Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/184590
Above and Beyond: A Wild Westbound-Lane Fête Atop the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge Preston Ward Gayland Ward Margretta Wikert BY CHRISTINA GEYER. PHOTOGRAPHY DANA DRIENSKY, DANIEL DRIENSKY, RONNIE DUNLAP, HOLT HAYNSWORTH, JOHN STRANGE. "IN we love the impossible." Don Daseke a city, bridges are the place and the link where things Heather Washburne meet," said internationally Emily acclaimed Spanish architect Summers Santiago Calatrava from a podium staged atop the newly erected downtown monument of his design. During a brisk Friday evening, Calatrava's Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge was a brightly lit rendezvous point — the swoopy, white destination for 3,000 partygoers, all pepped to make one of the first (and only) pedestrian romps across our city's newest skyline shaper. This over-the-top occasion hosted by The Trinity Trust was more than just the first part of a weekend-long civic celebration. Saturday's and Sunday's events played host to nearly 40,000 attendees, a 5K run, an all-day street fair and a formal dedication. It was also a rarified instance when one of the city's most monumental families — the Hunts and the Hills — gathered to toast the new structure and the matriarch for whom it was named. After remarks by the event's chairman and coordinator extraordinaire, Lynn McBee, members of the Hunt/Hill family (Al Hill Jr., Lyda Hill, Alinda Wikert, Elisa Summers, Heather Washburne and more) took their turn on stage. "What makes me think of my grandmother is the bridge's strength David and beauty," said Washburne. "She would Carruth especially be looking forward to the fireworks." There was plenty to explore atop the MHH. Ann Dozens of tasting stations were Carruth manned by top eateries — from Del Frisco's to DiDi's Tamale Diner to Abacus. Taking the main stage was Texas native Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, who performed to a crowd that filled the width of the bridge's Chairman Lynn Allan westbound lanes. (Pals Jan McBee McBee Barboglio and Cristina Lynch twirled together to Lovett's tunes.) And an extraordinary firework display underwritten by Williams Brothers Construction capped off the night, lighting up the newfangled skyline for all to see. Bridge revelers: honorary chairmen Ron Kirk, Iris Laura Miller, Tom Leppert; Moore city luminaries Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Pete Sessions, Royce West, Dan Branch, and Elba Garcia; the namesake for the next-to-be-constructed bridge, Margaret McDermott; Bridge Celebration event Cory Emerson planner Todd Fiscus; Christina Lyle Lovett Donnally attendees Margot and Ross Perot, R. Gerald and Gail Turner, Jennie and Stuart Reeves, Trammel Crow, Meg and Patrick McGonigle, Molly and Justin Cox, Kit and Kemp Sawers, Georgina and Cliff Condrey, Shelle and Michael Sills, Jennifer and Ed Sampson, Brandt Wood, Nancy Gopez, Betsy and Richard Eiseman, Caroline Summers Pass and Dax Pass, Cara French, Melina and Michael Cain, and Mary Jim Wikert, Elizabeth Robertson David Nichols McDermott Cook. Barbara Daseke — Mike Rawlings Gail Thomas Santiago Calatrava Caren Prothro, Ken & Ruth Altshuler Margot Perot, Nancy Halbreich Al Hill Jr., Margaret McDermott Honorary chairman Laura Miller Honorary chairman Ron Kirk Mike Rawlings Lyda Hill, honorary chairman Tom Leppert APRIL | PAGE 10 | 2012 Randi Halsell, Karen Halsell Alinda Wikert Phil & Lillie Romano Kent Rathbun Tristan Simon, Jenifer Strauss Anne & Steve Stodghill next bridge: Margaret McDermott! " — Elisa Summers Hector Garcia, Craig Holcomb