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When George Clooney, Pat Breen, Linda McReynolds The Seating Chart: Mr. Clooney Notes from Table 1 Came to Town Becca Cason Thrash recounts a brilliant evening with Hollywood���s heartthrob ��� the conversation, the cocktails and who sat where! AS TOLD TO CATHERINE D. ANSPON. PHOTOGRAPHY FULTON DAVENPORT. My Dinner with George Mathew & Ann Wolf The good news is that more than $600,000 was raised at the dinner my husband John and I hosted for George Clooney when he came into town for the Brilliant Lecture Series. From the outset ��� and at Clooney���s insistence ��� a hefty chunk of the proceeds was earmarked to Not on Our Watch (NOW), the foundation that works to help eradicate genocide in the Sudan and around the world. At the heart of our dinner conversation, we discussed the catastrophic situation in the Sudan that is Barbara growing more serious by the day. Gamson But George is also a fun-loving man who is crazy about the industry he works in. We talked about his next ���lm, which focuses on the priceless art stolen by the Nazis and hidden in caves during World War II (The Monuments Men). We also talked about marriage. I told him I adored being married, and that he should try it sometime. He quipped, ���I have tried it! I was married for seven years.��� Embarrassed, I said, ���Really? Yikes ... I suppose I���m not a George Clooney groupie, or I would have known that!��� He burst out laughing. Becca Cason Thrash, George Clooney Carla McDonald Lisa Frantz George Clooney, Laura Greenberg Lynn Wyatt He also said, ���Your friends are really good looking and glamorous, and your home is amazing. This dinner table is really a big-ass table! How many people are sitting with us?��� (For the record, there were three long tables around the pool. Two had 80 guests each, and one had 26.) About my bedroom he said,���Wow!! That���s a bed!! I think I might be intimidated in here.��� Ha. George Clooney Cherie Flores Mindy Hildebrand Phoebe Tudor, George Clooney, Lisa Holthouse He drinks vodka on the rocks with no lime or mixer. And he is a chain drinker! I tried to keep up with him, but after six I had to stop! FYI: George ���ew to Cabo the next morning to celebrate his 51st birthday with old chums. I jumped up and ���ew to Lexington the next day for Kentucky Derby weekend. And talk about having to change gears: My dinner partner the following night was Republican Party guru Karl Rove! (George ���ew from Cabo to L.A. a few days later to host a record-breaking fund-raiser in his home for President Obama.) Tony & Cynthia Petrello George Clooney Becca Cason Thrash, to his right Greggory Burk, to his left Allie Fields, across from Clooney Scott Brogan, to the left of Greggory Burk John Prendergast to the right of Allie Fields (Down the table) Richard Fant Karen Pulaski Phoebe Tudor Ceron Katherine Phelps Michael Holthouse Jay Fields Susan Plank Jay Jones Kelli Blanton Naeem Khan Wade Wilson Coco Blaffer Andrew Echols Lisa Frantz Pat Burk Lisa Holthouse Dominique Sachse Nick Florescu Laura Greenberg Joyce Echols Carla McDonald Ranjana Khan Melissa Mithoff Evan Greenberg Michael Mithoff Naeem Khan Diane Lokey Farb Karen Pulaski By the way, George has learned quite a bit of Italian after several years of owning a villa in Lake Como, where he goes every July/ August. We exchanged a few sentences in Italian. (I was married in the ���80s to a man from Rome and learned Italian back in the day.) We discussed mutual friends Cindy Crawford and Randy Gerber. They all have homes in Cabo together in a little compound. Harry Pinson Oh, traveling to Houston with George was his close friend, John Prendergast, a serious humanitarian, author and activist who frequently accompanies George to Africa. Prendergast also works in D.C. on issues relative to Africa; he���s revered and considered an expert on the situation in the Sudan. Melissa Mithoff, George Clooney Rosemarie Johnson Chair & host Becca Cason Thrash Scott Brogan, George Clooney Re the auction: McClain Gallery donated the Robert Rauschenberg, a stainless-steel piece won by Richard Fant, who���s in the steel business. Perfect. Laura and Evan Greenberg bought the Bentley lease donated by Post Oak Motor Cars. Some of the luxury companies in the silent auction included Omega, Van Cleef & Arpels, J Mendel, Wade Wilson Art, Ferragamo, Kara Ross, Naeem Khan, Hublot at Zadok Jewelers and Ralph Lauren, to name a few. Scott & Soroya McClelland, George Clooney Coco Blaffer, Wade Wilson Lester & Sue Smith Pat Burk, Courtney Hopson Joan Schnitzer Levy Cindy Thorp, Ceron, Christiana McConn Greggory Burk, Mickey Rosmarin