Houston Morphs Into a Las Vegas Worthy Scene With a $950,000 Night Full of Showgirls, Glitz and Fake Elvis
This Children's Museum Gala Keeps It More Than Fun For Its Adult Supporters
BY Shelby Hodge // 10.09.22
Ginni & Jason Endecott, Children's Museum Houston board chair, at the museum Viva La Vegas gala at the Corinthian. (Photo by Alexander's Fine Portrait Design)
On this rare night, the guests out glittered the giant disco ball that swirled above the merry throng of 500 that landed in the Corinthian for the annual Children’s Museum Houston gala themed “Viva Las Vegas.” Men and women both took quite seriously the invitation to dress it up Vegas style.
Gowns of sequins, beads, gilded embroidery and silver threads swept through the party scene creating a memorable dazzling gala tableaux. Liberace would have been giddy over the glitz created not only by the fashions but also by Bergner & Johnson, which lit up the joint as bright as the Golden Nugget. Casino games on the second floor balcony added to the authenticity of the theme.
Even before the showgirls in their sequins plus plumage and the faux Elvis arrived, the gala had already secured $800,000 for museum coffers. Board chairman Jason Endecott mentioned as he sat down to dinner that he expected the evening to end up with $900,000 in proceeds.
With the lively antics and fun of auctioneer Johnny Bravo (have you ever seen an auctioneer repeatedly jumping off of the stage to encourage bidding?), total monies raised actually reached $950,000.
Kudos to gala chairs Lexi and Mike Marek, Disney and Max Harris, and Liz and Crosby Scofield and to auction chairs Holly Radom and Katie Arnoldy. All in all, it was a great night to see an up and coming generation of community leaders and philanthropists turn out in force with such enthusiasm. In fact so congenial was this crowd that it was almost impossible to get everyone seated so that Jackson & Company could get the yummy dinner served. But in the end, no one wanted to miss that Elvis inspired dessert.
PC Seen: Ginny Endecott, Dee Dee and Gilbert Garcia, Mona and Andrew Sarofim, Mignon and Steve Gill, Devorah and David Krieger, DeeDee and Gilbert Garcia, Ashley and Jonathan Sloan, Allison and Cullen Powell, Beth and Nick Zdeblick, Bethany and Ben Buchanan, Brittany Sakowitz Kushner, Juliette Sweeney, museum executive director Tammie Kahn, and museum public relations and promotions director Henry Yau, who was unrecognizable in his authentic Elvis costuming.
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