Country Music Legends, Cattle Barons Raise a Whopping $3.7 Million in One Cowboy Glam Night: These Boots Are Made For Partying

With a clear goal of giving cancer the boot and an impressive fundraising track record, Cattle Baron’s Ball co-chairs Sunie Solomon and Anne Stodghill dubbed 2017 the year of shooting for the stars. The stars shone big and bright the eve of the 44th annual event benefitting American Cancer Society — especially inside Gilley’s, where the sprawling space and performance tent were aglow thanks to a transformation by Fauxcades.

Barons and baronesses in their finest cowboy-glam boots and fringe wasted no time kicking up their heels as Pat Green belted out country favorites to get the party rolling.

Comfort food with a spicy slap set the evening’s culinary tone, with  jalapeno mac-and-cheese muffins, chipotle barbecue meatballs, and nine different food stations serving Southern fare such as Shiner Bock Frito pie and broken shrimp jambalaya. Fortunately, boots were made for walking — from food station to food station to the venue’s countless bars.

The mentality was “go big or go home” as guests hopped between the big board, live and silent auctions, and the raffle — and no one was about to go home before country music legends Brooks & Dunn took the stage.

Just outside the tent, the Ferris wheel was spinning. Sitting at the top with the Dallas skyline lit below, the stars felt well within reach. And, indeed, stars were reached, as the evening raised $3.7 million for American Cancer Society — solidifying Cattle Baron’s Ball as the organization’s largest single-night fundraiser.

Under the neon moon: 2018 Cattle Baron’s Ball chairs Katy Bock and Jonika Nix; plus Vodi Cook, Annika Cail, Ashley Montgomery Lyon, Lizzie Means Duplantis, Jill Tananbaum, Tifany Divis, Amy Green, Maggie Cooke Kipp, Brandy Knipp, Andrea Weber, Mary Humphreys Parker, Olivia Kearney, Bina and Nimesh Patel, Brynn Bagot, Holly Davis, Angela Nash, Diedre Bacala, Joanna Clarke, Elizabeth and Alex Laurenzi, Racel and John Michell, Catherine Jaynes, Kristi and Jody Bare, Lee Warmack McDonald, Emily Billingsley, Lauren Hill, Lauren Clark Snyder, Melissa Sherrill, Kim Quinn, Missy Wyszynski, Terra Najork, Nikki Webb, Nancy Gopez, Kris Johnson, Lisa Ogle, Jennifer and Richard Dix, Samantha Wortley, Megan Flanagan, and Merry Munson Wyatt.