Inside Memorial Park Conservancy's Centennial Celebration

Janet Hobby, Anne Hamman Brollier, Kate Gibson

NATURE LOVERS AND park supporters gathered at the Clay Family Eastern Glades in Memorial Park to toast the landmark’s centennial. Memorial Park Conservancy and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department put together a beautiful program that celebrated not only its 100-year history, but its very recent (and ongoing!) transformation that has improved the quality of life for many Houstonians.

More than 450 guests — many dressed in floral-, greenery- and picnic-inspired attire, and many delighted at the “no ties or heels” dress code — came together for an al fresco cocktail hour to kick off the evening. A transluscent tent, erected on the smoothly clipped yet lush lawn, had a walk-through timeline of the park as well as tables filled with roses, ranunculus and wildflowers, reminding gala-goers of the park’s longstanding natural beauty.

The evening highlighted of some of MPC’s most recent projects, like the Sports Complex, Kinder Land Bridge and the Running Complex. Thomas Woltz, lead architect of Memorial Park’s Ten-Year Plan, introduced the evening’s honoree, Christopher Knapp, who’s responsible for bringing on Nelson Byrd Woltz as the landscape architect.

A deliciously seasonal dinner, courtesy of City Kitchen, included a burrata bowl with heirloom tomatoes and asparagus, and Gulf Coast shrimp stuffed with crabmeat. David Caceres and his jazz band serenaded the guests, who danced the night away in celebration of the record-smashing $1.25 million raised.