The day before he stepped into the spotlight as speaker at the HoustonPBS Elevate Lecture, Jim Lehrer was the center of attention at an intimate KUHT fundraiser, hosted by Lily and Charles Foster in their historic Courtlandt Place home.

The NewsHour anchor charmed the gathering with his folksy recollections of growing up in Texas and assured those who had contributed a minimum of $250 per couple that he and his cohorts in Washington never forget the connection between contributors around the country and the work done on NewsHour.

"You give us the independence to do what we do," he told the gather of around 80 supporters. "If you don't have the right to be wrong, you'll never be right because you'll be running scared all the time."

Lehrer chatted privately with random guests including University of Houston System chancellor and president Renu Khator and husband Suresh Khator. UH's two public radio stations and the fact that UH was the first university in the country to have a public television station were of particular interest to the journalist.

Joining the early evening gathering, where the crepe station (Creative Crepes) was a major hit, were PBS supporters including Association for Community Broadcasting chair John White and wife Daisy, association president George Connelly, Penny and Dennis Murphree, Marsha and John Beeson, Willie Alexander, Sylvia and Gordon Quan, Bill Wright and HoustonPBS general manager John Hesse.

VIPs in pink

So who were all those women in pink wigs, disco-ing to the sounds of Gloria Gaynor along with Sue and Lester Smith in the Galleria flash mob on Saturday? The Pink Well contingent included a few high-profile types (some breast cancer survivors themselves) who turned out in support of survivors.

We spotted Jennifer Roosth, Carol Sawyer, Kathy Orton, Roz Pactor, Leisa Holland-Nelson, Guyla Pircher and Vika Soto in the mix. Isla Reckling had hoped to be dancing in the throng around Ms. Gaynor, but she and husband Tommy Reckling were delayed by a baseball game so they watched from the second floor balcony.

Notable behind-the-scenes organizers on hand to make sure that all went as planned included Trish Morille, Cherri Carbonara and Richard Flowers of The Events Co.

A swell 50th

The Events Co.'s Kirksey Gregg has been pleasing the chairs of Houston Ballet's Nutcracker Market with his creativity for so many years that the ladies got together and decided to throw a surprise birthday lunch for him in the bar at Tony's. On Monday, the only slightly-suspecting Gregg walked in with Houston Ballet's Patsy Chapman to find the comfy bar transformed into froufrou land. Pink tutus covered each chair and sparkling tiaras and feathery adornments were provided for all.

Ring leaders in plotting the surprise were Lynda Transier, Karen Hartnett, Marcia Harris and Patsy. As part of the fun, they had a painting made saluting the theme of each of their markets with an image of Kirksey as a Nutcracker in the center. They sang a song saluting the theme's of their individual markets and carried on over Kirksey-tinis, apple martinis made with Tito Vodka, Kirskey's favorite.

This elite sorority of former Nutcracker Market chairs is a tight group working together year-round and happily planning Kirksey's surprise along with his partner Mike Green and The Events Co. honcho Richard Flowers, both of whom joined the party.

Donning tiaras and joining the fun were 2011 market chair Sharon Erskine, 2010 chair Shawn Stephens and past chairs Gaylon Gilchrist, Barbara Scott, Evelyn Leightman, Kari Parsons, Cheryl Gallagher, Julie Pincus and Nancy Shomette.

When two beauty queens put their pretty heads together on a project, there's just no telling what will emerge. So when former Mrs. Texas title holders Kym Jackson and Theresa Roemer decided to write a book they were thinking way outside of the box. The duo held a book signing party recently for their self-published, self-help tome Nude, Unveiling Your Inner Beauty and Sensuality. Promotional material describes the work as Joy of Sex meets Fit for Life.

Shirelle Chimenti opened her 20,000 square foot home in the Carlton Woods section of The Woodlands for the bash that attracted more than 150 women. The host and the authors sent stretch limos to fetch their friends for the party. In addition to selling books, the glam Theresa was peddling vitamins while Kym offered special pillows that feature secret compartments for hiding, as she says, "money, a diary, jewels or adult items that you may not want your children to see." Ahem.

The party pack included Chauncey Jackson, Gina Gaston, Crystal Porter, Erica Rose, Cindi Rose, Shawna Bloom, Rhonda Brown, Kelly Anzilotti, Angelica Ximenes, Sharon Brier, Joanne Naponic and former Destiny's Child singer LeToya Luckett.