Voice for Children Gala

The annual Voice for Children Gala, presented by and benefiting the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Collin County will be a night to be remembered.
Inspired by the Academy Awards ceremony, gala guests will enter the sence under the glitz and glamour of a red carpet event to enjoy dinner, silent and live auctions, musical entertainment and more!
The Gala will take place at the InterContinental Hotel Dallas in Addison on March 6th. Tickets can be purchased on the CASA of Collin County Web site www.casaofcollincounty.org.

The 9th Annual Polo on the Lawn

Polo on the Lawn event kicks off the spring fundraising season for The Family Place. The Family Place has been providing free, comprehensive services that prevent violence and fully support women, children and men on their path from fear to safety since 1978. Please visit www.familyplace.org to learn more about this tremendous organization.
Polo on the Lawn is a fun-filled afternoon with fast-paced action, thoroughbred beauties, champagne divot stomping and side-line socializing. This wonderful event is being help on Saturday, May 1, 2010 at the Prestonwood Polo and Country Club.

3rd Annual Cowboys & Cowboys Sky Ranch Gala

This special event benefits Sky Ranch Christian Camps. It will be a fun evening featuring Cowboy Stars of football and rodeo!! Honorary Co-chairs are Chad Hennings and Joe Beaver. This wonderful event will be held at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas on Saturday, February 27th at 7 pm.
Please RSVP online at CowboysAndCowboys.com and visit www.CowboysandCowboys.com for detailed information including aucion items, raffle tickets and available hotel packages.

Chamberlain Performing Arts' Sweetheart Ball

Chamberlain Performing Arts will host its annual Sweetheart Ball on Feb 7th, from 6-9 pm at the Stonebridge Ranch Country Club in McKinney. This elegant father/daughter dinner dance had become a real favorite across Collin County. Its a charming evening the Sunday before Valentine's Day for young girls to dress up in their fanciest party dresses and step out with their father for a memorable evening.
Reservations for Chamberlain's Sweetheart Ball can be made by calling 972-985-1374. Tickets are $35/guests, which includes two drawing tickets for numerous door prizes, including a specially decorated Company pointe shoe.
Chamberlain Performing Arts is the prinicpal pre-professional ballet company of North Texas, currently celebrating it's 25th anniversary year.

Ski Plano This Weekend!!

"An Extraordinary Evening on the Mountaintop" awaits guests at the Plano ISD Education Foundation's annual "Ski Plano" event to be held on Saturday, January 30, at Southfork Ranch. Don your favorite ski vests, sweaters and scarves and join your family and friends in a wintry fun night out with live band music, cocktails and dinner, silent and live auctions and an "Avalanche" snowball raffle. Proceeds will benefit the students, faculty and programs of Plano schools. Visit the Ski Plano website for reservations and sponsorship information.

The Honorary Brian McCall, member of the Texas House of Representatives since 1991 and Plano ISD alumni, will serve as honorary emcee at the "Ski Plano" event.
Read more about Brian McCall.

Neiman Marcus Willow Bend Avalanche

This year’s Ski Plano event will continue the tradition of the Avalanche raffle. Purchase your snowballs for a chance to win fabulous prizes donated by Neiman Marcus Willow Bend.
Jan Barboglio La Dona de Piso Candelabra
Jo Malone bath and body basket ~ $1,000 in products plus lunch for ten with Jo Malone
David Yurman Pearl & Diamond Silver Ice Bracelet
Roberto Coin Tiny Treasures Circle of Life Necklace and Hoop Earrings
Raffle tickets are available for $50/each or $100/six tickets. Can’t come to the event, but still want to participate? Purchase your Avalanche prize drawing ticket Purchase tickets online.

Ski Plano guests will have the opportunity to bid on these and more luxury items during the live auction at the January 30 event.

