Thank You for Making the Celebrating Life Luncheon a Huge Success!

It's Giving Tuesday! Take a Moment Today to Give Back to Your Community

The Trains of NorthPark Rolls in for the 26th Year

The Trains at NorthPark, presented by Bank of Texas, celebrates its 26

th year of a favorite holiday tradition. The most elaborate toy trains exhibit in Texas, The Trains at NorthPark includes trains rolling across 1,600 feet of track on a journey across America. The exhibit can be found on Level Two of NorthPark Center in the Nordstrom Wing. 

Cityscapes include downtown Dallas, with the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, the State Fair of Texas and the Cotton Bowl; New York City’s Times Square and Grand Central Terminal; Washington, D.C. with The White House; New England’s fall foliage; the Grand Canyon, Route 66, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and the Albuquerque hot air balloons.

Event Co-Chairs are Claire Raggio and Courtney Westerburg. Both have been on the trains committee and have been involved in the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas Young Friends. Honorary Co-Chairs are community leaders Lauren and Pat Arthur. Through his company MHBT, Pat has supported The Trains at NorthPark and has also served on its board of directors. Lauren has been on the trains committee and served in various volunteer roles.

 

The exhibit encompasses more than 3,800 square feet of train themed environments, with all the trimmings of the holiday train travel experience—steam engine and coach cars, a ticket booth and a train station. More than 75,000 people visit The Trains at NorthPark each season as part of their holiday tradition. 

Saturday, November 23, 2013 through Sunday, January 5, 2014

Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Sunday, Noon to 6 p.m.

Early Closings:

November 27, Thanksgiving Eve, at 6 p.m.

December 24, Christmas Eve, at 4 p.m.

December 31, New Year’s Eve, at 6 p.m.

January 1, New Year’s Day, at 6 p.m.

Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day; Open New Year’s Day

For more information www.rmhdallas.org/trains

Ornament Ball & Auction: Style and Substance

RSVP here

10th Annual Share the Warmth Blanket Drive

This year marks the 10th year for Sleep Experts' Share the Warmth Blanket Drive.

From October 28th through Thanksgiving Day, the locally-based corporation will be accepting donations of new and gently used blankets, as well as sheets, comforters, towels and pillows, at any of 55 Sleep Experts locations in North and Central Texas.

The beneficiaries of this year's Share the Warmth Blanket Drive are The Family Place in Dallas-Fort Worth, and SafePlace in Austin, as well as other domestic violence shelters in D-FW and Austin. In December, Sleep Experts will deliver all the items collected during the drive to these shelters, in order to keep their families warm this winter season.

And for the third year, thousands of Girl Scouts from three Texas Girl Scout councils - Northeast Texas (Dallas), Texas Oklahoma Plains (Fort Worth) and Central Texas (Austin) will lend a helping hand. Girl Scout troops participate by collecting blankets in their own communities and will earn special Share the Warmth community service badges.

So how can you help?  Clean out your closet and donate a blanket today.  It's a simple way to help a family in need.

Girl Scouts delivering blankets to Sleep Experts in Keller during last year's drive.

Flora Award 2013- Jan Pickens Honored {Society Pics}



Courtney Love, Jan Pickens, Jennifer Huff

Texas Discovery Gardens honored Jan Pickens with the prestigious 2013 Flora Award on November 7. More than 150 prominent guests graced the elegantly decorated Grand Hall on this crisp evening including Ebby Halliday Acers, Caroline Rose Hunt, Dee Wyly, Peggy Sewell, Nancy Dedman and Billie Leigh Rippey. The four course meal by Cassandra Fine Catering was a decadent introduction to the evening’s events, including remarks by Dick Davis, Executive Director of Texas Discovery Gardens, an invocation, an introduction of Jan by Barbara Hunt Crow and the presentation of the award, which was designed by deBoulle. 

