Houston’s Landmark Memorial Park Gets a 100th Birthday Party to Remember — A Transformed Green Masterpiece
The Conservancy's Park Ball Shines With a Record $1.25 Million Windfall
BY Shelby Hodge // 04.23.24
Janet Hobby, Anne Hamman Broillier, Kate Gibson at the Memorial Park Conservancy 100th anniversary dinner. (Photo by Jenny Antill)
What: Memorial Park Conservancy’s “The Park Ball: Celebrating 100 Years”
Where: Clay Family Eastern Glades at Memorial Park
PC Moment: It was a glorious evening with perfect spring weather apropos of celebrating al fresco the 100th anniversary of Houston’s Memorial Park, which also was celebrating completion of a multitude of transformational projects.
On the books are Clay Family Eastern Glades and the Sports Complex, both completed in 2020; the new Seymour Lieberman Trail Ravine Bridges in 2022; and completion in 2023 of the Kinder Land Bridge and Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Prairie as well as the Running Complex. In addition there is the opening of the runner friendly Vibrant, the second of Kelly Barnhart‘s all gluten-free, dairy-free, white sugar-free and non-GMO cafes.
Keeping it somewhat in the family, the evening was co-chaired by Barnhart’s parents Karol and Paul Barnhart, along with Kate and Steve Gibson and Diane and David Modesett. They all led the evening to record-breaking $1.25 million in proceeds.
The evening honored Christopher Knapp, who chaired Memorial Park Conservancy’s Master Plan Design Team Selection Committee and the first phase of its Master Plan capital campaign. He was integral in the decision to task world renowned landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz with the redesign of Memorial Park. He was introduced on this night by Thomas Woltz, the lead architect of Memorial Park’s 10 Year Plan.
SHOP
The conservancy manages and operates Memorial Park in partnership with Houston Parks and Recreation Department.
Considering the outdoor setting, attendees were advised to leave their ties and heels at home in favor of park-friendly attire which resulted in a pleasant fashion tableau of spring frocks and pastel linen jackets. The attire complemented the table settings, where wildflowers mixed with tulips, hydrangeas and ranunculus.
Jim Ewing and City Kitchen provided the perfect springtime dinner complete with burrata bowl with heirloom tomatoes, asparagus, and toasted farro; prime aged beef tenderloin, twice baked potato and Gulf Coast shrimp stuffed with crab meat; and strawberry shortcake with chantilly cream, strawberry coulis and melon sorbet for dessert.
PC Seen: Nancy and Rich Kinder, Janet and Paul Hobby, Whitney and Jim Crane, Polly and Murry Bowden, Wendy and Jeff Hines, Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, Andrea and Giles Kibbe, Clayton Erikson, Roxann and Tim Neumann, Carrie and Al Pepi, Roberta and David Rude, and Emily Clay and Bill Schneidau.
