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‘Mississippi Rising’ Dinner for Project Transitions, Part 3
This is the third in a three-part posting on ‘Mississippi Rising’ Dinner for Project Transitions. Chef Bess Giannakakis provided the three recipes below.
WILD RICE SOUP
1/2 cup wild rice
Water
4 TB butter
1 small carrot (about 1/4 cup) minced
3 stalks (about 1 cup) minced celery
1 medium onion (about one cup) minced
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 - 3 cups chicken stock
2 cups half and half cream
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 chicken bouillon cube or salt
1 TB parsley chopped
2 TB sweet marsala, sherry or port
Chive sprigs
Cook the wild rice:
Soak rice in cold water for 10 minutes
Strain water away
Add to a saucepan with 2 cups of water
Simmer for 30-40 minutes until tender but still with ‘some chew’ to it (It does not and should not cook up like rice, it is more like al dente pasta)
Strain water away, rinse and set aside
Cook the other soup ingredients:
Melt butter, over medium heat in pot large enough to accommodate all ingredients
Add carrot, celery and onion and sauté until softened
Stir flour into the butter/vegetable mixture creating a roux and let cook 2-3 minutes
Stir in the wine, let cook for 1 minute
Stir in 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock, let cook until thickened to the consistency of gravy
Stir in the cooked wild rice and cream
Bring to a very light simmer, stirring often
Add hot sauce and bouillon cube or salt, more or less to taste and simmer 20-30 minutes, stirring often
Add remaining chicken stock as needed to thin soup to desired consistency
Stir in parsley and port or sherry and heat through
Garnish with chives and serve
HUSHPUPPIES
Makes approximately 30 light, small-ish hushpuppies
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup mesa flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
pinch black pepper
1 tsp yeast
1 egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 TB pepper jack cheese grated
1/2 TB scallions minced
1 tsp fresh cilantro minced
Enough shortening or canola oil to fill a pot to 3” deep
Mix cornmeal, flours, sale, pepper and yeast in a bowl
Mix egg, buttermilk, cheese, scallions and cilantro in another bowl
Slowly pour and fold together wet mix into dry mix until fully incorporated
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at 8 -12 hours
Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking
Bring oil in pot to 350 degrees
Drop batter, approximately a teaspoon full, into oil
Turn and roll around until golden brown
Remove to plate with paper towels for cooling
Serve when cool enough to eat or at room temperature
BESS’S FRIED CHICKEN
4 cups buttermilk
1 TB hot sauce
1 tsp salt
1 chicken cut into 8 pieces
4 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 TB salt
1/2 TB paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 TB garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 TB chili powder
1/2 cup corn flakes crushed
Enough shortening or canola oil to fill skillet to 1” deep
Mix buttermilk, hot sauce and salt in a large bowl
Submerge chicken pieces
Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate 6-12 hours
Remove chicken from refrigerator
Mix all dry ingredients and pour onto a sheet-pan
Retain 1/2 the buttermilk, remove chicken and pat dry with paper towels
Add eggs to the retained buttermilk, mixing well
Dredge chicken in dry sheet-pan mixture, shaking off excess
Dip in buttermilk/egg mixture, shaking off excess
Dredge again in dry sheet-pan mixture, shaking off excess
In a large cast iron or heavy skillet heat oil to 350 degrees
Add chicken pieces with space between and fry, turning once, 5-7 minutes per side (thighs and legs will take longer)
Remove to plate with paper towels for draining
Photos to come.
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‘Mississippi Rising’ Dinner for Project Transitions, Part 2
Part 2 of a three-part posting. Part 1 dealt with the food. Part 3 will share some recipes
Strains of “Ol’ Man River” and “Meet Me in St. Louis” wafted from the broad foyer of the 1917 guesthouse on Riverside Drive.
Dinner service, cookware and Midwestern ingredients spread neatly over the wide kitchen with its near-commerical Wolf range and poised crew of three brunette women greeting each guest.
Behind a curtain in the tall dining room, a long, narrow table was festooned with candles, flowers and smooth river pebbles. Hand-painted napkins unfolded into maps of the Mississippi Valley.
