Astros owner helps score $875,000 for Ben Taub renovation
The Harris County Hospital District Foundation’s 11th Jubilee of Caring dinner was always going to be a headliner.
For starters, supporters had raised a record $800,000 toward the first-floor renovation of Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital’s Level 1 Trauma Center before guests arrived at the River Oaks Country Club.
And the kicker? Wednesday night also marked the first public appearance of honoree and Astros owner Jim Crane following the release of Major League Baseball’s report on the team’s sign-stealing scandal.
Long story short: Crane handled the event in stride, and even capped his acceptance speech with a self-deprecating joke.
But first things first.
Emcee Lisa Malosky helped welcome a full house of 350 attendees to the first big soiree of the year — nay, decade. At one point, Malosky quipped about the presumed state of Crane’s blood pressure. The joke didn’t exactly stick its landing, though it did break the ice. Afterward, the program was smooth sailing and, at times, dazzling.
That’s partly a credit to chairs Steph and Al Walker, Marcy Taub and Tom Wessel, and Henry J.N. Taub II who wrangled an A-list, #HoustonStrong crowd for the occasion. Lynn Wyatt held court front and center; H-E-B president and celeb about town Scott McClelland was in attendance with wife Soraya McClelland; a slew of Best Dressed Hall-of-Famers including Joan Schnitzer, Cynthia Petrello and Lisa Holthouse
dotted tables; so did Courtney Sarofim and Sheridan Williams, who both also made cameos alongside their husbands during a special tribute video.
Much to the audience’s surprise, John Eddie Williams — who was not listed in the program’s run-of-show — shared his personal experience of being treated at Ben Taub for a gunshot wound in 1991.
“Most of you probably drove
up River Oaks Boulevard to get here and didn’t realize you drove past a crime scene,” Williams said of being robbed at gunpoint nearly 30 years ago. “(Two men) decided they needed my Rolex, and they needed it right then and that a bullet in my abdomen was the fastest way to get it.”
He went on to praise the physician who treated him, Dr. Kenneth Mattox.
Later, Mattox appealed to the crowd to open its pocketbooks, saying “hospitals are like houses; they wear out, and our first floor needs to be renovated.”
Patrons answered the call by donating an additional $75,000 in less than 10 minutes. The room quickly surpassed its target $60,000 goal once Malosky announced each donor would receive a custom, working stethoscope.
By the time Crane and wife Whitney Crane graced the stage to receive the Ben Taub Humanitarian Award, there was little to do but thank organizers and the chairs for introducing the couple to the esteemed institution.
After his remarks, Crane grabbed the microphone a second time, joking, “I will be holding a press conference in the lobby shortly.”
Laughter and applause rippled through the ballroom. And that’s one major point for the home team.