Klyde Warren Park’s Party in the Park Raises a Record-Breaking $1.1 Million
Inside the Annual Soirée Featuring Dinner, Emerald City Band, and Fireworks
By Billy Fong //
Voilà, another smashing success at the jewel of downtown Dallas — Klyde Warren Park. Their soirée, Party in the Park, brings in much-needed funds to keep it clean and safe for the million-plus annual visitors.
This year’s honorary chair was Laurie Sands Harrison, who led the fall fundraiser alongside family members/event chairs Caroline Harrison Loehr and Gavin Loehr, Francis Harrison, Manuel Brito, and Bailey Harrison. All were spotted at the podium welcoming guests as well as founders, Sheila and Jody Grant, and someone celebrating their first Party in the Park helming the organization, Calvert Collins-Bratton. Collins-Bratton began her role as president and CEO in September and has a long history with Klyde Warren Park including her service as chair of the Dallas Park and Recreation Board.
For close to 15 years, the 5.4-acre urban park (which debuted over Woodall Rogers Freeway in 2012) has become known as Dallas’ town square given that it connects Uptown and the Dallas Arts District. Since opening, it has continued to expand and add including the Nancy Best Fountain and the Sheila and Jody Grant Children’s Park.
The crew I brought for the al fresco fun that evening included Lisa Zabelle, Zoe Bonnette, and Joshua Rossignol. We all congratulated Kit Sawers when we caught her during the cocktail hour surrounded by donors and friends. Sawers left the Park this summer after eight years as president and CEO to take a position that was recently created at Southern Methodist University — CEO of the Dallas Office.
The tables on the grand lawn of the Park were picture perfect (you may have seen them on the dozens of Insta stories I spied that evening), accented with vibrant colors and bottles of wine ready to be enjoyed. After dinner, the party continued with dancing to the tunes provided by Emerald City Band until the evening concluded with a dramatic grand-finale fireworks display.
The best news to report — the night raised a record $1.1 million for the more than 1,300 free community programs each year. Spotted sipping Ranch waters and champagne included Myrna and Bob Schlegel, Lyda Hill, Leisa Street, Kristin and James Hallam, Kaleta Blaffer Johnson, Chuck Steelman, Kemp Sawers, Capera Ryan, Mark Agnew, Krystal Schlegel, and Hamilton Sneed.
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