So very entertaining

A wild time at Botanic Hall

Published On: May 13, 2010

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The owners of Bread & Company, The Picnic, Bricktops, Starbucks, Provence and Sweet CeeCee’s must have wondered why business was so slow on a recent Thursday lunch hour. All the usual suspects were MIA. Was it Spring Break? Were folks dieting? Was something terribly wrong?

Nope—something was terribly right. It seems most of the ladies in Nashville had descended upon Cheekwood for the Howe Wild Celebration, an annual event sponsored by the Garden Club of Nashville. Not only had they arrived, they had all arrived at the exact same time, putting the poor valet parking team into serious overdrive. The line of cars entering the grounds stretched all the way back from Botanic Hall to Page Road for nigh on to 45 minutes. If the parkers were wearing pedometers, we’re fairly certain they had run a marathon before the end of the event.

Let’s move along to the party. Chairs Betty Finucane and Grayson Harris, both looking lovely in their pastel luncheon garb, greeted guests at check-in before they traveled into the party. There, they chatted, bid on silent auction items (there were some plants up for purchase, of course) and met the energetic luncheon speaker Bev Church, who was signing copies of her book on entertaining.

Bev, we later discovered, is a pal of Grayson’s and lives in New Orleans where she’s editor of a Nfocus-like publication. She also lectures around the country, sharing her tips on entertaining and decorating for events.

To celebrate Bev’s New Orleans roots, the luncheon menu paid homage to the city’s cuisine. Shrimp and grits, spinach salad and crème brulee kept the crowd happy before Bev began her enthusiastic lecture. Grayson and Betty and Bren Finucane turned the tables on Bev during her visit and let her experience a little Nashville culture on lower Broad. They hit Tootsie’s and the Wildhorse Saloon for a little singing, dancing and drinking. Now, we want to know. “How wild” did they really get? EN

—photographs by sinclair kelly