Bayou Greenways Park Plan Gets a Major Boost in This Political Packed Houston Power Lunch

Let’s be clear, Mayor Sylvester Turner plans on winning another term and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, barely one year in office, is securing her post with absorbing, note-free speeches. So it was that the  annual luncheon Houston Parks Board, with speeches by both elected officials, punctuated the pleasing marriage between parks, politics and philanthropy.

Since 1976 the Houston Parks Board has utilized its generous public-private partnerships and its relationships in the philanthropic, government and community  arenas to improve city parks. And so that partnership was reinforced earlier this week.

The focus of the fundraising (more than $663,000) at the Marriott Marquis Houston was the advancement of the grand Bayou Greenways 2020.  The program, with support from community participants, donors and some 20 public partners, is creating 150 miles of trails connecting the city’s bayous in one continuous ribbon of green. Houston Parks Board president and CEO Beth White updated the gathering of more than 450 on the progress which will, in fact, be completed on time.

In celebration of the completion, the parks board is sponsoring a year-long 2020 celebration, that news revealed by luncheon chairs Susie and Joe Dilg. The festivities will include an Art Bike Parade, hosted in cooperation with the Art Car Parade, in the spring and the Houston Parks Board inaugural gala in the fall, chaired by Phoebe Tudor.

Mayor Turner provided an update on the 50/50 Park Partners initiative, a collaborative effort of the parks board, Houston Parks and Recreation Department, the Greater Houston Partnership and the Mayor’s Office.  The coalition has identified 22 neighborhood parks for improvement and long-range support. The Mayor announced that major corporate sponsorships have been pledged for the project, designed to create a better quality of life throughout the city and bring communities together.

PC Seen: Outgoing parks board chair Tom Bacon, incoming chair Barron Wallace and Lisa Wallace, City Controller Chris Brown, Aliyya and Herman Stude, Dina Alsowayel, Nancy and Rich Kinder, Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, Guy Hagstette, Michael Zilkha, Marie Louise and David Kinder, Cullen Geiselman, Angela Blanchard, Lainie Gordon and David Mincberg, Barry Mandel, Michael Skelly, Elizabeth Love, Jill Jewitt, Bob Harvey, Shellye Arnold, Lacey Dalcour-Salas, Gloria Bounds, Stephanie Bundage Juvane, Zet Smith, and just about every City Council member.