Best of 2005

More than 60 fundraisers are nominated

Published On: April 13, 2009

Note: You can see all the photos accompanying the Best of 2005 in the print edition of Nfocus.

The party bar was raised in 2005. And we’re not talking about alcohol. From clever to elegant, many fundraisers discovered untapped potential to be innovative in terms of production, invitations, décor, entertainment. It was an impressive, competitive year. We’d love to know the total dollars that the parties listed here raised for the Nashville community. Every effort, large and small, counts. You are appreciated.

Hottest Party: Symphony Ball, Sandra Lipman and Hope Stringer, co-chairs; Nashville Symphony. From the kick-off’s hot pink invitation (tied with a satin bow with a rhinestone buckle) to Kate Graykin’s wonderful house on a hill, to the party favors of melt-in-your-mouth caramel cake from Dessert Designs and a bottle of champagne, the Symphony Ball attacked every detail with gusto. The night itself was a fabulous send-off for Loews Vanderbilt Plaza—extraordinary menu (yes, the soup was hot); vivid Sandy Ziegler décor with Joe Smith arrangements; signature cocktails; and a gracious, talented honoree.

• Runner up: Manuel’s art opening; Frist Center. So many young, glamorous guests. A full house and terrific catering—themed islands of food.

• Notable: Swan Ball, Elizabeth Nichols and Betsy Brittain; Cheekwood

Best first-time event: Divas Nashvegas, Kathy Anderson, Rebecca Ayer and Cynthia Testerman, co-chairs; Oasis Center. Blending the best of Nashville divas—those who perform on stage and those who perform in the nonprofit arena—Divas replaced Artists for Oasis with a slam-bang evening of entertainment by Wynonna, Julie Roberts and the Voices of Grace Choir, honoring two dozen outstanding women who volunteer for causes across Nashville. Impressive beginning.

• Runner up: Halston Borghese Fashion Gala, Elizabeth Scokin and Claudia Church, co-chairs; Halston Collection at Lipscomb University. Exotic night with lots of lead-in parties.

• Notable: United Way Golf Tournament: Great favor bags.

Best revamped party: Ballet Ball, Laurie Eskind and Robin Keyser, co-chairs; Nashville Ballet. With a new logo and sleeker name, guests no longer wore masks. Its debut as The Ballet Ball was breathtaking, a glittering combination of disco-dreamy and industrial chic that made for an unforgettable night. Terrific menu from Something Special, too.

• Runner up: Gingerbread World, Ashley Henry, chair; Centerstone. Always a fun night, the Weigel touch and Coble art made a difference.

Best just-plain-fun party: Promise Gala, Amy Garrison and Pam White, co-chairs; Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. This reworked Reds Whites and Tunes had it all—absolutely irresistible invitations that invite you to take your shoes off and dance in the grass, a terrific menu from Suzette Lane with Constant Cravings, precious favors: sturdy canvas bags with plenty of practical pockets, embroidered with the logo of the party—and inside, a pair of colorful flip-flops topped with daisies. Axson West as emcee is always fun, and having kids there adds an element of perspective. Great night.

• Runner up: Animal Affair, Edie Johnson and Leigh Reames, co-chairs; Nashville Zoo. It’s ideal to have a party at the site of the beneficiary. The Zoo added a permanent carousel to a show-stopping list of donating restaurants, which brought better-than-ever items to share.

• Notable: Birdhouse Thing, Mall at Green Hills; W. O. Smith School.

Most inspired co-chair team: Dara Dickson and Perian Strang, Fall Fest; Belle Meade Plantation. This is a venerable fundraiser, a weekend full of antique sales. Young and attractive, Dara and Perian drew a full house, simplified the entertainment and added activities for kids and an antique car display that will only grow next year. Nice spin.

• Runner-up: Bess Kerns and Laura Barnes, Laughter for the Children; Monroe Harding. The entertainment was multi-faceted and multi-talented. Bess and Laura put this one on the map.

• Notable: Elizabeth Nichols, chair, and Betsy Brittain, co-chair, Swan Ball. Leadership in spades.

Best Katrina event: Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler Encore, a dozen host couples: Organized in about three weeks, this event brought Mardi Gras back for a night at the Stadium Club. Lots of energy, lots of donations, including food and invitations. Made more than $30,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

• Runner-up: Music Row Benefit for the Homeless Animals of the Hurricanes. Led by fearless Phran Gallante, Randy Rayburn, LaRawn Rhea and others, this event featured Reed Trickett’s celebrity dog Woody and entertainment that included Bonnie Bramlett, Bob DePiero, Radney Foster, Little Big Town, The Kinleys, Keith Anderson and more. Lots of fun, lots of friends.

• Notable: Party in the Stables and the Second Harvest event at the Convention Center. Big!

Best party favors: Halston Borghese Fashion Gala, Elizabeth Scokin and Claudia Church, co-chairs. You have to hand it to these co-chairs for being terrific goodie bag stuffers. In a big night for fashion, the full-size favors were impressive and only fitting. Included in each were a large decorative bamboo box with full-size Borghese spa products and a stash of full-size Kerastase hair products with a little appropriate reading material (March Nfocus).

