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Crawfish, Country Stars and a Cause: CrawFest 2025 Delivers

Crawfish, Country Stars and a Cause: CrawFest 2025 Delivers

Heather Almond and Zinat Ahmed

NEARLY 1,700 GUESTS headed to Cotton Ranch in Katy for Cotton Holdings’ 13th annual CrawFest — a Texas-sized evening of food and music. The event raised a record-breaking $768,000 for the Cotton Foundation, which supports families facing disaster, illness and hardship.

The real star of the evening? 6,500 pounds of crawfish, served up with all the fixings — plus Gulf Coast favorites like lobster fritters, seafood fondue, boudin balls and bread pudding with a boozy twist.

Guests got competitive during the live auction, which featured everything from Caribbean escapes to helicopter hog hunts. A chocolate lab puppy named Blue Bell stole the show — and a new home — with Cotton EVP Zinat Ahmed. He’ll be trained as an emotional support pup for visitors to Taylor’s Place, a retreat for families facing terminal illness that’s set to open this fall.

Closing out the night? A crowd-pleasing performance by country star Mark Chesnutt, who brought the house (or barn) down.

In the crowd was Pete Bell, Fady Armanious, Ellie Francisco, Whitney Kuhn Lawson, Kristen Cannon and Heather Almond.

Bailey Bell Layne and Pete Bell

Opening Performance by Bayou Roux

Houstonians traveled to CrawFest at the Cotton Ranch in Katy

Stacey Lindseth, Fady Armanious, Ally Ehrman

Balloon Details

Crawfish


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Leadership in Action: Entrepreneur Saba Syed of Moroccan Bath Determined to Build ‘Lasting Legacy’

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Saba Syed, Founder of Oasis Moroccan Bath

How did you get to where you are today? My journey began with a need to be financially independent and an even a deeper drive to create a lasting legacy. The centuries-old Hammam tradition has always fascinated me—not just for its relaxation benefits, but for its holistic approach to cleansing the body, mind, and soul. So, combining my passion with a vision to bring an authentic yet luxurious Hammam spa experience to Houston, I took the leap less than two years ago to open my own spa.

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Dave Rossman and Melissa Taylor

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EVER A GLAMOROUS event, the Houston Ballet's annual black-tie ball was a glimmering affair at the Wortham, where 500 guests joined event chairs Kristy and Chris Bradshaw and Melissa Juneau.

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At Posh Tony’s Fete, Baly’s New Doctorate and Life of Service Honored

Alejandro Olivares

Gayla Gardner, Jacquie Baly and Julie Baker Finck

THE DOCTOR IS in! One of Houston’s most engaged civic leaders, Jacquie Baly, has a new title after earning her Doctorate in Education and Organizational Change & Leadership from USC. And some of the city’s heavy hitters turned up for a swanky reception at Tony’s to congratulate her. “Education and community leadership go hand in hand,” said Dr. Baly. “This honor fuels my continued mission to create meaningful change.”

And they weren’t alone in their admiration. Both the City of Houston and the State of Texas declared the day of the to-do “Dr. Jacquie Baly Day,” complete with official proclamations.

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