It was one of those rare perfect nights in Houston — cool temps, little humidity, no mosquitoes and a gentle breeze embracing supporters of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership.

The weather gods surely smiled on Sis and Hasty Johnson, Mimi Lloyd and Leslye and David Weaver, chairs of the annual Buffalo Bayou Ball. The annual fresco soiree took place Thursday in an open-air tent on the Sabine Street bridge overlooking the bayou, the downtown skyline creating a stunning Mahattan-esque backdrop.

"If the weather was like this all the time, Houston would be a city of 10 million people," noted Rich Kinder, whose Kinder Foundation was major underwriter for the evening.

The 450 guests night crawled along the manicured banks of the bayou and gathered on the bridge to watch the changing colors of the light show along the Sabine to Bagby promenade. Among them were the three mayoral candidates — Gene Locke and Annise Parker now in the run-off and City Councilman Peter Brown, who received generous applause on the heels of his defeat at the polls.

Partnership board chair Chuck Carlberg introduced the night's honorees —Guy Hagstette, Kevin Shanley, Johnny Steele and Charles Tapley. All have participated in some manner in transforming the banks of the bayou. It's an on-going program, according to Carlberg, that will eventually make the stretch from Shepherd to downtown Houston's Central Park.

Sitting down to a scrumptious dinner from A Fare Extraordinaire were Susan and Mike Garver, Nancy Kinder, Bobbie and John Nau, Sharon Adams, Brady Carruth, Roxanne and Tim Neumann, Bob Eury, Mark Cover, Ric Campo, Marita and J.B. Fairbanks, Susie and Sanford Criner and tons of other movers and shakers.