Hosts Blaise Bahara and Bess Giannakakis certainly know how to set the scene for a benefit dinner party. Their theme for “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” on Feb. 4 was “Mississippi Rising: A Culinary Journey Down Ol’ Man River.”
Each year, clusters of hosts around Austin give dinners on the same night to raise money for Project Transitions, the nonprofit that serves people with HIV and AIDS by providing hospice, housing and support.
The scene was not unfamiliar. For several years, our former cooking group, dubbed the Spice Boys, hosted “Guess Who” dinners. The last one was a marvelous frenzy, serving more than 30 guests at the graceful Old West Austin home of Nick Shumway and Robert Mayott.
But Shumway and Mayott moved away, as did the other Spice Boys: Dale Rice, Antonio La Pastina, Sean Massey and Loren Couch. This was the year to get back into the “Guess Who” spirit.
Two years ago, Bahara and Giannakakis purchased what would become Gateway Guesthouse, after moving here from Minneapolis, where Giannakakis was a professional chef — and it shows in her organization, prep and execution.
So why a bed and breakfast in Austin?
“I’ve got 10 years of really hard work ahead of me,” she confesses. “I don’t want to spend 14 hours a day over a hot stove. I’d rather spend it making beds and chatting with people.”
The couple rents out four rooms in two structures separated by a pool and spa deck that they added. The house is decorated with historical photographs of Austin and elsewhere, along with reviews of Giannakakis’ last restaurant, which appeared on an episode of the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”
Host Guy Fieri called one of her casual dishes at Colossal Cafe: “Christmas in a sandwich.”
“All I got was a lousy hat,” Giannakakis joked.
When the pair heard about the Project Transitions series, they jumped right in, setting their table this year for 11.
“Fifty percent of the guests are people we know, fifty percent we don’t know,” Bahara says. “Last year we served food from six countries for ‘Mediterranean Madness.’ Like last time, we’ll stick to small dishes.”
The guests, who were given slips of paper printed with facts about Mississippi Valley’s gustatory bounty to read aloud before each course, attended for a range of reasons.
“This one sounded the most interesting and intimate,” said Adam Holzband of the “Guess Who” dinner selections. “It’s the best way to get to a little closer to the chef and the food!”
“I came last year,” Robin Sanders said. “So I know what a great evening we are in for.”
“They are the two coolest women and great chefs,” Wendy Smith said.
“We live down the street and watched the changes in the house go up,” Torbin McEwin said. “We were interested in what was inside.”
“Well, I’m on the board of Project Transitions,” Lynn McNeill said. “And I’ve not done one of these before.”
‘I sold them the house!” Angelle Hall said. “And we became fast friends. They dreamboarded really big.”
House painter Eric Frost worked on Gateways Guesthouse.
Not long after the dinner began, with Bahara and Giannakakis making announcements from the nearby kitchen, the stories, jokes and laughter rolled through the room.
Food blogger Jodi Bart, for instance, had won the Whole Foods Foodie Fantasy contest which took her to several culinary regions of Europe and led to her engagement. Such stories came out of that adventure.
Among the most amusing tropes of the evening arose from Kimberly Kohlhaas, who claimed not to have spoken in public since third grade when she mispronounced a commonly mispronounced word.
After that, almost everyone reading from the Mississippi Valley prompts stumbled in some way or another, leaving the whole table heaving with giddiness.
The final toast of many: “To doing it wrong and not caring.”
Delicious photos and recipes to come.
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‘Mississippi Rising’ Dinner for Project Transitions, Part 1
Conviviality and charity go hand in hand during the annual cluster of dinners designed to support Project Transitions.
These natives of Montreal and St. Louis, respectively, who lived together previously in San Francisco and Minneapolis, chose the theme “Mississippi Rising.”
All the food and drink — or at least the ideas for the dishes — came from the basins of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Ten states — Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana — were represented. (The contributing Missouri River was snubbed.)
We’ll relate the physical and social settings in a later post — yes, it was that memorable! — but let’s record first the consumables.
“Wild rice is on every menu in Minnesota,” Giannakakis said with an indulgent smile. The concoction came with a bottle of Summit Winter Ale, brewed in St. Paul, Minn.
