Houston’s Homecoming Ball – 2010 – What a Hoot!

WOWZER!  An amazing evening, all the way around. It was a beautiful ballroom setting, elegant dining, about 130 people all fancied-up, lots of reconnections and laughter and Way Fun Dancing. I think the pic to the left is the Macarena, but I am not sure – we even twisted the night away!

And on our right is a bevy of beauties, otherwise known as (right to  
left), Jane Lawson, Valerie Burson, Kathy Davis (Chair of the Ball Committee), and friend – there were quite a few people I had never met before.

And there were loads of people I knew really well —  
like my daughter, Rebecca Kuhn, Kay Lynn Kuper and my sister, Margaret Haring, pictured above. Oh, yeah, I wouldn't be where I am today without my amazing family!

Truly, the highlight of the evening was Roy Whitten's inspiring and evocative acknowledgement – bringing us up to date on himself and his family, reminding us of what we are really up to regarding our participation in the More To Life program, and his acknowledgement of me and the part I've played for the last 28 years. I had no idea what he was going to say, but he held the whole room captive, including me and people who knew nothing about the More To Life program. If you want to see the video (thank you, Marrrek), click here. If you want to read what he said, click here. That''s me and Roy to the right … not too shabby for having known each other so well for 28+ years!

And there's more …. like the Silent Auction, Chaired by Erin Dorn and beautifully arranged by Mari Hall and her daughter, Stacey. It was a magical evening. And then there's the table of Swartzes on the right – Jerry, Adele, Richard and Michael, yakking it up with Michael Goldreyer (standing), and sitting next to me was my good friend and support partner, Diana Makens and her husband Bill, bottom left picture.

You can click on any of the pictures and make them bigger … at least that's the theory!

There are no words potent enough to describe the enthusiasm and zest with which Kathy Davis, pictured above in the bevy of beauties, sourced this evening. Marrrek Pelt did a lot of the background technical/website/picture gallery setup, Mari Hall was a total rock of dependability, Erin Dorn was a creative go-getter … and then there were all the participants – Diana Makens flying in from Norway, Roy flying in from London (for just this one night) and Jeanne Whitten flying in from California, Bill Makens coming from South Dakota – Sharon and John Hoover and Paula Williams from Knoxville, Marrrek from Colorado – luminaries from right here in the Houston Metroplex.

My personal reflections on the evening coming next.