St. David’s Foundation Celebrates 35th Season Of Toast of the Town
By Rob Giardinelli Photography by Matthew Fuller, Robert Godwin and Matt Lankes
THE SETTING: St. David’s Foundation recently celebrated a milestone in its annual Toast of the Town party series. Over the past 35 years, each Toast season has featured a series of intimate experiences at many of Austin’s most celebrated and exclusive event venues. This year’s Toast party season featured a record-setting 23 events that showcased the various interests and capped off another fabulous social season in Texas’ capital city.
THE STYLE: This year’s series of events featured a wide range of fun experiences ranging from intimate dinners for 12 to cocktails for 40. Sports enthusiasts were able to have lunch and a sideline conversation with UT Football Coach Tom Herman, while those wanting to learn about presidential history could experience an evening with the LBJ Foundation’s Mark Updegrove. Attendees who wanted to let down their hair were able to socialize and cut a rug on the dance floor at the Real Housewives of Lake Austin event, or learn more about what it is really like behind the scenes of the hit NBC series The Voice with contestant and Austinite, Reid Umstattd. Lastly, a series of curated, five-star events wouldn’t be complete without experiencing food and wine at some fabulous dinner parties. The Toast party season began with an intimate dinner for 12 atop the Austonian and concluded with dinner for 20 featuring Master Sommelier, Ian Cauble.
Each of the 23 experiences, while unique in theme, have a cohesive aesthetic that is evident the second you walk into any of the events. Each party features Austin Sociables donning their finest Austin-chic attire that perfectly complemented the warm, late-spring air. The intimate events are always highlighted and featured a warm welcome from one of the party hosts and a brief message from one of the scholarship recipients on how the St. David’s Foundation has positively impacted their life.
THE PURPOSE: St. David’s Foundation Toast of the Town, chaired by Ellen Troxclair with Cassie Bale serving as vice chair, raised $1.65 million for the St. David’s Neal Kocurek Scholarship Program. Since it’s founding, over 550 students have received scholarships, currently set at 7,500 dollars per year, for those seeking to pursue health-related careers at Texas colleges and universities.