Franco Valobra, Kristen Cannon, Faith and Lee Majors
Cotton Holdings — an infrastructure support services outfit that cleans up all measure of damage from storms, other national disasters, terrorist attacks and more — welcomed nearly 300 guests to its black-tie (and, in many cases, black cowboy hat) "Cotton Ball." Nodding to the cheeky world play, tables were set with voluminous all-white florals, and mirrored accents, amping up the glamour.
After a fabulous surf-and-turf dinner — during which Cotton execs such as co-founder Pete Bell made moving presentations about the company's history, and sent Patron shots out to the crowd for toasting — a sumptuous dessert buffet was offered up, as were concerts by country star Clay Walker and, in the later hours, the fun and quite accomplished '80s cover band The Spazmatics. The dance floors stayed packed!
A custom 25th anny logo was affixed to almost every available surface, from the mini-Champagne bottles given out as favors, to the French fry and pizza boxes that circulated as the party tilted into after hours.
Spotted in the crowd were Cotton honchos Randall Thompson, Bryan Michalsky, Chris Sneck, James Scaife, Johnny Slaughter and Russell White. Former Navy SEAL and Lone Start Survivor Foundation founder Marcus Luttrell was also on hand, as was Six Million Dollar Man star Lee Majors with wife Faith, and Franco Valobra of Valobra Master Jewelers.
Andrew Cordes and Brian Teichman
Nicki Keenan, Pete Bell, Heather Mountain & Tilman Fertitta
Bailey Bell, Hunter Bell
Chris and Margaret Sneck
Claudia and Brad Freels
Jenny and Rick Bailey
Jeremy and Britney Mahugh
Katy Ellis, Zinat Ahmed, Molly McMurtry
Kim and Patrick Glass
Tracey and Rick Rice
Clay Walker at Cotton Ball
In a tented "gala pavilion" with fabric-draped walls, a sari-laden ceiling, and a glass wall framing the the Asia Society Texas Center as an exquisite backdrop for the stage, the event this year honored "Incredible India." The rich color also permeated the table settings, with floral arrangements of hundreds of different flowers. The vibrant spectacle was all executed beautifully by The Events Company.
Pre-dinner nibbles included fried eggplant medallions with jumbo lump crab meat and lime crème fraiche and chicken vindaloo curry in phyllo. Seabass with coconut lime curry, chicken tikka masala, saag paneer and green lentil daal highlighted the dinner menu. Other high points of the evening including a performance by a lively Bollywood-inspired dance performance.
Gracie and Bob Cavnar, Claudia and Roberto Contreras, and Eileen and Kase Lawal were chairs for the gala. Honorary Chairs included Steve Alvis, Julie and Marc Boom, Whitney and Jim Crane, Hilda and Greg Curran, Cherie and Jim Flores, Terri and John Havens, Wendy and Jeff Hines, Nidhika and Pershant Mehta, Raquel and Andrew Segal, Asha and Farid Virani, and Brenda and Marc Watts. Honorees for the evening were Sultana and Moez Mangalji.
Among the boldface names in attendance were Y. Ping Sun and David Leebron, Bobby and Phoebe Tudor, Bill and Andrea White, and Lynn Wyatt.
Moez & Sultana Mangalji
Jim Crownover, George Yang, Glen Gondo
Bob & Gracie Cavnar
Eileeen & Kase Lawal
Mona Khan, Aisha Jokhio, Yoon Smith
Karmagraphy
Anne & Albert Chao
Bobby & Phoebe Tudor
