Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1522887
By Billy Fong. Photography Tamytha Cameron. A s flowers bloomed and storm clouds loomed, it was time once again for Klyde Warren Park's President's Circle garden party, this year held at the Preston Hollow home of Nancy and Randy Best. It seems the park can't avoid spring showers for this annual event; given the gloomy forecast, the KWP team and the Bests moved the dinner portion of the event indoors, but the showers departed just in time for a rain-free evening. Given the "spring chic" attire suggestion on the invite, I half-expected to see guests channeling their inner Morton Salt Girl in yellow cocktail frocks (Chanel, of course) and wellies (pretty sure Chanel makes those as well, emblazoned with interlocking C's), carrying big umbrellas for their dramatic entrance. The annual KWP garden party was dreamed up by president and CEO Kit Sawers, who decided this thank-you to donors shouldn't be held in the Klyde Warren green space that many consider the jewel in the crown of Dallas' Arts District, but rather on the verdant lawn of a patron's home. The first, in 2022, was in the gardens of Ann and Lee Hobson's Highland Park home. Suzanne and Patrick McGee hosted in 2023 at their Volk Estates home; last year, Lisa and Clay Cooley offered up their Preston Hollow spread. This is one invite that everyone eagerly awaits. Forget Paperless Post; this is old-school and beautifully embossed, delivered straight to your mailbox. Museum House Night at the ... Before the event, everyone was buzzing about the veritable museum of treasures displayed in galleries throughout the Bests' house. Imagine bones and rocks and fossils from a museum of natural history scattered about a home that looks transported from the Garden District in New Orleans. Randy Best is an avid (some might say compulsive) collector of ancient artifacts. It started at a young age with small plant fossils and over decades has come to include dinosaur-era skulls and bones, ceremonial knives dating back centuries, and more fossils. As I wandered about, I encountered life-size cave people. Ben Stiller could easily film the next installment of Night at the Museum in this home. Beyond the archaeological eye candy, the evening was also a chance for Kit Sawers to share details of the charity's annual signature event, Party in the Park. This year, it's on Thursday, October 10, with honorary chair Lyda Hill and event chairs Jennifer and John Gates, Michelle and John Grimes, Amy and Jamie Mentgen, Stephanie and Todd Phillips, and Jenny and Jeff Staubach. The evening includes a seated dinner, an Elvis Presley tribute artist in front of the choreographed waters of the Nancy Best Fountain, and '90s country band Straight Tequila Night. As guests made their way to the valet queue, I caught up with a few, including Sheila and Jody Grant, Lynn McBee, Annika Cail, Abi Perpall, Doniphan Moore, Tanner Moussa, Lucy Wrubel, Lee Hobson, Robert Weatherly, and Tanner Ewing. Jody & Sheila Grant Randy Best, Kit Sawers Craig & Kathleen Davis Kevin & Rachael Morgan Annika Cail Abi Perpall Claudia & Diego Gordillo John & Jennifer Gates Wendy & Rick Kumpf Doniphan Moore Tanner Moussa Tanner Ewing, Olivia Lowery Robert Weatherly 22