Fashion in the Fields 2025
    Photo by Michelle Watson
    Founder Gracie Cavnar, center, with the participating chefs.

    On a picture-perfect spring afternoon, Houston’s haute families traded their city stilettos for stylish wedges and sun hats at Hope Farms, where fashion met philanthropy at the Seventh Annual Fashion in the Fields Brunch and Fashion Show. With Japanese umbrellas dancing in the breeze and the scent of ranunculus and rose wafting from centerpiece watering cans, the event proved once again that cultivating health and style are not mutually exclusive.

    The star of the show — aside from the petal-perfect runway looks — was the event’s uniquely multi-generational leadership. Elizabeth Phillips chaired the event alongside daughters Ariel Lopez and Brittany Faulk, with granddaughters Finley Lopez, Hallie Faulk, and Rose Faulk making it a family affair to remember. Sheree Frede, Sarah Phillips, and Sara DeJay Willis served as co-chairs, reinforcing the event’s legacy-minded ethos.

    And legacy was the buzzword of the day.

    “To see the next generation picking up the torch is deeply inspiring,” said Recipe for Success founder Gracie Cavnar, who’s spent 19 years growing the organization’s mission to inspire children to eat fresh, nutritious food. That mission took center stage — quite literally — when a pack of pint-sized models dressed by Itsy Bitsy Boutique (and some dapper dads in M Penner) pranced down the runway to collective awws and camera flashes.

    Recipe for Success Fashion in the Fields 2025
      

    Photo by Michelle Watson

    Founder Gracie Cavnar, center, with the participating chefs.

    The main event unfolded with spring collections from presenting sponsors Mason’s Daughter, Sachin and Babi, and City Boots, punctuated by sustainable style highlights from Magpies and Peacocks. ABC13 Houston anchor and style savant Miya Shay emceed with flair, serving commentary as vibrant as the garments.

    Of course, no fashion fête is complete without a fitting feast.

    Guests noshed on a Michelin-pedigree brunch courtesy of a chef dream team: Tommy Laczynski (Barcelona Wine Bar), Barbara McKnight (Culinaire), JC Ricks (Dandelion Café), Drake Leonard (Eunice), Felipe Botero (Le Jardinier), and Patti Delgado (The Original Ninfa’s). Glasses clinked over Down the Rabbit Hole cocktails, a botanical blend with carrot juice from Hope Farms and wines courtesy of 55 Seventy Private Member’s Club.

    The day’s emotional high came during Paddles Up, raising scholarships for Hope Farms’ summer camps. Cynthia and Tony Petrello led the charge with a $5,000 gift to fund a dozen weeklong experiences for local kids. Raffle winners walked away with floral subscriptions, design consults, private cocktail classes, and fresh produce deliveries. The Foundation also honored Chef Kevin Bryant as Chef of the Year and Samuel Jackson as Volunteer of the Year for their unwavering commitment to sustainable food education.

    Looking ahead, Lyndsey Zorich, a Foundation Advisory Board member and fashion entrepreneur, is already at work assembling next year’s dream team of stylish moms to chair the 2026 event.

    Among the stylish crowd were Beth Harp, Gayla Gardner, Celina Hellmund, Anita and David Garten, Rudy Guerra, Veronica Neal, Sara Morgan and Oscar Brown, Laura and Etai Funk, and Gina Gaston Elie.

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