With hardly any time to recover from the day before, Friday, November 14 was off to a rousing start with a “Brunch for Brinegar” and quickly followed by a salute by area fundraisers. Sorry to do this to you, but here we go with another Round Robin.
Brunch for Mary Brinegar
Delilah Boyd and Mary Brinegar
Thursday, November 13, Mary Brinegar accepted SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award. In a far off table in the tent, Delilah Boyd was cold. All she could think of was the next morning. She was hostessing a brunch for Mary and their Theta sorority sisters who had been at SMU when Mary was a student.
Having tented her back patio complete with rugs on the ground, there was no way Delilah was going to let the Polar Vortex spoil Mary’s morning.
Brunch in a toasty tent
With heaters that would have well done the fattest filet, Delilah and The Catering Company’s Greg Rankin made the beautifully draped tent splendiferous with stemware, loads of pastries, fruits and orange juice, both G- and R-rated.
Delilah, who eventually was Theta president, recalled being initiated with Laura Bush, who joined the sorority in her sophomore year.
Upon arrival Mary seemed a bit take back by all the hoop-la. And that was before she was shown the tent.
In the crowd were Cynthia Woodall, Janet Schoeller Knight, Linda Dodson and Clare Adams Kittle.
Arboretum Kudos
Speaking of Dallas Arboretum President Mary Brinegar, she wasn’t the only one finding a place for a new award. Other Arboretum accolades on this day included:
- The Dallas Regional Chamber presented the Arboretum with the Blueprint Award in the Community Catalyst category for its economic impact to the region.
- Dallas Arboretum Chair of the Board Brian Shivers had received the Obelisk Award the day before and
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![12 Days of Christmas]()
12 Days of Christmas
Dallas Arboretum Board Member Tom McCasland was inducted into the 2014 Oklahoma Hall of Fame for his “contributions to the state.” Tom and his wife Phyllis “had the idea of The 12 Days of Christmas” for the holiday season.
National Philanthropy Day
Awards
As early birds arrived at the Hyatt Regency for the National Philanthropy Day Luncheon, Hyatt staffers were pulling out propane tanks from vans for the driveway patio heaters. There was definitely a chill in the air. Inside it was a different story. The moment folks entered the sliding doors, they were hit with a nice kiss of warm air for the luncheon hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professional Dallas Chapter.
Margot Perot and Katherine and Eric Reeves
Christina Moore-Salinas and Chris Kleinert
While at times the reception outside the Landmark Ballroom took on the look of Hunt and Perot family reunions, there was good reason. Katherine Perot Reeves and Chris Kleinert were both on the list to be honored. The pre-lunch reception was sponsored by the North Texas Food Bank, so NTFB’s Jan Pruitt joined National Philanthropy Day Luncheon Chair Christina Moore-Salinas in welcoming the crowd that included Kern Wildenthal, April Box Chamberlain, David Krause, Fred Shapiro and Deborah Montonen, who just revealed that she was leaving her LaunchAbility post for a position at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.
The following honorees were all present, introduced and photographed to the nth degree:
Honorees
- Outstanding Philanthropist (sponsored by Clarkson Davis) — Katherine Perot Reeves nominated by North Texas Food Bank/Colleen Brinkmann
- Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser (sponsored by Dini Spheris) — Chris Kleinert nominated by Methodist Health System Foundation
- Outstanding Foundation (sponsored by Children’s Medical Center) — Children’s Cancer Fund nominated by Children’s Medical Center Foundation
- Outstanding Corporation — BlueCross Blue Shield of Texas nominated by Caring for Children Foundation of Texas
- Outstanding Fundraising Executive — Milton Key nominated by John Roppolo
- Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy (sponsored by Hunt Consolidated Inc.) — Charlsie Doan nominated by Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children
Jan Pruitt and Bette Perot
While the honorees were getting their share of attention, it seemed like Bette Perot was the one many folks wanted to chat and have a photo taken with. After a request for a photo with Bette was made by her niece, Carolyn Perot Rathjen, Bette told the photographer, “I’m charging $15 a picture.”
On the side, Jan Pruitt revealed that it was because of Bette that her niece Katherine Perot Reeves joined the NTFB board, which is preparing to launch a major capital campaign.
Right on schedule, the doors to the ballroom opened at 11:30, but seating took a bit of doing. This group of fundraisers and friends, like Diane Brierley, Steve Ivy and Roslyn Dawson, loves to get together, hug, laugh and “What have you been up to?” Susan Wells Jenevein, who left the Genesis Women’s Shelter in September, is now working with Gunnar Rawlings to open Cristo Rey College Preparatory School in 2015.
While some might think these folks are competitors for the same honeypot, they’ve actually a team after the same basic goal — to help those in need. That’s what philanthropy is all about and today was the day to celebrate.
At 12:13, Christina welcome the guests and introduced Daniel Prescott, who before giving the invocation reminded the crowd that it was 29 years ago that the late President Ronald Reagan declared November 15 to National Philanthropy Day. He then asked everyone to stand and hold hands for the invocation. One or two of the tables opted out on the handholding part of the request. Guess they were abiding by the suggestion that the flu can be spread unknowingly by handshakes, handholding, handy anything.
Next up was Greater Dallas Chapter AFP President Diana Marquis, who thanked KERA for producing the honorees’ acceptance speeches. This process seems to streamline the program along…if it’s working. More about that in a couple of paragraphs.
At 12:24 lunch (bib lettuce, arugula, spinach, fennel shavings, radicchio and dried fruit with lavender honey cabernet vinaigrette; pepita crusted children breast with Dr Pepper blueberry sauce over green chili masa pudding and broccolini flowers and artisan breads and butter; and edelweiss raspberry tranche cake with bitter chocolate sauce) was served.
Keeping to the schedule, emcee Scott Murray proved why it’s wise to have a professional on stage. At 12:47 Scott was at the podium. Within the first couple of sentence, he did a shout out at the audio coordinator that there seemed to a ringing in the sound system. It quickly improved.
The first presentation was made to Katherine Perot Reeves, who had helped provide $2M for NTFB. Her video had just begun and the video stopped mid-sentence. The screen just plain went black.
Scott filled in the gap by saying, “I guess it’s going to be one of those days.” The video never returned, so the show went on with Katherine all in white accepting her award.
Then Scott introduced the video on Chris. It almost seemed like everyone held their breath. No video appeared. Scott once again filled the silence by saying, “My mother taught me the best word in this time is ‘patience.’”
The patience paid off with Chris’ video coming on much to the relief of organizers. The rest of the videos behaved themselves and appeared flawlessly.
Scott Murray and Charlsie Doan
Despite the gracious remarks by the adult honorees, the showstopper was 13-year-old Hockadaisie Charlsie Doan, who had been born with symbrachydachtyly, a congenital hand disorder resulting in her missing her right hand. It was through her being treated by Scottish Rite’s prosthetics department that she and her family became involved with the world-renowned center. But Charlsie’s involvement extended beyond being a patient. She has raised over $167,000 for patient care. When Scottish Rite approached the Crystal Charity Ball committee for a grant in 2013, Charlsie played “the violin to demonstrate how a custom prosthetic device allowed her to pursue her musical ambitions. Her participation as key to the success of the hospital presentation, resulting in a Crystal Charity Ball commitment of $500,000.” At the age of 11, Charlsie was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and she took up that cause with the same diligence and fervor.
Just before closing the luncheon at 1:32, Christina returned to the stage and announced that the organization was going to honor Scott with an honorarium for the Scott Murray Foundation.
After all, that’s how fundraisers say, “Thank you!”