Contrasting events each yield success
Who: American Cancer Society and the Rosenberg Railroad Museum
What: Couture for the Cause (Cancer Society and “All Aboard: Next Stop the ‘50s” gala (Railroads Museum)
When: Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015
Where: Home of Brenda & Randy Bartley (Cancer Society) and Safari Texas (RR Museum)
Details: The two competing events could not have been more different, but each attracted a crowd, and each was thrilled with the final result.
A record crowd of more than 450 attended the “White Haute Affair” Couture for the Cause for the American Cancer Society event, and guests, for the most part, came dressed in white, as instructed on the invitations.
The event raised more than $180,000 for the ACS. Wealth Design Group was the presenting sponsor for the third straight year, and Melissa Wilson, Fox 26, whose son has been battling leukemia, was the honorary chair.
As always, the outdoor event offered food from numerous local restaurants, and a style show from Dillard’s Post Oak and Lucho Houston. Models were primarily cancer survivors, with a few professional models.
The Rosenberg Railroad Museum is a much newer entity than the cancer society, founded just 20 years ago by a group of Fort Bend residents who recognized the importance of preserving railroad history to educate future generations.
Honorary chair District 18 state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, spoke passionately about supporting the museum and her belief in its mission.
Guests honored the theme by dressing in their best 50’s fashion, and spent the evening toe tapping to the greatest hits of the era.
In total, museum supporters contributed more than $65,000 to support the museum’s operations.
At the conclusion of the live auction, the “last man standing,” were actually two men — both Joe Gurecky of Gurecky Manuafacturing, and Ron Ewer of Legacy Ford — who were the largest contributors to the museum’s much needed Tower 17 air conditioning fund.