Helping Hand Home Hosts Annual Crystal Ball Presentation And Gala
By Rose Betty Williams Photography by Jetter Photography
THE SETTING: Before COVID-19, the Helping Hand Society celebrated the 77th annual Crystal Ball with a brunch and fashion show and the black tie Debutante Presentation Gala 2020 at the Palmer Events Center. Thirty-four debutantes, their escorts and junior escorts were presented along with 151 ninth grade Helping Hand Girls and Boys and 39 First Grade Princesses.
THE STYLE: Julian Gold and Webber Productions presented the fashion show at the luncheon. Emcee Jim Spencer introduced the Princesses, HH Girls and HH Debutantes. HHH Executive Director Ted Keyser and HH Society President Becky Roche welcomed and thanked the HHH supporters, event sponsors, underwriters, auction donors, the participants, their families and HH Society members for their talents, tireless efforts and generosity. The capacity crowd applauded loudly when nine former HH presidents made a surprise appearance, modeling the latest fashions on the runway. The gala featured the debutante presentation, a silent auction, a buffet dinner by Catering by Rosemary and dancing to the music of Blind Date.
This year’s Helping Hand Crystal Ball debutantes are: Catherine Amlar Adams, Kathryn Paige Anderson, Saylor Grace Barton, Larson Lane Beck, Lara Reyne Bell, Eloise Jane Breckbill, Emma Rose Breckwoldt, Caroline Merritt Pasfield Brigham, Jennifer Sara Chafizadeh, Caroline Alexander Daniel, Allison Spencer Durrett, Megann Simms Ehrlich, Hailey Elizabeth Gove, Ann Campbell Griffin, Julie Morgan Howden, Katherine MacLeod Huffstutler, Mary Claire Kemper, Avery Elaine McCall, Julia Barnes McIntyre, Louisa Michelle Nash, Mary Margaret Oden, Jillian Renee Perry, Isabella Grace Porter, Caroline Avery Ryan, Sallie Ann Seiders, Kathryn Alexis Shirley, Samantha Larke Smith, Avery Paige Smitheal, Rachel Elizabeth Stewart, Mary Caroline Taaffe, Zoë Michelle Taylor, Evelyn Clara Voelter, Anna Elinor Whitehead, and Rory Suzanne Williams.
THE PURPOSE: The 2020 Crystal Ball was co-chaired by Julie Baselice and Ginnie Wilcox, along with a gala committee comprised of more than 70 Helping Hand Society member volunteers. It is the largest fundraiser for the Helping Hand Home for Children, raising more than $1.4 million in support of the Helping Hand Home’s mission: to provide a nurturing and therapeutic home for children and to restore each child to a healthy family setting. The goal of the organization is to protect and restore the lives of victimized children so that those without hope may reclaim their futures.
By Rose Betty Williams Photography by Rose Betty Williams
Amy Sutton, Patty Loose and Beth Voorhees
At the Austin Country Club, the 16th anniversary
of Austin Kappa Settings was celebrated in grand style with a cocktail
preview party and table viewing party. Kappa Settings is always fun
and each time it deepens experiences for friends and guests to find
inspirations for elegant entertaining. Hostesses know at any barbeque, shower,
or fine dining party, the table is the center of attraction. At Settings
2019, the Kappa Kappa Gamma event offered surprises of colors and décor, while
the tabletops offered awe-inspiring ideas.
Frances Smith Netherton, Carol Crowley and Shery Smyth
The speaker for the event was Lela Rose, the New York City-based American fashion designer widely regarded for her eponymous collections. Passionate for style, design, and décor, Rose released her first book, Pret-a-Party, focusing on her love of entertaining. As a principled female business owner, wife and mother, Rose is committed to giving back to the community. For more than 17 years, Rose has supported a proven network of artisans, sewers, pattern-makers, manufacturers, and small business owners in New York City.
Gail Wheelus and Vickie Roan, The Menagerie tablesetting
The Platinum Honoree at the gathering was Lanette Smith, who, twenty-two years ago, conceived the first Kappa Settings. With a talent for fundraising and a heart for giving back to our community, she established the Austin KKG Philanthropy Fund. Beyond her dedication to this signature event, Smith has served on the House Board and in 1992 was President of the Alumnae Association.
Breed & Co. tablesetting
Some of the other highlights included a Garrison Brothers Bourbon tasting, rose
nosegays gifted to each guest by The Pearl Collection and designed
by guest speaker Lela Rose, and tortoise shell
earrings gifted to each guest by Elizabeth Gibson of Eliza Page. Plus, there
were specialty favors at the designers’ tables.
This event showcases the Best of Austin Designers. Ultimately, the
total proceeds of $51,000 helps to meet critical needs in our community and
beyond.
