Hermann Park and Its Exciting New Commons Gets a $700,000 Boost In One Memorable Evening in the Park
Spring Fashions and Serious Art In the Park Delight
BY Shelby Hodge // 05.01.24
Hermann Park Conservancy 'Evening in the Park' chairs Jay Jones & Terry Wayne Jones, Shawn Stephens & Jim Jordan (Photo by Priscilla Dickson)
The triumphs continue to exceed expectations at Hermann Park where the past year’s opening of the McWilliams Dog Park and inauguration of the Commons playground were capped by Hermann Park Conservancy’s “Evening in the Park,” with the $700,000 raised surpassing the fundraising goal.
“Have you ever had a dream come true? How many times have you hoped and planned and imagined and had the reality be even better?” Conservancy president Doreen Stoller asks the dinner crowd. “That’s how the Commons, the McWilliams Dog Park and this incredible artwork by Alyson Shotz, soon to be joined by one by Anthony Suber, has turned out.”
The Shotz and Suber art works, near McGovern Lake and near the Japanese Garden respectively, are integral to the conservancy’s Art in the Park initiative.
The full glory of Hermann Park was on display on this evening when attendees arrived at Lindsey Plaza to hop aboard the Hermann Park Railroad train which traveled through the verdant landscape before ending at Molly Smith Plaza. Some 500 park patrons wearing their spring finest gathered there for sunset cocktails before drifting into the dinner tent that overlooked McGovern Lake.
Be it the frothy fashions, the spring weather, or the al fresco congeniality, this Evening in the Park continues to be one of Houston’s most popular fundraisers — when the weather holds — even with the gents.
Taking bows for the evening’s success were chairs Jay Jones and Terry Wayne Jones and Shawn Stephens and Jim Jordan. In the spotlight as honorees, recognized for the monumental task of chairing the $52 million “Play Your Park” capital campaign, were Cece Fowler and Stephanie Tsuru.
Father's Day Gifts
Stoller’s observation is echoed by Conservancy board chair Kristy Bradshaw, who notes: “It’s been amazing to see all the project renderings that we have watched, year after year, literally come to life. Suffice to say, it has greatly exceeded all of our wildest imaginations.”
The soirée concluded at the Pioneer Obelisk with dessert buffet and dancing to the sounds of DJ Mav. Capping off the evening excellence, CityKitchen delivered its typically superb meal just as Sovereign Services, as always, deftly managed the bevy of VIPs wanting their cars ASAP.
PC Seen: Susie and Sanford Criner, Kristen and John Berger, Chinhui and Eddie Allen, Isabel and Danny David, Dancie and Jim Ware, Paula and Reginald DesRoches, Laura and Brad McWilliams, Chris Bradshaw, Ann Kennedy and Geoffrey Walker, Linnet Deily, Y. Ping Sun and David Leebron, Allison and Troy Thacker, Milton Townsend, Terrylin Neale, Roslyn Bazelle Mitchell and Derrick Mitchell, and Houston Parks and Recreation director Kenneth Allen.
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