At High-Energy Holiday Ball, O&G Pros Raise More than $1M for At-Risk Youth

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At High-Energy Holiday Ball, O&G Pros Raise More than $1M for At-Risk Youth

Amanda and John Taylor with Lindsay and Jason Weddle

IT’S NO SURPRISE that Houston’s high-powered energy execs threw a, well, energetic holiday bash. The 48th annual Spindletop Holiday Ball, held at the Post Oak Hotel, hosted more than 600 industry professionals from companies like ConocoPhillips, Murphy Oil Corporation and others for a festive fete benefiting local at-risk youth.


At the candy-coated “Baking Spirits Bright”-themed event, the Ensemble Theatre Young Performers kicked things off with a riveting dance number, while Virtuosi provided the holiday-happy classical soundtrack during dinner. A silent auction touted covetable items like a sailing trip, Rockets tickets, restaurant packages and more. The lively band Password had everyone on their feet toward the end of the evening, dancing and cheering for the evening’s total till of $1.1 million. (Plus hundreds of toys donated to the Spindletop Toy Drive!)

Spindletop Community Impact Partners is a philanthropic organization that supports other nonprofits through funding and volunteering from the energy industry. Some of the causes it champions include child-abuse prevention, human trafficking prevention, and education and after-school programs. This year, Spindletop will make contributions to TEACH, YMCA, Kids Meals, Camp for All and dozens of other local organizations.

Anish Simon and Heetal Patel

Laurie and Tracy Krohn

Carmen and Chris Golden

Kristine and Jeff Bird

KIPP students decorating cupcakes at the Signature Baking Station

Ensemble Theatre Young Performers

Gill and Liam Mallon with Cindy and Randy Broiles

Virtuosi of Houston

Veronica and Aaron Foley

Valarie and Nick Tran

Seliece and Lee Womble

Richard and Marilyn Lynch

Lacey and Shane Albers with Jennifer and Casey Kilgore

Sarah and Ryan Young

Spindletop Award Recipient Roger Jenkins with Lia Vallone, Julie Robertson and Dominic Macklon

Parties

Denise Reyes and Matthew Healey (photo by Katy Anderson)

THE OPERA BALL, one of Houston’s perennially elegant, must-hit galas among the society set’s top tier, tilted marvelously mod and disco-deluxe this year, with sophisticated Spanish hints, thanks no doubt to ball chairs Isabel and Ignacio “Nacho” Torras. They are, of course, the arts patrons behind two of Houston’s most popular and trendy restaurants — MAD and BCN Taste & Tradition.

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Parties

Smoked Salmon Cheesecake with Emeril’s Reserve Caviar

THE POP-UP CULINARY trend — when great chefs from elsewhere take over a local restaurant for a night or two — continues to be a hot in Houston. But as the novelty of the concept fades to been-there-done-that, pop-up purveyors must be increasingly clever to attract savvy foodies.

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Food