Roaring Great Gatsby Gala Raises $961,000 as Young Supporters Jump Into the Houston Children’s Museum Fun
The Chicest of Dance Parties
BY Shelby Hodge // 10.24.21Trey & Kelly Mattson, gala co-chairs Ashley & Jonathan Sloan at the Children's Museum Houston Great Gatsby gala held at the Corinthian Houston (Photo by Alexander's Fine Portrait Design)
Throughout the pandemic, pundits were proclaiming a return of the Roaring ’20s mindset as soon as COVID-19 was a memory. Well it’s not yet gone, but the virus is under control enough for the Children’ Museum Houston to celebrate Great Gatsby style as it did Saturday night with flappers, profusions of ostrich plumes and period costuming. That would be the period of 1925 when F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel was published.
The Corinthian Houston was transformed into the chicest of dance palaces for the 450 guests by Rebekah Johnson of Bergner & Johnson Design while the dames in attendance dressed to the hilt in ’20s style gowns. One particularly stunning outfit, the wearer reported, was an Amazon find for the bargain price of $40. It looked like a million so don’t tell anyone.
On this evening, a fresh generation of museum supporters mingled with longtime patrons, who welcomed the new blood. Leading the fresh faces were gala chairs Devorah and David Krieger, senior advisor with WarburgPincus, and Ashley and Jonathan Sloan, managing director at JP Morgan Chase. Under their leadership, The Great Gatsby Gala raised $961,000 for innovative child-centered learning to Houston’s children and their families.
The bottom line was facilitated by the silent and live auctions helmed by Lexi Sakowitz Marek and Natalie Steen. Top sellers included a Houston Astros suite with an autographed Michael Brantley jersey and ball signed by entire Astros 2021 roster, which sold for $14,000. A golf weekend at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Kansas sold for $9,000 while “A Night at Children’s Museum Houston” sold twice raising $18,000.
Among those celebrating was Rachael Volz, CEO and owner of A Fare Extraordinaire which was tapped to provide the wealth of hors d’oeuvres (including caviar), the exceptional three-course dinner, and miniature boozy coffee milkshakes and ham and cheddar biscuit sandwiches fueling late-night dancing to the sounds of Love and Happiness band.
PC Seen: Shelley and Geoff Bracken, Lyndsey and Bret Zorich, Krystal and Garrett Thompson, Maya and Matt Pomroy, Molly and Matt LaFauci, Mikahl and Omar Abou-Sayed, Rachel and Sebastien Solar, and Susie and Luis Cavazos.
Elizabeth Anthony
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