• Runner-up: Symphony Ball. You cannot beat a half-bottle of champagne and Dessert Designs caramel cake. We’re betting only crumbs were left the next morning.

• Notable: In The Year of the Tote Bag, the Swan Ball’s sturdy Seaman Schepps canvas bag was lined with blue and white cotton and had note cards tucked inside. It’ll be showing up on beaches all around the world.

Most fabulous invitation. Tie: Probably the toughest competition here with the two white-tie balls going head to head. The Swan Ball, changing minimally each year, burst out with an attention-grabbing red Crane's invitation that told you the night would be something really special. From Corzine’s.

The Symphony Ball invitation also added color, choosing a subtle golden paper stock holding an ecru card with gold ink. Most impressive? Each envelope and the inside of each invitation was hand-calligraphed by Val Cole in red ink, underscored with a bright red holly berry with gold curlicues. From The Paper Place.

• Notable: Fall Fest Preview Party’s clear sleeve with address label and a brocade sleeve holding the raffia-topped invitation. Elegant.

Most creative invitation: Nashville Public School Hall of Fame, Lisa Campbell and Robert Lipman, co-chairs. Nashville Alliance for Public Education. Remember passing notes in school? Folding them up and slipping a tiny wad into the palm of a friend? That’s what arrived, hand-printed and all wrapped in a rubber band, announcing the Metro Nashville Education awards. Really clever and mission-consistent. A first-time event, it played to a packed auditorium at Hume Fogg, guests saving seats for each other like so many 10th-graders. Inspiring evening, too.

• Runner-up: Steeplechase, Betsy Miller and Vicki Horne, co-chairs; Monroe Carell, Jr. Children’s Hospital. All the ancillary printed materials for the Steeplechase were memorable. The Steeplechase scarf that enveloped the actual invitation was a keeper, and appeared on many guests that day—around hats or throats, or pinned to purses. A perfect memento of a fine Nashville tradition.

• Notable: Caper, 2005, Adventure Science Center. Theme: Thinking Outside the Box.

Coolest decorations: Swan Ball, Elizabeth Nichols chair, Betsy Brittain, co-chair; Cheekwood. The winking Marilyn Monroe and Liza Minelli Warhol reproductions were what put the Swan Ball at the top of the cool decorations list. Add in the Henry Moore bust, the tri-color abstracts and flat-screen TVs and you felt like you were at the MOMA. A clean, industrial look gave the night a welcome sophistication.

• Runner-up: Once in a Blue Moon, Claudette and Joe Smith, co-chairs; Land Trust for Tennessee. What fun to give an artist like Joe free rein to interpret an under-the-tent casual evening with the A-list. Huge scarecrows, student-designed pumpkins and lush, fall arrangements dressed up a chilly autumn night.

• Notable: Jean Therapy, Janie Lipps Hagan, chair, American Diabetes Foundation. Blue jeans created by Hendersonville High School students danced on the tabletops and throughout the Factory at Franklin.

Prettiest table setting: Frist Gala, Jean Ann Banker and Janette Smith, co-chairs; Frist Center. The whole place was filled with spring flowers, bringing still lifes to life, and the best were in the centerpieces, frothing with roses, hydrangea and orchids. Table linens were layered runners in gold and aqua—complimenting the aqua torchiérs on the walls inside. Breathtaking.

• Runner-up: DeTocqueville 25th anniversary dinner, Steve and Jan Riven; co-chairs, United Way. Sumptuous yellow roses from the Tulip Tree arranged as only Mark O’Brien can do set the stage for a silver anniversary of the international giving society.

• Notable: Leadership Music for Gerry House.

Best overall menu: Best Cellars dinner, Vanderbilt Plaza; T.J. Martell Foundation. Chef Bradford Thompson flew in from the Phoenician’s Mary Elaine’s in Scottsdale to put together an incredible dinner—starting with roasted seas scallops with almond crust in a spring pea emulsion; followed by morel-stuffed quail with baby spinach and heirloom grits; then a roasted veal loin with spring root veggies, finished off with a divine fruit medley from pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini of Jean Georges in New York. Each course was served to each table all at once, and even the water was bottled Fiji water. And we haven’t even mentioned the wines.

• Runner-up: Fest de Ville, Mary Ruth Shell and Colleen Welch, co-chairs; Tennessee Performing Arts Center. A Capers Catering miracle, beginning with a stacked salad of summer beans and tomatoes, followed by mango tilapia with pistachios, basmati rice, haricots verts and yeast rolls and a divine dessert. Coffee was served in tiny square cups, and as for dessert, Ellen Lehman said, “It’s peppermint and chocolate, how bad can it be?” Scrumptious.

• Notable: Fall Fest Preview Party. How can you lose with Kates Catering’s Cajun shrimp and grits?