Caroline Rose Hunt, Robert Backbill

The Award serves to recognize outstanding citizens who have demonstrated a commitment to beautification, education and the advancement of the environment and quality of life. “In the Flora Award’s 31 years, we have enjoyed an exceptional list of honorees, and this year continues that incredible tradition,” said 2013 Flora Award co chair, Jennifer Huff.  Co chair Courtney Love added: “Jan Pickens is tireless in her quest to raise money and awareness for the causes she holds dear.  Her work with the Salvation Army is revered, and for Texas Discovery Gardens, it was Jan who took the Flora Award from a simple tea and turned it into the elegant event it is today.  She has grace, elegance and a deep faith -- there is no one more deserving of this award than she.” 

Allison and Bob Farrow

Pickens has been instrumental in Texas Discovery Gardens’ mission by serving as a volunteer, Board member and chair of the Flora Award.  Her extensive work in the community includes support for countless organizations, including the Salvation Army, for which she was recognized by their National Board with the “Others” Award, the Junior League of Dallas, the Crystal Charity Ball Committee, Women’s Guild of the Dallas Society for Crippled Children, United Way, the Dallas Woman’s Club, Dallas Historical Society, M.D. Anderson, United Cerebral Palsy of Metropolitan Dallas for which she received the 2003 “Distinguished Service Award”, Meals on Wheels and many more.  Most recently, the Dallas Alumnae Club of Pi Beta Phi honored her with the 2012 Founder’s Day Award for Community Service.

Flora Award 2013 designed by deBoulle

Funds raised through the Flora Award help Texas Discovery Gardens’ staff achieve their mission to teach effective ways to restore, conserve and preserve nature in an urban setting, with a focus on gardening organically and sustainably.  This year the Flora Award efforts brought an immense amount of support including a Diamond Sponsor donation of $25,000 from Barbara Hunt Crow, a Platinum Sponsor donation of $15,000 from Jan and Bob Pickens, Peggy and Carl Sewell and Al Hill, Jr., a Gold Sponsor donation of $10,000 from Nancy M. Dedman and Ellen and Paul Flowers and a Silver Sponsor donation of $7500 from Ellen and John McStay. Past winners have included Ellen and John McStay, Ebby Halliday Acers, Peggy and Carl Sewell, Dee and Charles Wyly, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and last year’s recipient, Barbara Hunt Crow.

Janet Smith, Waverly Smith

For more information or to contribute a donation to Texas Discovery Gardens please contact Sarah Gardner, Marketing Manager, at 214-428-7476, ext. 230, or e-mail SGardner@TexasDiscoveryGardens.org. Media Contact is Sabra Girard, sabra@sg-pr.com, 469.688.4674.  

Peggy Sewell, Nancy Dedman, Billie Leigh Rippey, Linda Gibbons

Photos by Daniel Driensky

Dallas Cowboys Connect Big Partners To Make Even Bigger Impact This Holiday Season



Credit: DallasCowboys.com



Nearly 4,000 families served by The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program will enjoy a full Christmas dinner this holiday season thanks to the teamwork of the Dallas Cowboys, Bank of America, the North Texas Food Bank and The Salvation Army DFW Metroplex Command.

Tuesday, November 19th marked the launch of the collaboration, with more than 100 volunteers from Bank of America and the Cowboys – including former Cowboys great Daryl Johnston, members of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and mascot Rowdy – gathering at the North Texas Food Bank to begin packaging the thousands of pounds of pantry items. The group surpassed their packaging quota by nearly 2,000.

“Our purpose is to help those who really need it, and combining Bank of America’s passion to end hunger and ours for the work of The Salvation Army, what a great opportunity to do just that,” said Cowboys executive vice president and chief brand officer Charlotte Jones Anderson.

With the Cowboys having partnered with The Salvation Army and supporting its Angel Tree program for more than 17 years, Anderson said it was exciting to see the program enhanced with an added effort to tackle hunger this Christmas.