Next arrived small, pale medallions of pork loin nested on a reduction of moonshine-corn cream, almonds and roasted red peppers. (“There are 10 pigs for every human in Iowa,” we learned.)
Alongside sat a shot of the moonshine-like Prichards Lincoln County Lightning, a stinging white corn whiskey — that can’t be aged — hailing from Tennessee.
A fresh take on fried chicken — maybe the best I’ve ever tasted — was refreshed with 9-year-old Knob Creek single-barrel bourbon, along with mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits and gravy.
Yep, another meat dish still to go. (The portions were suitably small.) Memphis-style barbecue pork ribs indulged in a spicy rub for three days, then they were smoked for three hours before finishing in an oven. Like mother’s love.
An exquisite profiterole that mixed hot and cool chocolate around a puff of bread finished the meal. This was served with a Missouri chardonnay.
As everyone was scraping the last chocolate off the plate, almost instantaneously, demitasses of espresso appeared for those who requested a cleansing of the senses.
Why the Mississippi theme, other than the couple’s life adventures up and down its stem?
“I wanted to do something to unite the whole country,” Giannakakis says. “You know, how we used to be together?”
Photos by Ashley Landis
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Austinites cheer ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’
“Drama!” “Romantic!” “Action!” “Enjoyable!” “Sing!” “Petrova!”
As if playing a word game during the first intermission, guests on the Long Center plaza shared one-word responses to Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” as staged by Austin Lyric Opera. (This kept them engaged while I snapped their pictures for this column.) Everyone I spoke to succinctly agreed with the published critics, who uniformly praised the music and the drama.
Terry Ortiz and Marion Sanchez
Yet they singled out soprano Lyubov Petrova, who gave a performance for the ages in the title role.
Brooke Bailey and Rudy Garcia
Pleased with the glories of the singing, acting, directing, conducting and playing, few seemed to notice the admittedly dowdy — if serviceable — sets and costumes from New Orleans and Salt Lake City. Given the company’s constrained circumstances these days, we must grow accustomed to the lack of potent spectacle and any repertoire outside opera’s Top 20.
Teresa Brucker and Dasha Yegorova
So be it. The music and drama suffice. They appeared to renew Austin’s devotion to the art form, as an up-to-the-rafters house rose to gladden the company with unreserved cheers.
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Profile: Mia Washington
Serving as emcee for the evening, Austin’s most social city council member, Mike Martinez, convincingly impersonated an early rapper.
Draped in vintage fashion, youngish guests paid tribute to Pat Benatar, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, among other 1980s pop sensations, hoping to win prizes for best costume and best dancing.
Filling the Parish nightclub on East Sixth Street, they writhed well into the evening, almost as if designer drugs were fueling this nostalgic New Wave Ball. (They were not.)
In fact, Buffalo N.Y.-born Mia Washington, 44, works for one of Austin’s most serious charities. The Austin Children’s Shelter, beneficiary of the New Wave Ball, provides protection and care for children and young adults through emergency shelter care.
“We’re the place where the healing begins,” Washington likes to say. This director of special events knows, however, that a social affair to raise money for a critical nonprofit should not hit their guests over the head with the cause.
She recommends a well-crafted video, upbeat, to tell the charity’s story. A live speech is optional. Neither should exceed three minutes.
“People don’t want to hear talking,” she says. “If they came to your event, they want to support you. They also want to have a good time.”
The oldest of five — with four younger brothers — seems born to lighten the collective mood.
“I was fun, loud and playful,” she remembers of life with father Walter Louis Sims, who owned restaurants, and mother Sharon Ann Sims, a bookkeeper, both from Buffalo but now longtime residents of Portland, Ore. “How I am now is how I was as a kid.”
Washington changed schools several times, finishing her secondary education at suburban Pomona High School in Arvada, Colo. College was hit or miss, but she’s still determined to finish her communications degree from St. Edward’s University.
She studied music, dance, art and, being the eldest, learned to be responsible for others. Perhaps because her parents were self-made business people, she learned to shine while applying for her very first job in retail.
“I wanted to be at the mall. I wanted to buy clothes and see my friends,” she says. “My father coached me for job interviews. ‘Shake their hands and say ‘“When do I start?”’ When the interview was done, I yelled it ‘WHEN DO I START?’ By the time I got home, they hired me.”
