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Leslie Fertitta Devon Liedtke ANNE LEE PHILLIPS RELISHES IN A RITE OF SPRING. PHOTOGRAPHY JENNY ANTILL CLIFTON. POOLSIDE AT RIENZI DROP YOUR CAR WITH THE VALET AT THE END OF A LONG, LEAFY DRIVE IN RIVER OAKS. HOP IN A GOLF CART AND RIDE, ZEPHYR IN YOUR HAIR, TO THE MOTOR COURT OF A GRAND JOHN STAUB-DESIGNED PALLADIAN MARVEL-TURNED-MUSEUM. STEP DOWN, AND SMILING SERVERS IN WHITE JACKETS GREET WITH REFRESHING TRAYS OF BAYOU BREEZES AND SAZERACS. IT CAN ONLY MEAN ONE THING: YOU'VE ARRIVED AT THE ANNUAL RIENZI SPRING GARDEN PARTY. C hairmen Joy and Edward Randall referenced the Crescent City for this breezy al fresco evening at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's house museum (former home of the late Carroll Sterling Masterson and Harris Masterson III, which now holds the museum's decorative arts collection) with a Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler theme. On the elevated back terrace that overlooks the gardens and pool, upholstered benches with punchy crawfish-patterned pillows under a tent provided the perfect vantage point for the Slim Aarons-esque scene below: Floating flowers filled the illuminated pool, around which dapper guests mingled in a sea of navy blazers, white trousers and summer dresses, while the Zydeco Dots filled the spring air with French Creole tunes. A Fare Extraordinaire served a New Orleans-style feast that started with boudin balls, fried oysters and beer-battered okra, and segued into a Southern buffet of fried chicken, stuffed avocados, red beans and rice, and crawfish étouffée hand pies, all arrayed on long, draped tables flanking the pool. The Randalls, Laura and Tom Bacon, Diane Lokey Farb, Eliza Lovett Randall, Isla and Tommy Reckling, and Barbara Winston (who was unable to attend) stepped up as grand underwriters for the evening, whose proceeds benefitted Rienzi's operating budget; other major underwriters included John Daugherty, Realtors, Carroll Goodman, Susan and Jeff Gray, and Kathy and Harry Masterson with Jacqueline and Thomas Cole. Reveling at Rienzi: MFAH's Gary Tinterow with Christopher Gardner, Debbie and John Daugherty, Cliffe Reckling with Annie Amante, Rachel and John Luke McConn, Isla and Joseph Jornayvaz, Susan and Bill Finnegan, and Angie and John Reckling. For more party coverage, visit papercitymag.com. JUNE | PAGE 12 | 2015 Jennifer Ducote Will Booth David Ducote Debbie Simon Aliyya Stude Herman Stude Courtnay Springmeyer Tommy Reckling Isla Reckling Rachel McConn Isla Jornayvaz Mark Lawrence Rachel Lawrence Benjamin Kinney Sam Lasseter Elizabeth Winston Jones Wyatt Hogan Elizabeth Hogan Eric Thibodeaux Carly Thibodeaux Tara Crawford Ceron Chair Edward Randall Mise en scène at Rienzi Gary Tinterow Christopher Gardner Chair Joy Randall John Reckling Bailey Kinney Bayou Breezes Leslie Doggett John Daugherty Debbie Daugherty Angie Reckling Anthony Fazio Michael Wilde Ann Wilde Kate Fazio Helen Schmidt Ken Delery Jill Deutser Molly Delery Katherine Bookout Ann Doggett A Slim Aarons-style venue Tianna Nguyen