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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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    Party Watch

    Rock painting and ninja runs charm guests at Houston hospital's benefit

    Joel Luks
    Jun 23, 2025 | 3:00 pm
    Texas Children’s Hospital Family Fun Day 2025
    Photo by Jenny Antill
    Chita Craft with daughter and friends.

    What: Ambassadors for Texas Children’s Hospital Family Fun Day

    Texas Children\u2019s Hospital Family Fun Day 2025
      

    Photo by Jenny Antill

    Chita Craft with daughter and friends.

    Where: Houston Arboretum and Nature Center

    The Scoop: The Houston Arboretum transformed into a nostalgic summer escape for the 15th annual Family Fun Day hosted by the Ambassadors for Texas Children’s Hospital. Dubbed “Camp Ambassador,” the affair drew more than 450 guests for an afternoon that channeled sleepaway camp vibes — with none of the homesickness.

    Chairs Brooke and Scott Hutson welcomed families to a playful forest wonderland brimming with pony rides, ninja course antics, and whimsical mohawk makeovers. Craft stations kept creativity flowing with rain stick-making and rock painting, the latter doubling as a heartfelt gesture — painted stones will soon brighten the hospital’s interfaith chapel, offering young patients a bit of camp spirit indoors.

    Dr. Benjamin Ho, the hospital’s newest concierge medicine doc, handed out play bandages to campers of all ages, proving that even in make-believe, compassion counts. Meanwhile, families refueled on camp-themed comfort eats like waffle fries, firewood franks, fruit kabobs, and cake cones that felt straight out of a mess hall dream.

    Proceeds supported Texas Children’s Nursing Talent, Innovation and Education, a program empowering new nurses with hands-on tools to navigate the challenges of clinical care.

    Who: Ellen and James Bookout, Jen and Ben Fink, Cindy and Les Fox, Julie and Patrick Gimlett, Laura and Dan Gollins, Nina and Clint Rand, Carolyn and Jake Sabat, Ellen and Andrew Sheedy, Tym and Charlene Tymbar, Shea Henry and Jeffry Yoesel, Dr. Natalie and Andrew Walton, Rachael and Jason Volz, and Currie Rice.

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