Lexus Super Model Sampler ~ Drive a different Lexus every month of the year. (Value: Priceless) Donated by Park Place Lexus
Willow Bend Shopping Extravaganza ~ $3,000 gift card, limousine transportation and lunch for 4 at Mariposa. (Value: $3,500) Donated by The Shops at Willow Bend
Central Market Gourmet Dinner ~ CM's Executive Chef will prepare dinner for 10 guests in your home. (Value: $1,500) Donated by Central Market
New York City Amazing Long Weekend ~ includes Broadway tickets for two, dining for two, three nights hotel and airfare for two. (Value: $6,500)
Napa Wine Country VIP Insiders Tour of Napa's Favorites ~ includes private guided insiders’ tour and tasting for two at three wineries, three-night stay at a vineyard guest house and airfare for two. (Value: Priceless)
Not So Extreme Home Makeover ~ includes a room makeover, organizational consultant services and master landscape design. (Value: $5,520) Donated by: Container Store, Elliott’s Hardware, Organizational Consultant Lisa Nelson and Keane Landscaping
Tip Top Wilderness Lodge on Sanford Lake Fishing Trip ~ includes four nights for two at the lodge located 40 miles north of Atikokan Ontario, Canada — the only fishing resort within 1,000 square miles. (Value: $6,000)
Top Gun Flight Experience ~ once in a lifetime ride in a restored Russian Fighter Jet. (Value: Priceless)
Dine Around Town ~ Enjoy dinner throughout the year at some of the area's finest restaurants! Top it off with dinner for 10 at the Chef's table at Roy's Hawaiian Restaurant. (Value: $2310) Donated by Roy's Hawaiian Restaurant, Sambuca 360, Ruth’s Chris, Steve Fields, Bonnie Ruths, Maguires, Maximo, Kenny's Woodfire Grill, Kenny's Burger Joint
Michele Watch ~ Art deco influenced timepiece with 108 diamonds and mother-of-pearl face with a stainless steel bracelet. (Value: $1545) Donated by Fossil Watch
Maggiano's Wine Dinner for 10 ~ Four Course dinner for 10 with wine pairings prepared by Maggiano's Executive Chef..(Value: Priceless) Donated by Maggiano's
In addition to the live auction the evening will feature a fabulous silent auction and Big Board with items that include travel, golf and special events. If you would like to donate an item to the silent auction to help support Plano ISD students and teachers, follow this link to the donation form.
Ski Plano 2010 Sponsors
Aspen Sponsor ~ Gay, McCall, Isaacks, Gordon & Roberts - A Professional Corporation
Vail Sponsors ~ Abernathy, Roeder, Boyd & Joplin, P.C., Attorneys at Law; Capital One; Ebby Halliday REALTORS; Innovative Solutions for Education, Pogue Construction, SHW Group; Verizon; Texas InstrumentsPark City Sponsors ~ Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P.; GCA Services Group of Texas, L.P.; M&A Technology; Patton Boggs, L.L.P.; Meadows, Collier, Reed, Cousins & Blau, L.L.P.;, Medical Center of Plano; Napco; VLK Architects, Inc.; WRA Architects Inc.
View Complete Sponsor List

Where the Money Goes

Plano ISD Education Foundation’s mission is to help all students in Plano public schools achieve their full potential by providing financial support for educators and programs. The Foundation’s goal is to help fill the funding gap to continue providing academic excellence.
Each year the Foundation gifts approximately $1 million to Plano ISD to support district-wide programs that make a difference, such as:
grants to teachers and schools to enhance the instruction of our students.
funding pilot programs that hold the promise of bridging student achievement gaps and ensuring all students are college-ready.
supporting initiatives that recruit, retain and recognize the very best educators.
funding programs that enhance the math and science curriculum and other programs.
700 scholarships for 5th grade science camp.
For more information about "Ski Plano", contact the Plano ISD Education Foundation:
Ski Plano Web Site
E-mail - foundation@pisd.edu
Phone - (469) 752-8272

Feather Your Nest with me on January 11th!

Please join us for Feather Your Nest with Hutton Wilkenson on Monday the 11th of January from 11.30 to 1.30. Hutton is the amazing author of two beautiful books about Tony Duquette. You won't want to miss his wonderful speech, the delicious Ritz Carlton lunch and the fellowship with friends! Please sign up today at https://www.featheryournestspeakers.com/register.php. Learn more about Hutton from his Biography below....

