'Boo Ball' Bash! Night Owls and Ghoul-friends Pull Out Tricks, Treats and $800K for Ronald McDonald House

Daniel Ortiz and Jacob Power
'Boo Ball' Bash! Night Owls and Ghoul-friends Pull Out Tricks, Treats and $800K for Ronald McDonald House

Jose and Carolina Quiros

OF THE MANY festive fetes over the weekend, the annual Boo Ball benefiting Ronald McDonald Houston may have been the biggest, most spook-tacular one! More than 700 costumed partygoers descended upon the Hilton Americas ballroom, where a haunted house — complete with photo opps and bubbly — awaited.

Some of the party's most popular costumes included Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce; various iterations of Barbie; and beautified vampires and witches galore. Chaired by April and Wells McGee, the evening included silent and live auctions, plus a raffle and a "Pick Your Poison" spirit pull. A bidding war broke out in competition for a wine-tastic trip to Sonoma, and a teenage beneficiary of Ronald McDonald House's services presented the night's final prize up for grabs — an adorable puppy!

After the auctions and program, emceed by Lisa Malosky and featuring remarks by organization CEO Cristina Vetrano, party band Hybrid 7 had everyone out on the dance floor, boogying the night away. The total till topped $820,000 — talk about a treat!

Wayne Chapman, Sherry Fuller

Betsy and Elliott Hirshfeld, Matt and Melinda Mogas

Cari and Steve Greenley

Wade Upton and Flo McGee

Cristina Vetrano, Wells and April McGee, Dan Connally

Vicsandra Jones and Melissa Juneau

Diane and John Tully

Seth and Emma Elsenbrook, Kate Archer, Evan Elsenbrook

John and Diane Riley, Lizabeth and Tom Riley

Kaely Suarez with puppy

Ryan and Iryns Herbst

Patty and Greg Glasscock

Michael and Angela White

Ken and Mady Kades

Kristen Cannon, Faith Majors


Parties

Mercy Renteria (Photo courtesy of Undebel Flamenco)

RING IN THE new year a bit early at Queensbury Theatre near CityCentre. On Dec 30, the Energy Corridor of Houston Orchestra (ECHO) presents Dance the Night Away — an exciting evening of Spanish and Spanish-tinged music, including works by Isaac Albéniz and Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona y Casado; selections from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein (Have you seen Maestro yet?); dances from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker; and a special performance on the second half of the program by Houston-based, internationally recognized flamenco dancer, Mercy Renteria.

Keep Reading Show less
Food

One Fifth closed in 2022; a new concept will open in the space in 2025. (photo by Julie Soefer)

IT'S ONE OF the most iconic restaurant buildings in town, having once been the home to Mark's American Cuisine and, most recently, Chris Shepherd's groundbreaking rotating concept One Fifth, which closed in January 2022. Now, we know what's next for the cathedral at the corner of Westheimer and Dunlavy.

Keep Reading Show less
Food