Most irresistible hors d’oeuvres: Fall Fest Preview Party, Dara Dickson and Perian Strang, co-chairs. Kates Catering cheese dreams. So good and sooo bad!

• Runner-up: Tango night at Cheekwood. Cheekwood’s Anne Clayton does south of the border with spicy Argentine tapas that kept them dancing all night long.

Most creative dessert: Frist Gala, Jean Ann Banker and Janette Smith, co-chairs; Frist Center. Dani Kates’ gorgeous dessert: Two mounds of lemon mousse and fresh berries backed by a tiny van Gogh painting on marzipan in a chocolate frame. Priceless.

• Runner-up: Power of the Purse, Emily Tidwell, Carolyn Hannon, co-chairs; Women’s Fund. A key lime pie wrapped in a Benjamin from the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center—so yummy, so appropriate.

• Notable: Caper 2005.

Best new venue: City Hall/Bar Twenty3, Ben Goldberg and Austin Ray, owners. If you’re under 30, it’s your hangout. Open bar or pay-as-you-go, Bar Twenty3, which got a facelift mid-summer, is a big hit, getting national buzz.

• Runner-up: Once in a Blue Moon, Harpeth River Hootenanny, Chukkers. Do we even have to tell you it’s Riverview, the Ingram home that has long been a gracious haven for nonprofit events; has a new lease on life with a new mistress of the manor.

Overlooked potential party chairmen: You’ll be glad to hear that some of these have big jobs in ’06.

Lisa Campbell
Jessica Clark
Sally Coble
Sondra Cruikshanks
Trisha Elcan
Lee Ann Ingram
Karol Lahrman
Milah Lynn
Donna Richards


Best entertainment: Laughter for the Children, Bess Kerns and Laura Barnes, co-chairs. Craig Wiseman, recent ASCAP award winner, stepped up to give a surprise performance that left them in stitches. Joined by comics Henry Cho and Rik Roberts with Kix Brooks as the auctioneer, the laughter was the thing.

• Runner-up: Greatest Show ever, Holy Cross Hospice in Botswana. The unique idea made this a winner. Small venue at the Belcourt with big, big talents imitating even bigger legends. Funny and touching, the versatility made jaws drop. Imagine Jonell Mosser doing Janice Joplin, Don Poythress as Willie Nelson, a very funny Russ Taff as Wayne Newton, jeff obafemi carr as Nat King Cole and lots more. Once in a lifetime.

• Notable: Sandy Bull concert at MBA. Intergenerational with an incredible line-up. The personal touch makes the difference. Premiere Evening with Marcus Hummon. Harding Academy party with Brooks and Dunn. This is just an entertainment town.

Hottest dance band: Pat Patrick Orchestra. Swan Ball and Symphony Ball. The man knows music and what they want to hear. Fans and friends adore him. He never disappoints.

• Runner-up: Delicious. They rocked Frist Fridays and the Humane Association’s Anipalooza.

Most unusual sight/thing/activity at a party: Hunt Ball. Alice Hooker in the big red monster truck, up for auction.

• Runner-up: Halston Borghese Fashion Gala. Paris Hilton looking at the food on her plate, as if in wonder.

• Notable: Not seeing Herbert and his tape recorder.

Best special guest: Red and Lysiane Grooms at the Antiques & Garden Show and the Swan Ball; Cheekwood. A double winner for Cheekwood, these two bring their individual talents, a devotion to the arts and deep ties to Nashville, plus they make fun happen every time they come to town. Brilliant and beautiful, each is an ideal dinner partner and worthy honoree.

Runner-up: Reese Witherspoon, Arthritis Foundation Tribute evening, Sarah Ingram and Suzanne Lovvorn, co-chairs. Pert and pretty, Reese was a coup for the Arthritis dinner, arguably the biggest name to hit town on the social circuit. They loved her story, her career and her devotion to her mother.

Notable: David McCullough, the Library Gala, Kathy Harrell and Linde Wilson, co-chairs. A charming raconteur, David did back-to-back appearances: a conversation with John Seigenthaler at the patrons party and thoughtful remarks at the Gala. Extra credit for those twinkly eyes.

Biggest calendar conflict: Saturday, October 15. Library Gala, Plant Collectors Auction, VU Homecoming, opening night at the Opera, Germantown progressive dinner, the Opry’s 80th anniversary, and Bill Clinton in town for Ned Ray McWherter’s birthday. So many choices!

• Runner-up: Thursday, May 5. Harding Arts preview party, Second Harvest Fives party, Frist Gala patrons party, O’More’s A-wear Fashion Show.

What did we leave out? Couple of categories, first, those we left out specifically for 2005: Best ruined name—Tennessee Waltz; Best event that should stay in Nashville—CMA Awards; Best anniversary of a great event—25th Anniversary of the Tocqueville Society.

And categories you think should be in every Best Party list: Best dress, Best kids event, Best new Real Estate Agent, Most outrageous outfit, Most over-the-top party, Best executed theme.

Thank you for playing.