30 July 2021 | parkcitiespeople.com
Society
EQUEST 40TH ANNIVERSARY GALA DRAWS ROYAL CAMEO
Playhouses Get Real Home Durability By Rachel Snyder
rachel.snyder@peoplenewspapers.com
Lisa Laughlin and Katherine Wyker
Katie Layton and Louise Griffeth
Lauren Davis and Brandi Chalmers Sabrina Williams and James Taylor
Luke and Rachel Branyan
Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne (PHOTOS: THOMAS GARZA)
Arthur Murray Dancers
Margaret and Ryan Wolf
Pat McLaughlin with Annie and Teal Griffeth
The sold-out Equest 40th Anniversary Gala: Celebrating 40 Years of Horse Power brought 575 people out to the new Al Hill, Jr. Arena at Texas Horse Park for dining, dancing, and horses. Guests admired the therapy horses groomed in stylish summer cuts and braids for the occasion and posed with the Equest Mini Ambassadors, two miniature horses under 36 inches tall. The event, chaired by Lisa and Kendall Laughlin and Katherine and Austin Wyker, raised more than $600,000 to support the agency’s work to heal children and adults with diverse needs through equine-assisted activities and therapies. Appearing via video, Princess Anne, an Olympian equestrian and longtime advocate of equine therapies who had visited Equest in 2000, sent her warmest wishes from Buckingham Palace. – Staff report
Les Owens of LRO Residential has lent his building expertise to Dallas CASA’s Parade of Playhouses at NorthPark for 12 years and is at it again this year. LRO Residential builds homes in the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, Bluffview, and Devonshire. Over the years, Owens has built a range of playhouses – from whimsical cottages to a fire station to a farmhouse with a copper silo. This year’s is a high-ceilinged cottage with a wooden roof. “We frame the walls, and the roof, the rafters – everything just like you would a house,” Owens said. “So, it’s going to stand up over the test of time for sure. The front door, it’s ... real wood, just like a mini wood front door would be, real windows provided by Anderson, wood floors just like we put in the house, sheetrock.” Parade of Playhouses is the signature fundraising event for Dallas CASA, a nonprofit that advocates for abused and neglected children. “Over the years, I’d seen it go into the mall,” Owens said of the event. “I always thought it was kind of neat, and when we had our first child ... we signed up. We were able to participate in it and thought as long as we have kids, it’d be a good thing to do every year. (It’s an) easy way to give back that aligns with what we do.”
Les Owens of LRO Residential works on his playhouse for Dallas CASA’s 26th annual Parade of Playhouses coming to NorthPark Center July 9 - 25. (PHOTO: RACHEL SNYDER)
Fabulous flowers for life s‘ most precious moments!
Wedding Days, Birthdays, Any Days
your Dallas Florist for over 70 years
10311 Garland Rd | Dallas, TX. 75218 | (214) 324-2481 | mcshanflorist.com
