Astros Wives Go to Bat for Female Empowerment, Raise Half a Mil for Girls Inc

Astros Wives Go to Bat for Female Empowerment, Raise Half a Mil for Girls Inc

Kara McCullers, Samatha Tucker, Pam Espada, Lindsey Kessinger, Kat Pressly, Reagan Bregman, Alexandra Rich

LET'S HEAR IT for the girls! Girls Inc, that is. A sold-out crowd gathered at Minute Maid Park's Union Station for a fun lunch hosted by Kat Pressly, wife to Astros pitcher Ryan Pressly, and her mom, Sue Rogers.


Rogers has been involved with Girls Inc for many years, championing the organization's mission to provide young women all over the city with access to mentors. Girls Inc CEO Treopia Cannon welcomed the 350-plus guests, many of whom were outfitted in pink in honor of the event's theme, "A League of Their Own." Other speakers included honoree Melissa Cook, a counselor who spoke about the need for mental-health support and social-media boundaries for teens, and Zori Ozor, a high school junior who offered her testimony as to how beneficial Girls Inc has been in her life.

The afternoon included a raffle of a Shaftel Diamonds ring, as well as a buzzy silent auction, both of which contributed to the record-setting till of more than $400,000. Talk about a home run!

Taylor Kessler and Courtney Powell

Claire Day, Brittany McDowell and Tami Wall

Julia Morales, Twila Carter and Treopia Cannon

Ryan and Kat Pressly

Kara and Lance McCullers

Reagan Bregman and Anita Sehgal

Melanie Gray and Mark Wawro

Karina Moreno, Lisa Helfman, Suzanne Ross, Hannah Brook

Kristen Harper, Jessica Mikell and Natalie Alvarado

Kat Pressly and Sue Rogers

Kristen Collins and Dana Barton

Kelsey and Stuart Cook

Parties

Mwenso Carnegie Squad

WITH SUMMER FAR from over, DACAMERA continues to roll out some of the hottest musical programming to be enjoyed here — and anywhere else in the South for that matter — with Houston SUMMERJAZZ 2023 (Aug. 17-20). The series highlights the breadth of contemporary jazz, with nods to the music’s Cuban, pan-African, funk, pop, and soul connections. This year’s festival includes performances by the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (Aug. 17), vocalist Gretchen Parlato in her first Houston appearance (Aug. 18), and crowd-pleasing global artists Mwenso & The Shakes (Aug. 19), whose members come from Sierra Leone, London, South Africa, Greenwich Village, Madagascar, France, Jamaica and Hawaii. (Jazz is, indeed, “global” music.) All Houston SUMMERJAZZ concerts take place in the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater.

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BEGINNING THIS THURSDAY, Aug. 17, DACAMERA’s Houston SUMMERJAZZ festival presents a concise, three-night program of jazz in a myriad of contemporary forms, with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (Aug. 17) illuminating its historical connections to Cuba and Puerto Rico, and internationalists Mwenso and The Shakes (Aug. 19) extolling the music’s pan-African, funk, and pop potential. In between those two hits, on Friday, Aug. 18, all of these tributaries and more will be explored in a set by two-time Grammy-nominated vocalist Gretchen Parlato, making her first appearance in Houston.

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Art + Entertainment