Barbecue and Brews Help Fight Alzheimer’s Disease in Aging Mind Foundation’s Ice House Takeover

Whenever my dearest friend, Ashley Tatum, needs me somewhere I say “What time?” and can I get there early to help out. She’s an in-the-know art consultant with a heart of gold and chooses only a few charities to truly devote her time to help.

That said, she shared that she was continuing her work with the Aging Mind Foundation and was hopeful that I would stop by the foundation’s annual Brews and Bites event at the Katy Trail Ice House. She co-chaired the event with fellow board member Carey Moen. The Dallas-based foundation is a nonprofit organization that raises money to fund scientific, medical research focused on finding the cause of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. I know very few out there who haven’t been personally impacted by having someone they love stricken with this horrible disease.

Close to 150 guests came together on that beautiful fall night to hear news from those deeply involved with Aging Mind Foundation. My favorite parts of the evening, besides the delicious carnivores buffet of barbecue, was getting my game on with a few spirited rounds of cornhole. When did this become such a trendy pastime?

The in-the-know team at members’ only Park House have been setting up a cornhole set on their rooftop patio on some of Dallas’ recent nights of glorious weather. All action ceased and conversations hushed when Tatum got up to say a few words.

“You all know where the money raised from AMF goes,” she shared. “However, did you know that Alzheimer’s is the only leading cause of death that is on the rise? And without significant progress in treatment and a cure, the cost is expected to exceed $20 trillion over the next 40 years. We cannot let that happen.”

I was happy to spot one of my favorite PaperCity Bomb girls, Jo Marie Lilly (like with a calendar girl, I always want to share month and year: October 2017), enjoying the laid back evening. That’s exactly how I like my Bomb girls — equally happy gliding around the dance floor in a Herrera gown or sipping a beer while feasting on some of Texas’ best barbecue.

Lilly is the AMF 2020 Gala co-chair alongside John Clutts. That event, slated for February 29, 2020, is honoring Cookie and Dan Owen and will be held at The Joule Hotel. I was told, like the Brews and Bites party, the 2020 gala has a new design and experiences in store for guests that will undoubtedly raise record funds to benefit Columbia University Medical Center’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

I recently moved into a new condo, but haven’t had a moment to meet any of my neighbors. In fact, in my often eccentric mind, I somehow think I’m invisible to anyone around me and have been known to take my dog out for his walk wearing boxers and some Gucci Princetown slides with a Burberry trench thrown over me (yes, like a flasher). I now know that I can’t rely on that oh-so-casual outfit since one of my new neighbors, Jake Walton, came over to introduce himself to me as I was filling my plate with barbecue and shared he had recently seen me out walking my dog.

Horrified, I asked if I was wearing boxers. Thankfully not. Walton is the manager at the Highland Park Village Dior boutique and had with him Caroline Kim, the West Coast director for the luxury house, to celebrate Aging Mind’s great work.

Others spotted playing cornhole this evening included Ashley Tatum’s sister Allison Tatum Withers and her husband Mark Withers, AMF board member Kim Hext and her husband Greg Hext, AMF board member Julie Tregoning and her husband, Michael Tregoning, AMF board member Marena Gault, Greg Hirsch, Chase Morton, Cindy Lefferts, Holly and Joe Hughes, James Leffler and Jane and Don Weempe.