Jingle, jingle, jingle — the season of holiday soirees continues in full swing. One of my recent favorites was the Klyde Warren Park and Stanley Korshak cocktail party in Dallas. Granted, maybe I’m a little biased since I was privileged to host it. Donors, who annually contribute much needed funds to keep this showcase Dallas park clean and safe for its million-plus annual visitors, turned out in full tilt for merriment and shopping at one of the city’s top bastions of luxury fashion.
The evening was the brainchild of Klyde Warren Park CEO Kit Sawers and Stanley Korshak chief customer experience officer Chuck Steelman.
The soiree, appropriately titled on the invite Jingle & Mingle, brought together more than 200 Friends of Klyde Warren Park, Corporate Council, President’s Circle, and Park Partners (some of the various support groups for the beloved Green Jewel in the center of the Dallas Arts District action).
Adding some twenty and thirtysomething energy to the crowd? Many of the new KWP Young Professionals members who joined the celebration. Since launching in April, the program has already attracted more than 300 members from more than 170 companies — impressive growth in a short time. But hey, if you get the formula right — and by formula I mean cocktails and networking, which is what this demographic in Dallas wants — then you succeed.
Part of my hosting responsibilities normally include coming with some intriguing questions to wander around and pose to guests — the one that got the most responses this night was “Would you rather have a full-time chef or driver on retainer?” The responses were intriguingly well thought out and actually most went with driver. (Which BTW ‚ driver is always my response.)
Why? Most realized they could get so much done — which seemed to mostly be answering texts — if they were being chauffeured about town all day long.
One of my favorite moments from the evening came in the unveiling of the new Klyde Warren Park x Niven Morgan “Park 214” candle. Yes, they created a scentsational scent that captures the essence of this groundbreaking Dallas park. It is a sophisticated blend of orange, moss and sandalwood.
That means more bragging rights for Dallas. Our park has a candle. Even the New York City’s famed High Line doesn’t have a signature scent. I bought four candles on the spot since I was headed to a dinner at Cafe Pacific with a group of friends immediately following my early evening pitstop at Korshak.
Holiday Tip: If you are still in search of last-minute presents and hostess gifts, consider a donation to Klyde Warren which can secure a bench, chair or better yet, a tree named for that oh-so-hard-person-to-shop-for on your list. Or, just buy a dozen “Park 214” candles.
PC Seen: The fashionistas showed in full jingle and mingle attire, including Klyde Warren Park founders Sheila and Jody Grant; park board member Myrna Schlegel; Young Professionals membership group members Tucker Hayes, Meredith Denby, Jeremy Kutscherousky, Sydney Helbing, and Pete West; Stanley Korshak founder Crawford Brock; Carly Fuhrman, Chelsea Pfleg, and Jess Prescott from the PaperCity team; interior designer Shelby Wagner; recent San Francisco transplant Lisa Zabelle and her friend in from the Bay Area Gabriel Diaz; and Maggie Kipp, Carol Vig, Claire Emanuelson, Dee Dee Lee, Lynn McBee, Joshua Rossignol, Karen Katz, Max Trowbridge, Karen Bass, Jodi and Rick Perdew, Leslie Levy, Ann Wilson, Joyce Goss, and Nancy Gopez.