Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > January > 15
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Pebbles Wadsworth still working!
That’s just not going to happen. At one point, she identified the historical Central School in Smithville as potential community and arts center. It wasn’t long before the Smithville City Council named her to the Friends of the Central School Committee, tasked with the repurposing of the building. Now she’s got a project.
“(It) could further enhance cultural awareness in Smithville and the surrounding area,” Wadsworth told the Smithville Times, “and help preserve the town’s unique heritage for generations to come.”
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Obama Inauguration Day 3
Early in the day, it will be brunch at Robert Nash and Paul Simmons’ mid-century modern in West Lake Hills, then Victoria Corcoran’s open house in South Austin. We’ll swing by Travis Country Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt’s viewing party and luncheon at Bess, then the Travis County Democratic Party’s inevitable Inauguration Watch Party at Scholz Garten, one of the many places we’ll surely meet county party chair and inveterate socializer Andy Brown.
Early in the evening, I would not under any circumstances skip the star-studded Texas Presidential Inaugural Celebration at the Four Seasons Hotel. KEYE-TV’s Judy Maggio will emcee for a semi-formal event that is expected to include civil rights pioneers Ada Anderson and Willie Mae Kirk, along with State Reps. Mark Strama, Dawnna Dukes, Valinda Bolton, Elliott Naishtat and Eddie Rodriguez, former Senator Gonzalo Barrientos and Emma Barrientos, U.S. senatorial hopeful John Sharp and Charlotte Sharp, former mayor Bruce Todd and PR brain Elizabeth Christian.
Starting a bit later in the evening is the Texans for Obama gala at the Monarch Events Center. Event planner Sharrion Jenkins also promises a private screening of the inauguration and luncheon earlier in the day. Across town, Jeff Kirk is hosting a small party at the Kirk Gallery on Guadalupe Street, which will make a convenient stop among the other downtown festivities.
Then I’ll probably stroll over to Antone’s on West Fifth Street for the sweetly named Bush Retirement Party and Obama Inauguration Celebration. The onstage line-up includes Rep. Jim Dunnam & the Bad Precedents (which includes several musical politicos) with Hayes Carll, Guy Forsyth and the Heartless Bastards. There may be time to swing over to J. Black’s lounge on West Sixth Street for Robin Jordan and Jason Williams’ inaugural party/fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association. Late in the evening, it could be the All Yall’s Inaugural Ball at Mercury Hall on South First Street. At least then I’ll be close to home then.
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Obama Inauguration Day 2
Among the Austinites expected in DC — along with hordes of politicians — are Out & About repeaters: Kirk and Amy Rudy, Steve Adler and Diane Land, John and Julie Thornton, Alexa and Blaine Wesner, Tom and Lynn Meredith, Mickey and Jeanne Klein, Bev Reeves, Jordan Herman and David Porter, Kevin Tuerff and Kevin Land, Marc and Suzanne Winkelman, plus Alex Winkelman.
Go ahead, check these names against lists of major Democratic Party activists and contributors online. Internet transparency is a good thing.
We hear art consultant Suzanne Deal Booth, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Austin, will be leading a contingent to Ariana Huffington’s party at the Newseum. Austin baritone and arts philanthropist Andrew Heller will sing at Corcoran Gallery for the Link Foundation’s affair, one of the official inaugural balls. Appropriately, he’ll sing “Chicago.”
West Lake High School graduate and University of Texas interior-design student Lauren Ashley Helton will be among the official inaugural scholars meeting lots of important people, including Austin superstar Lance Armstrong, over the course of several days in DC.
I like this touch: Austin’s Gretchen Weicker Bullock will be hanging with college friends from Austin College in Sherman. “We are having our own ‘Kangaroo Ball’ because that aggressive marsupial is the college mascot,” she says of their novel DC event.
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Obama Inauguration Day 1
Neither will I be thronging with other friends to Washington D.C. for the Texas State Society’s Black Tie and Boots Ball and related bashes.
More than 10,000 guests are expected at the big-hair ball, where Austin-entwined artists Cross Canadian Ragweed, Kevin Fowler, Dale Watson, Asleep at the Wheel, Kelly Willis and Rick Trevino are slated to entertain.
Bet the tone has altered significantly from the parallel event eight years ago, when a triumphant Bush dynasty promised a return of Texas culture to the nation’s capital.
Remember when among the biggest stories was the addition of a Watergate location for the Bush-favored restaurant, Jeffrey’s? We sampled the shuttered DC iteration and we’re more than satisfied with the home-grown Clarksville edition.
Much more to come…