Hutton Wilkinson was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in the architectural offices of his father and grandfather. At eighteen he had the opportunity to apprentice under the great American design icon, Tony Duquette. Wilkinson worked for Duquette as a volunteer apprentice for two years and then as a paid assistant designer for three years before starting his own interior design firm. While self-employed Wilkinson continued his professional association with Tony Duquette collaborating in partnership with the great designer on a myriad of projects over the next twenty-five years. Besides his own commissions, designing custom interiors for Alida Davison Rockefeller, Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Stanfill, a palace complex in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Princes Tarfa Bin Abdul Aziz and executive offices for Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., Wilkinson with Duquette collaborated on interiors for Mr. and Mrs. Norton Simon, Herb Alpert and Doris Duke as well as houses in Paris, France and Venice, Italy for Mr. and Mrs. John N. Rosekrans. Hutton's most important current project is the re-design of the former Sophia Loren ranch in Thousand Oaks, California for Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bradway who have recently moved to California from their home in London.

In 1994 Wilkinson and Duquette officially became business partners, Wilkinson purchasing one half of the Tony Duquette Studios Inc. as well as the international trademarks to the name "Tony Duquette".

In 1998 Wilkinson and Duquette, at the invitation of the Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan, launched a collection of one-of-a-kind, fine jewelry, which has been popularly accepted by both the public and the fashion press. Since the success of this new enterprise, Wilkinson has devoted much of his time to the design of these unique jeweled creations under the "Tony Duquette" trademark. These jewels have been used by such varied designers as Tom Ford, Gucci; Oscar de la Renta; Balmain; and Badgley Mischka to name a few of the many designers who have requested his one of a kind jewelry for Tony Duquette. Wilkinson and his designs for home, table top and precious jewelry have appeared on HGTV, E!-Style, E! Entertainment, Extra and Full Frontal Fashion with American Vogue's Andre Leon Talley. His jewelry designs have been collected, seen and worn on the red carpet by stars of stage, screen and television, for the Academy Awards, the Emmys and the Golden Globes by Raquel Welch, Joan Allen, Sela Ward, Patricia Heaton, Faye Dunaway, Sharon Stone, Liza Minnelli, Melissa Gilbert, Anastacia, Ellen Burstyn, Lauren Graham, Sarah Michelle Geller, Amber Valletta, Mandy Moore, Drew Barrymore, and Reese Witherspoon, to name a few.

After the passing of Mr. Duquette in September of 1999, Wilkinson as owner, creative director and president of Tony Duquette Inc. continues to design and market his one of a kind designs for fine jewelry as well as a collection of home furnishings for Baker Furniture, textiles for Jim Thompson Thai Silk, custom lighting products for Remains Lighting and hand made carpets and tapestries for Roubini as well as tabletop accessories and interior decorations under the registered international trademark, "Tony Duquette" and Tony Duquette Inc. Hutton's book "Tony Duquette" which he co-authored with Wendy Goodman, chronicling the great designer's life and oeuvre, was published by Abrams Books in November 2007. The first edition printing of 10,000 copies sold out before Abrams could ship it from their warehouse, the book being number one in its category on Amazon.com and one of the one hundred top selling books in the world during November and December 2007. The book is now in its fifth printing.

"More Is More, Tony Duquette" is Wilkinson's second book which is being released by Abrams in October 2009. "More is More" is the companion volume to "Tony Duquette." This new book explores American Designer Tony Duquette's personal design philosophy and the artistic credo that inspired to create his fanciful artwork , sculptures, jewelry, gardens and interiors.

Mr. Wilkinson is the president of The Anthony and Elizabeth Duquette Foundation for the Living Arts, a non-profit public foundation dedicated to presenting museum quality exhibitions of artistic, scientific and educational value and to purchasing, preserving and promoting the works of Tony Duquette. He is also the president of The Elsie de Wolfe Foundation, a non-profit private foundation dedicated to furthering the decorative arts in America. Mr. Wilkinson is also a member of the board of directors of "Save Venice Inc." a non-profit American organization dedicated to preserving historic works of art and monuments in Venice, Italy.

As a public speaker Mr. Wilkinson has presented talks at museums and universities on "Decorating with Antiques", "Elsie de Wolfe", "Movie Interiors, Hollywood High Style", "Living Chinoiserie" and "Tony Duquette, A Personal Culture".