Washington later did office work — always with plenty of people around — and eventually landed a job with the Urban League in Portland, Ore. during the early 1990s.
“That’s where I fell in love with nonprofits,” she says. “I loved what I did and that what I did directly affected somebody. Somebody ate because of what I did. Somebody got better because of what I did.”
She followed leader Herman Lessard to Austin when he became the CEO of the regional chapter.
“I knew nothing of Texas,” she confesses. “New Yorkers have a poor perception of Texas.”
By now she was a single mother. Azia Washington, 20, currently studies dance at Tyler Junior College.
“She’s most phenomenal thing I’ve ever produced,” she laughs. (Washington intersperses any conversation with generous laughter.)
A corporate gig in marketing and event planning ended in an untimely lay-off, but Washington landed on her feet with the United Way, the St. Ed’s. She’s been with the children’s shelter for six years.
Among her duties are planning the big annual events. Besides the New Wave Ball (Feb. 24 at Speakeasy nightclub), there’s Fashion for Compassion (March 23); a golf tournament (September) and the grown-up gala (Nov. 3).
Meanwhile, she’s the channel for third-party fundraisers — from lemonade stands to bike races — that benefit the shelter. She ensures that the gatherings are legitimate and ethical, fitting with the children’s shelter brand.
“It’s very valuable revenue stream,” Washington says of these grassroots affairs.
She dreamed up the New Wave Ball as a way to recruit new leaders.
“I started looking at events like the White Party (for LifeWorks) and others that were geared to a young demographic,” she says. “There’s a lot of young wealth here.”
Her formula for an effective fundraiser is deceptively simple, but as your social columnist an attest, not so easy to achieve.
“You’ve got to have good food, good drink and good people,” she says. “Having the right people there makes the difference. Then a good theme. A gala is a gala. A dinner is a dinner. Everybody does that. My job is to put the ACS flavor on our events.”
She works through volunteer committees, social media and other networking tools to get those people to the event. Even when things go reasonably well, there are no social guarantees.
The first New Wave Ball, with its campy ’80s theme, could have been the last one. Set in an awkward, bifurcated hotel space, it offered an over-abundance of food and cramped dance floor.
“The first one happened quickly,” Washington says. “I had to fight a bit to have the ball happen again. But the concept was good. Nobody else was doing that. The elements were there.”
In 2011, the ball moved to the Parish, a big, friendly, upstairs room best known for its superior acoustics. Media judges returned — I was one, not in costume, mind you — and many of the problems were fixed. Even so, emcee Martinez was forced to shout out raffle numbers to a distracted crowd and the wait for the prize announcements lasted way too long.
“You always need to get feedback,” Washington says. “Whether you like it or not. And you have to weigh it. We are still tweaking it.”
Like a stage director, Washington imagines what her guests will experience in advance. “People are sensory-oriented,” she says. “I try to be a guest and walk through it as a guest. What do they see? What do they hear? What do they smell? To me, that builds it all up.”
At Speakeasy, guests will be greeted with event lights, banners and several DeLorians on Congress Avenue.
“How they are received at the door sets the tone,” says Washington, who stations seasoned greeters near the reception table and directs refreshments to the guests before they even mingle. She also includes children at shelter events — not clients — to remind people subliminally of the charity’s mission.
“You tell your story when people don’t know you are telling it,” Washington says. “And if you tell the sad part, you also must tell the good. There’s got to be an upside.”
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Angelina Eberly Luncheon at Driskill Hotel
In three short years, it has become a tradition. The Angelina Eberly Luncheon benefits the small but growing Austin History Center Association, the nonprofit group that backs the city’s historical archives. It filled the upper lobby of the Driskill Hotel with tables of dignitaries, including all but one Austin City Council Member.
Marina and Gus Garcia
There were mayors aplenty though, including current Mayor Lee Leffingwell and three past mayors — Ron Mullen (1983-1985), Lee Cooke (1988-1991) and Kirk Watson (1997-2001) — who were saluted humorously at the end of the lunch. Three others — Frank Cooksey (1985-1988), Bruce Todd (1991-1997) and Gus Garcia (2001-2003) — were present.
