6 minute read
Waltzing on Air
from Nfocus October 2022
Along line of cars snaking their way up to the State Capitol on a Saturday evening could only mean that it was once again time for A Tennessee Waltz. The wide halls and gracious marble interiors of the classic building serve as well for politics as for the black-tie affair, which is the Tennessee State Museum Foundation’s most important annual event and combines history, the arts and fun into one memorable evening.
Co-chairs Nicole and Bo Watson welcomed guests as they entered the dramatically lit lobby brimming with grand floral arrangements by Jim Marvin. Upstairs was a rollicking cocktail party, complete with passed wine and a massive cheese and charcuterie table. Quite a few people stepped out onto the balcony to take advantage of the pleasant weather and sweeping views across the city.
The dinner bell rang, and Joey Richey and Friends performed as attendees headed downstairs, where tables were covered in moss green linens and topped with vibrant centerpieces, also by Jim. The talkative crowd finally settled down enough to savor a delicious three-course meal from Catering & Events by Suzette. During the after-dinner remarks, Museum Director Ashley Howell spoke about the organization’s 85 years of preserving artifacts for education and engagement now and for generations to come. The museum opened in 1937 in the lower level of the War Memorial Auditorium and today encompasses 137,000 square feet in its new home, which opened in October 2018.
After more comments, everyone returned to the second floor for another musical treat. Singer-songwriter Kelly Lang performed “The Tennessee Waltz” while Nicole and Bo had the first dance. The Pat Patrick Legacy Band took over, and everyone joined the Watsons to dance the night away. It was a wonderful way to close out the 29th A Tennessee Waltz and celebrate 85 years of the Tennessee State Museum.
BY HOLLY HOFFMAN PHOTOGRAPHS BY ERIC ENGLAND
Mick and Ann McGauran, Joe and Ashley Howell
David Merrick, Quincy McKnight, Erin Merrick
Penny and Michael Lockhart Anna Windrow, Ashley Haycraft, Nancy Russell
Randy Boyd, Johnny Shaw Shane and Amanda Reeves
Roger Page and Carol McCoy Howard Kittell and Jennifer Esler West and Kirsten Wiggins
Scott and Amy Price, Jane and Tom Smith
Jeff and Irwin Fisher, Tiffany and Alfred Degrafinreid
Jeni and Kurt Brinkman, Joe and Beth Wright Alvarae Rawls, Marty Luffman
ENTREPRENEURIAL & SPIRITED
Therese Winnington and her husband, David Lewis, both embody an entrepreneurial spirit – whether it’s her successful real estate and interior design business or his awardwinning apparel line.
The two met eight years ago on Match.com and their first coffee date lasted three hours. They bonded over their love of art and design and were married within the year.
Now, parents to a four-year-old son, the couple continues to support and encourage one another in their artist pursuits.
Therese is owner of T. Lewis Real Estate & Design, which also offers property management services. David is the founder of Gillies Gear, an apparel company with an emphasis on the outdoors. Both their childhoods played significant roles in the professions they chose to pursue.
Therese remembers growing up going to open houses with her mother, a real estate agent. As a sideline [her father was a CPA], her parents bought rental and investment property. “Basically, I grew up in that life,” says Therese. It was when she began flipping her own houses that her design work got noticed. Friends and clients began enlisting her to help them and it took off from there.
He knows a thing or two about magical transformations. While working in surgical device sales in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, David, who decided at 15, he wanted to be the next Ralph Lauren, remembers having “had this epiphany or vision on a bar napkin and turning it into a reality and a company…”
His passions can be traced back to his childhood. His mother owned an upscale women’s clothing boutique for 28 years and he fondly remembers his father taking him hunting and fishing. He combined his interests to create a high-end outdoor apparel company in the mid ‘90s. It became known for its waders and wading jackets. He even patented a water-proof zipper for a fishing wader.
In 2001, Gillies Gear, which had been mentioned in Forbes and Men’s Journal, among others, won best new product design from the American Fly-Fishing Trade Association. Shortly thereafter, a shaken post-911 economy forced him to shutter the company. He went back into surgical sales and then five years ago, Therese encouraged him to relaunch it. Products are available online at gilliesgear.com. He plans to expand into even more lifestyle apparel, just as Patagonia and North Face have done.
As they continue to pursue their passions, the artistic couple happily reside in an eclectically decorated, art-filled Hollywood Regencystyle home in Forest Hills with their son, McGavock. In keeping with their entrepreneurial spirit, the house, which Therese calls, “a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n roll,” is frequently leased out for photo and video shoots.
