Love Rises

Generous Dallasites open their hearts at 40th St. Valentine's Day Luncheon

What: 2024 St. Valentine’s Day Luncheon & Fashion Show

Where: The Meyerson Symphony Center

The 411: Not a bad 40th anniversary gift. More than 600 attendees of the beloved St. Valentine's Day Luncheon helped to raise over $750,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Co-chaired by Brooke Shelby and Samantha Wortley, the theme for the milestone event was "Love Rises."

Donning Valentine's-appropriate pink, reds, and purples, guests started the soiree (which took place a few days before Vday, on February 8) with a champagne reception and silent auction filled with jewelry, trips, experiences, and more.

Then they proceeded into the Margaret McDermott Performance Hall for this year’s program, emceed by FOX4 evening anchor Clarice Tinsley. She shared that in the luncheon’s 40 years, $15 million had been raised from the event alone, with countless lives having been saved as a result of studies funded that provided breakthrough treatments for many different blood cancers.

Photo by Tamytha Cameron

Lauren Laughry, Lara Francis, Laura Price, Kate Boatright and Nancy Gopez

Awards were given, and a fashion show of spring looks from Highland Park Village retailers, produced by Jan Strimple, took over the stage.

The 2024 award recipients were:

The ICON Award: St. Valentine's Day Luncheon co-founders Rusty Duvall and Janet Evans.
The Memorial Hero Award: Given in honor of Ryan Anthony, the principal trumpet for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra who passed away from multiple myeloma in 2020. Accepted by Anthony’s wife and director of his foundation, Niki, and daughter Jackson.
The Lynda Adleta Heart of Gold Award: Philanthropist Moll Anderson, recognizing her support of LLS.
The Spirit of Tom Landry Award: Campbell Fearing, 24, son of Dallas chef Dean Fearing, who was diagnosed in November of 2022 with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.

Upon receiving his award, Campbell Fearing shared a poignant poem, that he wrote during his hospital stay while receiving treatment, titled “The Get Well Soon Balloon.” He was then joined by his father, Dean Fearing, who kicked off a "Fund the Fight" live-give initiative by offering an exclusive chef’s tasting dinner at Fearing’s Restaurant, which was won by a generous bidder for $40,000.

After the fashion show, patrons dined on a delectable lunch of herb grilled chicken salad with alternating desserts of a strawberry shortcake and a strawberry Linzer cookie in the foyer.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is a worldwide leader in the fight against cancer, working to curing leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Who: Honorary chairs Debbie Hayhurst, Libby Hunt and Sharon McCullough, LLS Red River Region executive director Leah Swanson, actress, author and philanthropist Alana Stewart, advisory chairs Maggie Kipp and Nancy Gopez, Rusty Duvall, Janet Evans, Kristin Hallam, Nancy Rogers, Peggy Sewell, Lynae Fearing and Doug Cochran, Wanda and Dean Fearing, Elisa Summers, Heather Washburne, Marjon Henderson, Louise Griffeth, Moll and Charlie Anderson, Prissy Gravely, Kristen Sanger, Heather Randall, Yvette Ostolaza, Andrea Cheek, Melissa Sherrill Martin, Becky Frey, Venise Stuart, Jill Goldberg, Lauren Laughry, Kate Boatright, Victoria Snee, Cordelia Boone, Jennifer Morris, Josie Sewell, Natalie Lesikar, Dawn Mellon, Katy Bock, Muffin Lemak, Susan Palma, Angie Kadesky, Tanya Foster, Lora Farris, Beth Thoele, Elizabeth Gambrell, and many more.

history in the making

Taylor Sheridan to be honored with legendary Texas award in 2027

1923 Las Vegas Premiere Screening & After Party Taylor Sheridan

Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for Paramount+

Taylor Sheridan is a 2027 recipient of the History-Making Texan Award.

Trailblazing North Texas producer, director, and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan will add a new award to his shelf in 2027. Sheridan has been named one of two recipients of the History-Making Texan Award, which the Texas State History Museum Foundation (TSHMF) will present in Austin in spring 2027.

Since 2005, the organization has honored "living Texas legends whose contributions to the state and the nation have been truly historic and exceptional in scope and nature." Past galas have recognized prominent Texas figures such as former presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush and former first ladies Barbara and Laura Bush, as well as H-E-B chairman Charles Butt, singer-songwriter and accordionist Leonardo “Flaco” Jimenéz, among others.

Joining Sheridan as the other 2027 honoree is Texas Historical Commission chairman, businessman, and philanthropist John L. Nau, III. The 2027 gala will be held at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin on March 2, Texas Independence Day.

"Our honorees are national leaders whose accomplishments have elevated Texas’ distinctive place on the national and international stage," said Debbie Raynor, Dinner Chair and TSHMF Trustee, in a relase. "John L. Nau, III and Taylor Sheridan have each, in very different ways, helped tell the Texas story — one through the preservation of our history and treasured places, the other through the power of storytelling that has brought Texas and the American West to audiences around the world."

Quadruple-threat filmmaker Sheridan is most widely recognized for his award-winning neo-Western TV series Yellowstone and its associated spin-offs 1883, 1923, Marshals, and Dutton Ranch. Raynor hailed Sheridan for his success in bringing a "remarkable new dimension to the way the world sees Texas and the American West."

"As a creator, writer, director, and executive producer of some of television’s most successful series, he has captured the imagination of audiences across the globe while bringing the people, landscapes, traditions and enduring spirit of the West into millions of homes," she said. "And he does more than tell the Texas story — he lives it, as a native Texan, accomplished horseman and steward of two legendary Texas ranches."

Nau is the former chairman and CEO of Silver Eagle Beverages, one of the largest Anheuser-Busch distributors in the U.S. Raynor said Nau's "commitment to preservation" extends further than his protection of Texas historic sites "to the stewardship and conservation of the land itself, including his bay area lodge in south Texas and his ranch in west Texas."

"[Nau's] leadership and lifelong dedication to history have earned him national recognition, but perhaps his greatest legacy is his determination to ensure that the stories and places that shaped Texas endure for generations to come," Raynor said.

A release estimates about 450 "business, political, and community leaders" attend the Texas Independence Day Dinner each year, and proceeds will benefit the Bullock Museum's educational programs and special projects.

The 2027 Texas Independence Day Dinner will take place March 2, 2027, at the Bullock Museum in Austin. A VIP reception will start at 6:30 pm, followed by a 7 pm reception, and 7:30 dinner and program.

Taylor Sheridan is gifting his creative archive to Texas State University.