Suzy Lindeman Snyder and Margaret Berry
Recently deceased association president Nancy Price Bowman was honored. And after way too many public thanks and recognitions, the three saluted ex-mayors took the stage, sitting on ornate throne-like chairs with Downtown Austin Alliance director Charlie Betts, who could have been mayor at some point if he had chosen to run.
Mary Arnold and Madge Vasquez
Betts — who must be tickled by all the talk about a medical school, teaching hospital, affordable housing and the Waller Creek project in downtown’s neglected northeast sector — stuck to questions that elicited funny mayoral memories. Odd political coalitions, failed and successful public projects and, especially, angry citizens made for anecdotes that, for me, could have lasted all afternoon.
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Tracing Upper Upper Waller Creek
Reader Sarah Franklin pointed us to the source of Waller Creek. Which is not, as we assumed, just north of 45th Street. Rather it lies in the unheralded Highland neighborhood north of Highland Mall.
Sunday, Sarah and her daughter, Mary Franklin (pictured), walked its uppermost reaches with me. The bookkeeper for MF Plumbing Co., the family business shared with her husband, Michael Franklin, lives on Kenniston Drive with four large and rather intimidating dogs, multiple ducks, chickens and other livestock attached what she calls the “Franklin Funny Farm.”
An old neighbor told Franklin that their tall-ceilinged wood house was constructed by German prisoners of war at Camp Swift and moved to its current location near Guadalupe Street, when it would have been a rural enclave. Otherwise, their area was associated with the large African American orphanage and farm called St. John’s. It later hosted modest, late-century ranch homes of varied styles and quality.
Running a fairly straight course through the district is a waterway, sometimes lined with limestone, sometimes overgrown with willows and other creek-loving flora. Near the intersection of St. John’s Avenue and Northcrest, this tame stream — just puddles at this point — stops at an open drain pipe. Sarah and I suspect nearby springs because of the cottonwoods and other indicative trees in the area.
From there, Upper Upper Waller Creek meets a tiny tributary at the University Hills Optimist Club baseball field, which looks lifted from a small Texas town. It sneaks under Airport Boulevard near Huntland Drive and then zig-zags unnaturally over to a line parallel to Chesterfield Avenue, where I picked it up, running with clear water, at a pedestrian bridge attached to a tiny picnic area (pictured).
At West 55th Street, I spied a woman weeding the high banks of the creek. She recognized me. Jan Seward (pictured) is part of a volunteer group that is reclaiming little portions of the creek in her neighborhood. From there, the creek heads to state lands by Epoch Coffee and grows wilder alongside the University of Texas Intramural Fields.
By the time it reaches Rowena Street , it’s downright pretty. At 45th — where I assumed it began — it crosses the Shipe Playground and the grounds of the Elisabet Ney Museum. It becomes quite wooded as it approaches the Commodore Perry Estate and Hancock Golf Course, then eases through some graceful, upscale neighborhoods before becoming a public phenomenon on the University of Texas campus.
All this creek tracing was inspired by a short walk on Lower Waller Creek taken with philanthropists Tom and Lynn Meredith, as we discussed plans for the Waller Creek Conservancy downtown. All their work — and those of their collaborators — is deeply appreciated. But it’s also good to know the creek’s humble and authentically Austin origins.
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Very Smart Gals at Four Seasons Residences
“Very Smart Gals” is a very smart blog from SueAnn Wade-Crouse. It covers books, artists, charities and music, along with family reflections from Wade-Crouse’s intentional life. Like the best blogs, it blends its author’s personality with potentially useful information.
Lily Ta and Dean Lofton
It was an honor to be among the very few male guests at the Very Smart Gals party at the Four Seasons Residences on Sunday. Among the the dozens of women were influencers like Lulu Flores, Deborah Tucker, Sarah Bird, Susan Longley, Lynn Meredith and Dean Lofton. Others were drawn from the communities of law, charity, education, arts, media, business, movies and music.
Lynn Meredith, Christy Pipkin and SueAnn Wade-Crouse
The centerpiece of the evening was a presentation by Christy Pipkin, who, with husband Turk Pipkin, has turned out three breakthrough documentaries — “Nobelity,” “One Peace at a Time” and “Building Hope.” She explained crisply and pointedly the couple’s collaborative work in Kenya, now expanding beyond the Mahiga Hope High School to other secondary schools.
Betsy Gerdeman and Yolette Garces
Over sumptuous desserts, I made mental notes of five or six possible column subjects. Maybe smartness is catching.
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Dell Children’s Gala at Austin Convention Center
Fabulous. Just fabulous. The gala for the Children’s Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas defines force and class for large-scale Austin benefits.
Many of the winning elements in this year’s party built on last year’s successes. This time, light artist Bart Kresa created three enfolding walls of projections that dazzled the eyes and made the vast banquet hall more intimate. Magically, the three walls also served as six video screens — and in a large hall, there can’t be too many.
David and Fawn Bull
Dell Children’s produces some of the sharpest charity videos in town — bright, professional, compelling. The medical center also uses personal testimony in an efficient and effective manner. The story of Kathryn Scarborough Bechtol and Hub Bechtol’s scare over their son’s traumatic accident, for instance, won’t soon be forgotten.
Of course, florist David Kurio and event planner Victoria Hentrich’s decor and staging set the scene, suggesting luxury without going over the top. (You don’t want anything that seriously undermines a charity’s net take.) The silent auction was handled by University of Texas Cowboys and Lassoes armed with iPads.
Bobbi and Mort Topfer
The live auction — in some ways the heart of any such gala — produced many tens of thousands of dollars for Dell Children’s, but went on too long. No fault of the auctioneer, just too many packages and too vast a crowd for a quick “paddles up.”
A nice touch: One waiter was assigned to each table, which made for a fluid interaction between guests and the evening’s many amusements. Even co-chairs Eric and Kay Moreland did a superb job navigating this ship of charitable state.
Brett and Debra Hurt
Table No. 4 packed a punch: Mort and Bobbi Topfer, Tom and Lynn Meredith, Brett and Debra Hurt, as a well as a couple whose name I didn’t catch. I spent most of the evening talking parties, politics, projects and more with Lynn and Bobbi.
All hail Armando Zambrano, the mastermind behind this masterpiece.
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Indian Republic Day at Givens Recreation Center
I didn’t even know there was a Republic Day. The holiday recognizes the adoption of the Indian constitution 62 years ago. The Indian American Coalition of Texas saluted the birth of the world’s largest democracy on Saturday.
Veena Gangidi, Sumana Sen Mandala and Shahin Alvi
The Republic Day party was held at the Givens Recreation Center on far East 12th Street. Booths surrounded a seated area that faced the raised stage in this combination gym and performance area. For two hours during the five-hour affair, traditional music and dances alternated with speeches, proclamations and games.
Komal Bose and Koonal Bose
Needless to say, various elected and appointed officials spoke. I would, too, if I were running for anything. Austin’s Indian American population is growing rapidly. The community’s culture, history and variety are increasingly vital to everyone.
Sumina Bhatti, Sameer Shah and Sonia Kotecha
Sadly, I could not stay for dinner. I’m still making baby steps learning how to cook Indian cuisine. Pushpesh Pant’s massive cookbook is my current guide. Which brings to mind a pertinent question: What’s your favorite Indian restaurant in Austin? My fall-back is the Clay Pit.
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‘Wicked’ + Sam Harris + social scrapes
My little camera got me into two minor social scrapes this weekend. At the ‘Wicked’ cast party — tremendous troupe, plump production values from this touring show at Bass Concert Hall — karaoke wafted from Rusty’s gay bar on East Seventh Street. So I waited by the door to document the arriving cast, crew and guests for this column.
First in front of the lens was Don Amendolia, who looked suitably wizardly even after playing the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Then three pleasant but socially otherwise engaged young women posed for the column. Quick happy snaps.
After that, an energetic group of four approached the door. I separated them out. One actor wanted to check his look before I took his picture. Fine. Not in a hurry.
Don Amendolia and Shannon Boggus
So far, pretty normal for your social columnist. When I asked for the spelling of their names, however, one actor countered by demanding my credentials. How could he be sure that I wouldn’t misuse his image? After all, some of the cast had been stalked, he said.
Courtney Iventosch, Laran Snyder and Lindsay Wood
I was stumped. Out of business cards, I didn’t even think about the employee card in my wallet. The doorman, laughing at my social dilemma, intervened: “Yeah, that’s Michael Barnes with the newspaper.”
Zach Hensler and David Nathan Perlow
Just an actor being an actor. No hard feelings.
The next night, I headed to the YMCA on Ed Bluestein Boulevard for a kick-off event to Black History Month. When I arrived at the center, the place was swarming with young people playing and exercising. Normal. But where was the kick-off? Then I spied two men in suits, who kindly directed me to the reception.
It was not until later that I realized they were dressed almost identically, as were the other men in dark suits and smart ties outside the door of the gathering. I was asked to sign in, then overheard that I would be patted down for security reasons. What was going on?
The actual situation finally dawned on me when one of the suited men took me aside and said I could not use my camera or record anything at the event. My reporting would not be welcome at this Nation of Islam meeting.
Again, no hard feelings. Gotta read those digital invitations more closely. Everyone was exceedingly courteous, but what’s a reporter without reporting?
Headed from there to the Shoal Crossing Events Center, where Sterling Affairs Catering and Event Planning has teamed up with Austin Cabaret Theatre to present musical acts in the barn-like former dinner theater and clothing store.
In this case, when I use the term “barn-like,” it’s not a put-down, but rather a description of the building’s shape. Despite the high ceilings, it fits neatly the big cabaret talents that Stuart Moulton books.
Paul Beutel and Willa Kaye Warren
Sam Harris, veteran of “Star Search” on TV, “The Life” on Broadway and much more in a long career, appeared with Austin Cabaret Theatre years ago. His act has grown immensely. Still in ideal condition are his high, tensile voice and bright stage presence. What has matured is his patter, which reflects his full life on and off the stage, including an enduring friendship with Liza Minnelli.
I was there to check out the new space. I stayed because Harris is a cabaret sensation. And Austin audiences loves him.
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Epic Reception at Delta Millworks
The Hill Country Conservancy just might have the coolest group for its young leaders. Epic organizes regular hikes, bikes, camp outs, fly fishing, hikes and other healthy outings. All this to support the nonprofit that helps preserve the Hill County, in part by purchasing conservation rights from ranchers, which allows families to continue as stewards of the land, but nixes future heavy development. (Why wasn’t this around 30 or 40 years ago?)
Grace Hsieh and Casey Martinez
Even a little Austin happy hour for Epic turns magical. A couple hundred people showed up at Delta Millworks, a huge, old woodworking facility on East Fifth Street and Springdale Road. This space matched the outdoorsy attire of the Epic group on a chilly evening. (Thank goodness nobody smokes at such events. The place could become a tinderbox.)
Lindsay Hoffman and Andy Smith
Popping up unexpectedly were surreal wooden sculptures by Aldo Valdés Böhm, who keeps a workshop in the building. One was a odd duck the artist said had been hiding in his garage for years.
Maria Alonso, Angela James and Lorie Solis
Credit: Flashbax Twenty Three Photography
The crowd clearly didn’t want to leave, and so mingled, sipped and nibbled well past the usual happy hour. One of the cleverest scheduling tools for the leaders: A business card with the monthly Epic events listed on the back in a clear, compact format. To top the evening off, salt-of-the-earth Conservancy director George Cofer invited me to go camping or hiking with the group.
Hiking at one of the conserved ranches at least!
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I have been to several events that were managed by Mrs. Mia Washington, she is a first class event planner because she gives 100% to everything she does. Mrs. Washington lives her life for serving others and I am blessed to know her and learn from her giving
... read the full comment by Kathy Winfrey | Comment on Profile: Mia Washington Read Profile: Mia Washington
Jimmi, Thanks for your comment. From smaller stories come larger stories. I write plenty of larger stories, too. But one must find a point of entry and social events allow me to meet the people who populate those larger stories. Best, Michael
... read the full comment by Michael Barnes | Comment on Indian Republic Day at Givens Recreation Center Read Indian Republic Day at Givens Recreation Center
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