An 'Enchanted' Lunch Honors Rodeo Trailblazers — and Lassos a Record-Breaking Crowd of Thousands

An 'Enchanted' Lunch Honors Rodeo Trailblazers — and Lassos a Record-Breaking Crowd of Thousands

Camille Connelly, Audrey White, Julie Chen, Amanda Boffone, Daniella Hernandez, Melissa Moncrief

THE 24TH ANNUAL Trailblazers Awards luncheon and fashion show kicked off Rodeo season in style! The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo took over the entirety of the Hilton Americas-Houston's ballroom spaces and welcomed a record-setting crowd of more than 2,000 for its big afternoon fete, which this year adopted the theme of Enchanted Garden.


This year's honorees, recognized for all the time, talent and generosity they've lent to the Rodeo over the years, included Isela Garcia, Michelle Iversen Jeffrey, Kristie Manning, Nancy Motley, Taryn Sims and Jennifer Currey Van Matre. Recipients from previous years were also in attendance, cheering each other on during the fashion show, produced by Lenny Matuszewski and Tamara Klosz Bonar.

The main event featured spring fashions from Saks Fifth Avenue (and cowboy dancers, naturally). Inspired by the production, many attendees sipped and shopped around a colorful marketplace erected in the hotel, and others stayed in the ballroom for an afterparty with tunes courtesy of DJ Johnny Bravo. Yee-haw!

Katy Tomasini, Jennifer Arnold, Heather Loesberg

Victoria Nelson, Debbie Young

Amanda Alvarez, Laura Salinas-Pruneda, Susie Molina, Leticia Rios

Vanessa Kriegel, Roxy Sanford, Sylvia Ready

Tiffany Halik, Tricia Verbois, Lesley Noto, Krista Shamaly

Cassie Sinor, Christina Wilson , Dana Barton

Carol Sawyer

Susannah Causey, Johnny Causey

Fashion models

Chris and Kendall Hanno

Steve Newmyer, Andrew Clendennen, John Grimes

Erin and Preston Hall

Kelly Larkin, Anita Sehga

Julie and Alan Kent

Daniella Hernandez, Cinthya Reade ,Felicia Stone

Heidi Turney, Liz Weisberg, Hasina Starks

Jarrett Adame, Tyson Dunn, Joe Van Matre, JW Daubert

Parties
Fall Philanthropy Report: Children’s Assessment Center Touts ‘Healing’ for Child Abuse Victims

What is your mission? The Children’s Assessment Center (The CAC) provides healing services to over 6,300 child sexual abuse victims and their families each year. We offer forensic interviewing, family advocacy, mental health services, medical care, and court services at no cost. We facilitate community outreach and prevention training to raise awareness about child abuse in our community and how to keep children safe. Last year, we provided prevention training to over 35,000 community members, including 23,500 children in schools.

Keep Reading Show less

Bill Viola’s ‘Ascension,’ on display as part of ‘Living with the Gods’ at MFAH

THE ARTIST WHO ushered in the expressionist movement in the early 20th century was not, in fact, Picasso or Matisse. It was Paul Gauguin, whose career spanned the decades just preceding the turn of the century. The French painter is the subject of the Museum of Fine Arts’ latest exhibit, Gauguin in the World, which was organized by Henri Loyrette (formerly of the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris). The show, just one of the museum’s diverse winter season shows, debuted in Australia in June and will be on display through Feb. 16, 2025, at the MFAH, the only U.S. venue for the survey.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

Cirque du Soleil's 'Echo'


Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment