Rain or Shine! Trivia Night for Charity Kicks Off Pride Weekend

Hailie Durrett
Rain or Shine! Trivia Night for Charity Kicks Off Pride Weekend

Brit Burk, Drew Hope and Vitor Burk

A TORRENTIAL RAIN storm didn’t stop the participants at the second annual Big Queer Quiz from raising money for Grace Place! Teams gathered at Houston Cider Co. and sipped beers such as the Prider Cider, a raspberry lemonade hard cider brewed for Pride month, as they competed against each other in categories about LQBTQ+ history.


The festivities were taken indoors when a rain storm blew through, but emcee Amir Diamond kept the partying going. Grace Place, whose mission is to help youths and young adults experiencing homelessness, has been working overtime as the heatwave continues (and brings with it extreme afternoon rain). “We were able to kick off our annual campaign, which is centered around keeping our youth cool, says Courtney Sellers, Grace Place’s executive director. “The funds raised will go toward buying a much-needed ice machine to keep youth refreshed and allow them to focus on enjoying life.”

Local nonprofit Kindred Kitchen catered burgers and fries topped with caramelized onions, cheese and a special sauce for the 130 trivia-goers. Kindred Kitchen gives at-risk youth culinary and job readiness training that will prepare them for food and hospitality positions.

Natalie Ferguson, Amir Diamond and Zach McKenzie

o Jaynes, Camille Boudreaux, Stephanie Handler

Melissa Rodriguez, Matthew Gibson, Kenny Bacak, and Sarah Yates

Amy Tanguay and Gus Helpers

Courtney Sellers and Becca Saenz

Guests make their way indoors during surprise rain storm

Houston Cider Co. owner Justin Engle

Robert Saucedo has been named artistic director of River Oaks Theatre. (photo by Jason Ostrow)

THE REOPENING OF the storied River Oaks Theatre, which first began showing movies in Houston in 1939, is getting closer to reality after a long restoration process — and now an artistic director has been named.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

THE WRATH OF Hurricane Beryl couldn’t stop the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo from presenting 70 students, representing 57 Future Farmers of America chapters from across Texas, with $1.4 million in scholarships to a college of their choice. Scholarships were awarded at last week’s 96th annual Texas FFA State Convention which, amazingly, was held July 8-12 in the George R. Brown Convention Center for the first time in 20 years. The scholarship awards are part of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s $27.3 million dollar commitment this year to support Texas youth and statewide educational programs.

Keep Reading Show less
People + Places