On a recent Thursday afternoon Party Girl traded her high heels for a "Master of Bar-b-q" apron and headed to the Justice Grillin' Hamburger Cook-off event. The annual fundraiser has been raising awareness of Multiple Sclerosis for years now, and the 2007 edition got cookin' on May 24 at River Ranch Town Square. Van Eaton & Romero was among the many contestants grillin' and chillin'. Its awesome, big burgers took up some serious square footage. Dressed as cowboys and Indians to fit their "Home on the Range" theme, Bill Stephens, Sandy Stephens, Dewitt David, Sheila Landry, Calvin Lege, Charlie Bourgeois, and David Gleason occasionally took a break from grilling hamburgers to break out some moves on the dance floor while The Hurricanes played lively music. Van Eaton & Romero commercial agents Lege and Gleason were all smiles when they posed for my camera with Miss Louisiana, Elizabeth McNulty, who was one of the burger judges for the cook-off. Now in its seventh year, the event is held in memory of the creator of the SW Louisiana MS Foundation, Dr. Robert Martinez, and is the brainchild of community volunteer Diana Lennon, who got involved after her friend and former co-worker, Phyllis Thibodeaux, was diagnosed with MS. How wonderful that their original mission is being carried out with such sizzle!
Speaking of sizzle, what started out to be a quiet night at Bella Figura Restaurant turned out to be quite a noisy affair as family and friends of Dawn Clark celebrated her birthday. Party Girl was given no response to my question, "How old is the birthday girl?" But I could guess that she was young enough to enjoy living it up and most important, mature enough to know how to live it up! Dawn is very hard to surprise, and for the first time her family and friends pulled it off. If one could imagine the perfect birthday celebration, this party fit the bill. Not one thing was missing from this celebration, from the beautifully decorated table to the many thoughtful gifts from everyone. One highlight of the evening came as a serenade to the beautiful Dawn from guitarist J.L., who played a special song with the line, "Those were the days, my friend." Everyone stood up and held each other close. They sang and danced to the touching song. What a wonderful moment it was. And what a great way to celebrate a birthday ' with your family and friends. Thanks to Dawn's husband Kenny Clark and good friend, Deidre Cormier, who pulled off this stupendous party.
Party On! ' PG