The Salvation Army Angel Tree program provides Christmas gifts and other essentials for nearly 60,000 children and special need senior citizens in the DFW Metroplex alone. On a select date in December when families pick up their items at the Dallas Angel Tree Distribution Center, Cowboys and Bank of America volunteers will roll out once again to hand out both the Angel Tree items, as well as a full spread of chicken, rice, beans, corn, peas and dessert, bringing the holiday experience full circle for many of these families.

An estimated 800,000 people are hungry in North Texas today; one in four children are food-insecure. To learn more about the North Texas Food Bank and its efforts to combat this problem, click here. For information on how to “adopt” a Salvation Army Angel this holiday season, click here.

A St. Andrew Christmas

Put the true spirit in your holiday season with “A St. Andrew Christmas,” Sunday December 15, at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., St. Andrew United Methodist Church, 5801 W. Plano Parkway, Plano, Texas 75093 (corner of Plano Parkway and Mira Vista).

This annual musical extravaganza will include traditional and contemporary holiday favorites from “Winter Wonderland” and “The Nutcracker” to majestic settings of “Angels from the Realms of Glory” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” featuring 200 singers, soloist Jodi Wright, bells, a 45-member professional orchestra, a magnificent pipe organ, and the ever-popular carol sing.  

 “We are thrilled to offer two performances and invite the community to share in this wonderful celebration of the season with us,” said Chris Crook, Minister of Music and Worship, St. Andrew UMC.  “If you are looking for one musical Christmas event for all ages that contains the classic favorites delivered at the highest quality by fine singers and professional orchestra, look no further. This is your family’s affordable, one-stop Christmas musical treat. Join 2,000 others for what has become one of the area’s most popular December events. You will not be disappointed!”

Tickets range from $8 to $18, depending on seating sections and are available beginning November 1 by calling 469-385-1810, or online at www.astandrewchristmas.org. 

Candlelight at Dallas Heritage Village

Begin the holiday season with Texas’ earliest residents and see how holiday traditions were celebrated in the late 1800s on December 14 and 15, 3 - 9 p.m., at the 42nd Annual Candlelight Celebration at Dallas Heritage Village, 1515 South Harwood, sponsored by Baylor Health Care System.   

“Get Wrapped Up in Candlelight” will be this year’s theme, celebrating the beauty of holidays past with seasonal décor and traditional celebrations featured throughout the Village.   Take a stroll and experience gleeful carolers, holiday storytelling, hand-weaving, blacksmithing, interpreters in traditional costume, and many other festive activities such as the American Flyer model train exhibit in the Depot, operated by the Lone Star Flyer Model Train Club.

“There are few places that get people in the holiday spirit like Candlelight, which sets a beautiful landscape for the season, honoring and creating memories,” said Melissa Prycer, Interim Executive Director, Dallas Heritage Village.  “Candlelight is a magical event that has been a holiday tradition in Dallas for 42 years, and we welcome visitors from across the globe.”

During Candlelight, pioneer and Victorian Texas is brought to life by characters dressed in period costumes.  Guests may explore 38 historic buildings, circa 1840 to 1910, traditionally decorated by area garden clubs.  Don’t forget to visit a special 19^th century guest, St. Nicholas, in the Depot and snap a photo with him. 

Kids may participate in hands-on holiday crafts.  Attendees may also ride around the Village in a surrey pulled by the Village’s loveable Mammoth Jack donkeys  Nip and Tuck ($5 per rider) or a hay wagon pulled by a vintage tractor ($3 per rider).  Local food trucks, such as Ruthie’s Grilled Cheese Truck, Tutta’s Pizza, Easy Slider, Good Karma Kitchen, and more will have delicious food available to purchase.  Wine will be available for purchase from Times Ten Cellars.

For a complete list of performers and performance times, please visit www.DallasHeritageVillage.org.

All proceeds from Candlelight, the museum’s biggest annual public fundraiser, benefit museum programs at Dallas Heritage Village. 

Candlelight corporate and family sponsorship opportunities are available by contacting Lisa Simpson at 214-413-3662, lsimpson@dallasheritagevillage.org.   Various sponsorship levels are available with benefits as well as area and activity sponsorships.