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

ON MARCH 29, the same day Beyoncé dropped her celebrated Cowboy Carter album and sent Nashville’s most prickish pundits into a tizzy, Texas icon Willie Nelson and young buck Orville Peck released their duet, “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other,” further scrambling the brains of close-minded country fans with the catchy refrain: “Say, what do you think all them saddles and boots was about?”

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Art + Entertainment

Julia Davis, Sophia Cantu, Christiana Reckling, Julia Hotze, Randa McConn

AN INTIMATE GATHERING of around 125 guests toasted the 25th anniversary of Rienzi, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's house of European decorative arts. Beautiful blooms in shades of pink, white and blue, complemented by blue-toile linens, were found all around the verdant grounds, illuminated by simply chic string lights hanging from above.

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Parties