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Day Out with JVN Headlines HSPVA’s Record-Breaking Lunch and Auction

Day Out with JVN Headlines HSPVA’s Record-Breaking Lunch and Auction

Bob Eury, Deborah Keyser & James Stafford

HSPVA CELEBRATED FIVE years at its Downtown campus with a 1920s-jazz-club-inspired luncheon for 300 supporters. Guests were transported to the days of swing dancing as a student-conducted band played music by Duke Ellington, while performers, donning showgirl and flapper costumes from the high school’s performance of After Midnight, danced along.

Lunch was served onstage in the school’s Denney Theatre. The meal was unusually decadent for a luncheon, as chef Michelle Morris of Southern Cadence Cuisine served chicken scarpariello with pickled sweet peppers, a white wine Calabrian chili, crispy potatoes — and finished off with a chocolate pot de crème for dessert.

A toast was given by HISD Superintendent Mike Miles who spoke of his personal appreciation for arts education. A live auction followed, and the package featuring a day out with Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness — including a hair and skincare consultation — went for $6,000.

The afternoon raised a record-breaking $306,700 for Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. These funds will provide arts supplies, adjunct faculty, specialized equipment and technology, and other essential building blocks of Kinder HSPVA’s nationally acclaimed, tuition-free arts curriculum.

Kinder HSPVA students welcome guests

Duke & C.C. Ensell

Jo Furr, Leslie Wade, Shawn Stephens, and Kelley Lubanko

Mike Miles

Kinder HSPVA Jazz Director Warren Sneed and 2024 Distinguished Alumna Helen Sung

Kerry Walker and Victoria Lazar

Kennard & Dawn McGuire

HSPVA Friends Executive Director Alene Coggin and Philip Edmundson

Frank Angelle, Patricia Bonner, Algenita Scott Davis, and Zakiya Thomas

Chairs Tissy & Rusty Hardin and Bob Eury

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Leadership in Action: John Kuykendall Traded Newcaster Dream for Success in Luxury Retail

Leadership in Action: John Kuykendall Traded Newcaster Dream for Success in Luxury Retail

John Kuykendall, Showroom Manager, Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove

How did you get to where you are today? Growing up I had envisioned myself as a news anchor, living in NY and enthusiastically saying into the camera “Good Morning America!”. To this day, I am still a news/political junkie. My mother owned fur salons so specialty retail, luxury retail was in my blood through the family business. Eventually, mom shuttered the stores and I was recruited to a large specialty retailer. Over the next 30 years, I was in commissioned sales on the sales floor, became a department manager, worked my way up to buyer and store manager. Although I never became a newscaster, I did live in NYC for a few years. But Texas is home and with aging grandparents, I felt the pull to come back to my roots. A headhunter approached me. I never envisioned myself in the high-end appliance market, but there are so many similarities. Clients want a memorable experience; whether shopping for diamonds and fur or remodeling their kitchen.

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THE CORINTHIAN WAS the scene for a haunted happening benefiting Children’s Museum Houston. The decidedly adult bash was filled with dark allure, gothic glamour, and generosity to the tune of $1.14 million, the second-highest total in the event’s history.

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‘You’re the Inspiration’: Generous Donors Give $6.2 Mil to Kids’ Charity as Famous Band Takes Stage

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Morris Smith, Tilman Fertitta and Toni Smith

THE HOUSTON CHILDREN'S Charity gala is always anticipated, thanks to the big-deal musical acts brought in to entertain; this year it was Chicago. But the headliners this year were the generous donors, who seemed to surprise even event organizer with their largesse, with a total till of $6.2 million, a record.

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