Kendra Scott tablesetting
The 2019 Beneficiaries wereThe Refuge, CASA of Travis County,
LifeWorks, Beyond Batten Foundation, Meadows Mental Health Institute,
Austin Community Foundation, and Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation. Regarding the
KKG Scholars,the Beta Xi Kappa Kappa Gammas at the University of
Texas were recognized for last year achievement as the Number One Chapter with
a Grade Point Average of 3.569.
Lynn Box, Susie Jastrow and Donna Thomas
Chairs & Key Committee Members for the event
were:
Introducing the launch of SOCIETY TEXAS, a Texas-based luxury magazine showcasing the largesse of fashion, style, parties, culture and philanthropy of Texans and those with Texas ties.
Introducing the launch of SOCIETY TEXAS, a Texas-based luxury magazine showcasing the largesse of fashion, style, parties, culture and philanthropy of Texans and those with Texas ties.
By Rose Betty Williams Photography by Jenny DeMarco
Texas natives Sheridan Butler, the daughter of Renee and Eddie Butler, and Tyler Binford, the son of Ann and Weston Binford, grew up in Austin. She went to Saint Michael’s High School, then Ole Miss. He went to Westlake High School, then Texas State. Even though their childhood homes were both in Westlake, they found each other after they graduated from college. Tyler said he was attracted to Sheridan’s beautiful smile, and Sheridan found Tyler’s sense of humor irresistible. They dated for four and a half years before Tyler drew on his good humor to proclaim his love for Sheridan.
It was Halloween 2017. Sheridan was dressed as Regina George from Mean Girls, and Tyler as Aaron Samuels (Regina’s boyfriend). Sheridan was hosting a party at her home when Tyler managed to sneak out of the party without her noticing. A young trick or treater rang the doorbell escorted by someone dressed in a bear costume. Before Sheridan could think, the person dressed as a bear pulled her out onto her front porch, removed the bear head and proposed. Sheridan said yes to Tyler in the bear costume.
That began a very busy year of meticulous wedding planning and six incredible parties to celebrate their engagement. Friends and family toasted the couple at a Monte Carlo-themed party at The Highball, a weekend-long party for the bridesmaids and groomsmen at a Lake Austin home, another patio party at a Lake Austin home, a BBQ, Bubbles & Brews, a Mad Hatter bridal tea party at the Headliners Club and an Around The World Beer Tasting Party held at Chateau Bellevue. Also, they chose Vickie Roan at The Menagerie to help them with all their wedding registry needs.
Sheridan and Tyler wanted their wedding to highlight family traditions and be filled with fun activities, flowers, themed rooms, specialty drinks, favorite foods, all kinds of music, dancing, more flowers, and photos of them during all stages of their lives. The Thursday night before the wedding, Sheridan and her mother, Renee, hosted the bridal party dinner at Tarry House. The rehearsal dinner was held at the Headliners Club (just like Sheridan’s parents’ rehearsal dinner 35 years earlier), and the Welcome Party after the dinner was hosted by the bride’s grandmother, Ann Butler.
The ceremony was held at Tarrytown United Methodist Church. Barton Strings provided the music as the bride walked down the aisle carrying a bouquet of calla lilies that was just like her mother’s bouquet when she got married. The flower girl’s basket was the same basket that her mother held for Sheridan’s parents’ wedding. She wore a Rita Vinieris-designed wedding gown accessorized with her mother’s diamond and emerald earrings for something borrowed.
Austin Country Club was transformed for the festive reception. “No detail went unnoticed,” said Sheridan. Westbank Flower Market arranged more than 3500 white calla lilies for the grand entrance. Two thousand of them stood waist high to greet guests walking down the long aisle to the party, and through the next set of double-doors, the walls were completely covered in greenery so that the callas seemed to be growing from the floor.
The bride and her mother created the names for the themed reception rooms as well as the creative names for each food item. Some of the themed rooms included the Dance Room of Ice with a mirrored dance floor and a 16-foot long ice bar that had two large beer luges on either corner that were filled with beer for guests to refill their drinks. The wedding cake was themed Beyond the Cake of Towering Jewels and the groom’s cake was called Tyler’s Texas Adventure Cake. “It had an oil rig, guitar, Westlake Chaparrals logo, poker chips and Coors beer on it,” Tyler said. “All of my favorite things besides Sheridan.” Matchmaker provided the music for guests who danced the night away.
The bride is active in the Austin community with the Junior League of Austin and the Andy Roddick Foundation and the groom works at Capitol Wright Distribution. The happy couple, Sheridan and Tyler, had a spectacular send off to start their married life together. They left in a 1963 Bentley through a waterfall of fireworks and a calla lily salute. They honeymooned at The Lodge at Pebble Beach and Half Moon Bay. It’s always been Sheridan’s dream to stay at The Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay since she calls it a “castle on the beach.” She thanked her parents by saying, “This was the wedding I always dreamed of. This was the wedding of the century for Tyler and me, and a day we will never forget.”
