Celebrity Waiter Luncheon 2011

Daniel Winson Lewis with Cynthia

I had heard that the annual Celebrity Waiter Luncheon benefiting Family Gateway was one of the craziest charity events in town, but I had no idea what I was in for when I accepted an invitation to sit at the head table with Co-Chairs, Shey Geyer and Maggie Cooke Kipp.

Each table sponsor hosted a table of 10 generous guests who came prepared to tip their waiters with wild abandon and bid for the extraordinary and unique auction items dangled in front of them.

Waiters sought tips in eccentric ways - pocketing your silverware, withholding your meal, singing, performing and dancing; the antics were endless as waiters went to great lengths to raise the most money during 90 action-packed minutes.   

Pamela Martin-Duarte from Big Rich Texas and Candace Crawford Romo sang "Deep In The Heart of Texas", Kim Fisher "planked", Lynae Fearing and Tracy Rathbun did the splits... and that was just the beginning!

Click here to see wild and wacky photos from this event

Steve Murray had the daunting job of trying to wrangle this herd of cats as emcee of the luncheon.  This year's roster of stars included: Notah Begay, Steve Blow, Kris Clinton, Ron Corning, Rich Emberlin, Lynae Fearing, Kim Fischer, Lisa Garza, Melani Ismail, Rocket Ismail, Steve Kemble, Daniel Lewis, LeeAnne Locken, Pamela Martin-Durate, Gina Miller, Dan Pritchett, Tracy Rathbun, Marco Rivera, Candice Crawford Romo, Penny Sadler, Rhonda Sargent Chambers, D’Andra Simmons, Victoria Snee, Grant Stinchfield, Hunter Sullivan and Ty Treadway.

 Fun from my table: (top) Cynthia Smoot, Shay Geyer, (bottom) Shannon Brower, Cathy Vieth, our Celebrity Waiter, Steve Kemble and Maggie Cooke Kipp

According to the Dallas Observer‘s Brantley Hargrove, who was covering Mike Modano‘s retirement press conference being held in the next room, “Though women at a ‘celebrity waiters luncheon’ screamed in a conference room next door, and the bass line of YMCA throbbed through the walls, Modano was wistful.” Well, maybe Mike should have come next door and we could've cheered him up... because we were having lots of fun and raising lots of money for Family Place!

Exhibit A:




About Family Gateway:
Family Gateway breaks the generational cycle of homelessness by providing individualized care to homeless families with children; restoring the dignity, stability and self-sufficiency of the family unit.

Photos courtesy of James Edward 

Special thanks to Stephanie Anne for letting me wear some fabulous jewelry from her new Fall Collection. You can find Stephanie Anne jewelry at Neiman Marcus or her flagship boutique in Highland Park Village.