A haute hoe-down

Sparkle and Twang lives up to its name

Published On: November 25, 2009

"These young people add so much energy and pizzazz to this party!" exclaimed Lois Riggins-Ezzell, executive director of the Tennessee State Museum. "Let's just say, they certainly do sparkle!" Well put, pardner. Lois' comments came during the museum Foundation's fourth annual Sparkle & Twang benefit. Held at the Loveless Barn on a crisp starry, starry Friday the 13th, the event served as a grand finale for CMA Awards week. More than 350 S & T patrons turned up, bedecked in their glittering denim best for this flashy, hoedown. Dubbed Rhinestone Rodeo by Evening Chairs Mary Leland and Mark Wehner, this year's designation proved apropos since the night did double-duty as Mary Leland's 40th birthday bash.

Senator Douglas Henry, ML's doting dad, was on hand for the sold-out salute to the Museum's 2009 Costume and Textile Institute inductees: nationally known leather accoutrement craftsman Colonel Garry A. Littleton of Lynnville, TN and Universal Records style trendsetter Fletcher Foster. Yep, it was an authentic 'Year of the Man' celebration. Tables were draped either in pin-tucked, gunmetal-gray or manly, restrained black, and topped with vintage horseshoe accents, powdered in carbon-colored sparkle dust and surrounded with scattered rhinestones. But, the party's signature turquoise POP color was the star turn of the evening, from the bandanas handed out to all guests upon arrival to the hundreds hanging on rope from the Barn's rafters to the azure-colored Patron tequila margaritas which beckoned alluringly from the bars. Honorary co-chair Jesse Goldstein and the Loveless band of ranch hands went hog wild with hearty food stations serving shrimp and grits, barbecue "sundaes," Tex-Mex salad and Patron molten chocolate cake. The spectacular silent auction (with more than 95 items) kept the guests' competitive juices flowing, particularly a George Strait-signed cowboy hat and commemorative box set of CDs, a hand-painted Sheila B. guitar, a sparkly deer head from Pangaea, a night at the Hermitage Hotel, a complete Colonel Littleton wardrobe from Brett Francovich's 2nd Avenue Abernathy Road retail store and a Hollywood disco party. Some of the "lucky" turquoise bandanas had secret numbers written inside, meaning that four winners went home with a little something extra, such as a bottle of Platinum Gran Patron (worth $250) from the party's presenting sponsor, a two-night stay at Tunica's Horseshoe Casino or an overflowing Loveless gift basket. The event sponsors departed with commemorative, rhinestone-encrusted, turquoise-toned paintings, created especially for them by the museum's party director and galloping go-to-girl, Leigh Hendry.

A first for the museum was the introduction of its inaugural Young Professionals Council, 25-39 year olds, who have already proven themselves to be outstanding community leaders. Volunteer Coordinators Gloria Houghland and Donna Tucker introduced the group of 21 onstage, while noting the accomplishments of these emerging Middle Tennessee leaders, who will assist in the future preservation of Tennessee's greatest treasures. As the "young guns" surveyed the cheering crowd, a sentimentally appropriate sparkle was detected in the eyes of Nashville's own version of Annie Oakley, Lois Riggins-Ezzell, who was mighty proud of the bang-up night. GH

—photographs by

sinclair kelly