Shelby's Social Diary
A Six Million Dollar Man's night: Chic celebs turn into waiters for a playfulparty at Tony's
Photo by Jeff Grass
Photo by Mike Bowlin
Photo by Jeff Grass
Photo by Jeff Grass
Photo by Jeff Grass
Photo by Mike Bowlin
Photo by Jeff Grass
Photo by Mike Bowlin
Photo by Mike Bowlin
Photo by Jeff Grass
Photo by Mike Bowlin
Photo by Jeff Grass
Joan Schnitzer-Levy's Celebrity Serve fundraiser for the ESCAPE Family Resource Center has worked so well over the decades, that it's still going strong 31 years after the initial bash. In fact, Sunday night's event at Tony's, featuring chic celebs whom you would never imagine in waiters' aprons, raised a whopping $323,000.
The "Toy Box" theme found the restaurant awash in curlicue and toy animal balloons, toys as centerpieces and celebrity servers channeling everything from Barbie to G.I. Joe to Sesame Street and Toy Story characters.
It was a playful setting for co-chairs Schnitzer-Levy and Gerald Franklin and Hometown Superstars Janice and Bob McNair, proud owners of the Houston Texans. Special guest stars on this evening were Lee (Six Million Dollar Man) Majors and wife, Faith, who recently moved to Houston.
Among the celebrity servers raising funds while pouring wine and dishing with the 300 ESCAPE supporters were celebrity chair Kim Padgett, Lynn Wyatt and her serving buddy Todd Ramos, "toy soldier" Edward Sanchez, NASA astronauts Gene Cernan and Walt Cunningham, KHOU's Courtney Zubowski, KUHT's Ernie Manouse and KTRK's Casey Curry, Miya Shay and morning news anchor Tom Koch, who served as auctioneer and emcee. Becca Cason Thrash made a few server rounds but dashed off as Sunday was her wedding anniversary.
Tony Vallone welcomed guests and made sure that dinner worked sensationally with the Becker Vineyards wines, donated for the dinner.
Loving the celeb service were ESCAPE board chair Dennis Price and wife Vicki, Irvin Levy, Kristi and John Schiller, Louise and Dr. Denton Cooley, Melissa and Douglas Schnitzer, Marjorie Evans, Diane Lokey Farb, Janiece Longoria and Steve Lasher, Lisa Holthouse, Ashok Kumar and Frann Lichtenstein with Jeff Hirschberg.
