Chris Stapleton Headlines Dallas’ Cattle Baron’s Ball at Iconic Southfork Ranch

The apex of Dallas’ fall social season, Cattle Baron’s Ball, presented by Texas Oncology, once again reached new heights.

Cynthia Everitt and Paige Westhoff co-chaired this year’s 53rd ball, which they dubbed “Soar Higher,” a nod to their headliner Chris Stapleton‘s hit album, Higher. In 2023, the 50th ball ushered in a new era of stratospheric giving, and, since then, the organization continues to attract a sold-out crowd of 3,500 boot-clad, big-money oil barons (literally and figuratively) committed to giving cancer the boot.

Upon arrival at Southfork Ranch, the iconic home of the fictional Ewing family in the internationally beloved television series Dallas, a surprise always awaits at the entrance. In 2024, a magical beer burro named Johnny Cash greeted me with a cold Coors Light from the Nantucket Bike Basket on his back. Last year, before hometown hero Post Malone took the stage and delivered a hype man speech for the ages, a suave roper lassoed guests, the perfect photo opp for what I consider to be the most Dallas night in Dallas.

Soaring Higher

For this year’s surprise, the Soar Higher co-chairs flew in (what else?) a bald eagle. In addition to some other striking birds of prey from Window to the Wild, the bald eagle named *PATRONUS* held court, allowing the fashionable flock of partygoers to pay their respects and kiss the proverbial ring. Sure, the name Patronus is a Harry Potter reference, but in Latin, the name means “protector, defender, advocate, or patron.” Patronus, who I should note is a *female* bald eagle, served as a fitting symbol for the American Cancer Society’s largest single-night fundraiser in the country.

Cattle Baron’s Ball volunteers, comprised of precisely 100 Dallas women (including me!) known as “baronesses,” contribute their time and talents for the other 364 days of the year to bring this event to life. The sole purpose? To fund life-saving cancer research in North Texas. The ball itself functions more like a festival, with activations spread across 150,000 square feet of Southfork Ranch. Between bites of meat-forward fare from Vestals Catering, jovial guests explored the offerings, including:

• a marketplace with goods from Lucchese, McKinney Hat Co., Mandriana Bandanas, Westerly, and Tennessee Turquoise Company
• casino games
• a mechanical bull
• beauty touch-ups from the Mary Kay glam room
• photobooths and Glambots aplenty to document the feathers and fringe
• a compelling silent auction of more than 600 items

Sky-High Bids? Yes, Chef!

Returning guests know when the action is about to heat up and head to the Pike Corporation Live Auction Stage. Last year, I wrote that “Auction-tainer” Letitia Frye should be studied in a college marketing course. “She’s a cancer survivor who owns the room, lights it up, and burns it down.” Frye, in black leather fringe, once again conducted the 23-lot live auction that included everything from Ella Langley’s custom “Choosing Texas” chaps to the ultimate Formula 1 experience to a surprise package from Tiffany & Co. that I’ve never seen offered before.

A highlight during a night of highlights, Dallas’ seven all-star celebrity chefs (Nick Barclay, Richard Chamberlain, Eric Dreyer, Dean Fearing, Kent Rathbun, Gerard Thompson, and David Holben) ascended the stage in celebration of 40 years of coming together to offer the ultimate dinner party for 20, prepared by the dynamos themselves. The chefs lit the room up, and the package sold for a jaw-dropping $150,000…. TWICE!

Cattle Baron’s Ball’s emotional paddle raise, sponsored by the Sewell family, honored Colin Fitzgibbons, who lost his life to colon cancer in 2025 at the age of 46. Dozens of donors raised their paddles in support of Colin’s wife, Jessica, and their sons, Patrick, Conor, and Declan Fitzgibbons, who bravely took the stage in honor of their dad. The moment raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for colon cancer research and other initiatives in honor of Fitzgibbons.

To the Big Tent!

When the live auction concluded, guests moved to the “big tent” (the Andrews Distributing Main Stage) for the concert from the “Traveller” himself. The 12-time Grammy-award-winning Stapleton performed fan favorites like “Tennessee Whiskey,” “Think I’m In Love With You,” and “You Should Probably Leave.”

If “You Should Probably Leave” was a hint, guests didn’t take it! The party continued until 1 am, fueled by Whataburger late-night honey butter chicken biscuits (I saw one purse that contained three, no judgment!) and live music from Dustin Becker. Let’s just say the spirits were soaring higher, indeed.

In her latest album Middle of Nowhere, Texan Kacey Musgraves sings: Everybody wants to be a cowgirl / ‘Til it’s 5 in the morning and it’s cold as hell / And the work ain’t gonna do itself.

The baronesses were up and at ’em the next morning for tear-down. Planning next year’s Cattle Baron’s Ball is already underway, y’all.

PC Seen: Katy and Lawrence Bock, Natalie and Mike McGuire, Josie and Carl Sewell, Kimberly and Justin Whitman, Cara French, Sally and Doug Kindy, Isabell and Trey Higginbotham, Jennifer and Ed Sampson, Katherine and Key Coker, Wendy and Boyd Messmann, Stephanie and Greg Oliver, Lisa and Joe Bob Shirley, Chris James Kahle, Shane Jacobson, and Darrow Zeidenstein.