The organizers of the Buckaroo Ball have also downsized their ambitions for entertainers as prices for talent have risen. The event has hired Willie Nelson several times, but this year, having considered LeAnn Rimes but not being able to afford her $100,000 price tag, the organizers chose Asleep at the Wheel, a well-known country band. One of the organizers worries that the musical group will strike some as just a bar band and not offer enough glitz to keep up the gala's stature. Buckaroo Ball chairwoman Barbara Gudwin notes somewhat longingly that "the Cattle Baron's Ball had flown in Clint Black."
If her entertainment was not overwhelming, Foster wanted to be sure that she achieved a critical mass of excitement in other ways. She needed, for starters, a packed hall. "Tanya was very wise," says Van Willson. "She picked a place she could sell out." Other society-ball organizers, he says, sometimes shoot for a large venue and then face the embarrassment of not having enough people.
Related Content
More About
In the '80s, many Dallas fund-raisers used to choose the Anatole Hotel for their bashes because the management had a reputation for reducing prices for charities. Now, no local hotel offers any special rates to fund-raisers, Hopkins says.
For Foster, the hotel costs ordered the economics of her party. She had to spend almost all the money collected from her ticket sales and underwriters -- more than $120,000 -- on the bill for the hotel's ballroom and the meal served by the Westin's in-house caterers. She had little left for decorations. She was going to make money for the foundation only from an auction held the night of the gala. That meant the atmosphere had to be festive enough that the party attendees loosened up and reached for their wallets, outbidding one another for the donated auction items.
In the beginning, Foster had talked to professional decorators. But when they made it clear they intended to charge $15,000 for their services, Foster and Buchanan devised other plans. Buchanan used balloons and crepe paper for decorations. The centerpieces had only one or two flowers per table; the rest were cheap paper. "I had to look at this and realize these were going to be thrown out," Foster says. "If they see you are spending $500 for flower pieces, they are not happy."
By far the fanciest decorations that evening were the large topiaries. Buchanan had persuaded a theatrical prop company owned by Michael Jenkins to donate those. (At the last minute, however, Buchanan had to forsake one of the grass-like statues. The elephant wouldn't fit in the Westin's service elevator.)
The organizers also managed to get other freebies. Foster says she persuaded the hotel to provide valet parking. She talked Glazer's Distributors into providing wine and beer not only for the gala but also for the underwriters' before- and after-parties. Kinko's Copies agreed to produce the invitations gratis.
The food was another question. She had to pay $50 per person. There was no wiggle room in the budget on that issue. Foster fretted about the skimpiness of it. "I didn't want the food to be yucky," she says.
Party planner Bazley has worked on several galas where food choices have stirred up problems. She said people often complain that too much of the food is one color.
Eddie Deen, a Dallas caterer who serves at the Cattle Baron's Ball in Dallas and Lubbock, has made a science out of charity food service. He manages to serve the Cattle Baron's crowd -- by far one of the most prestigious galas in Dallas -- at prices that keep him in business but with a flair that keeps everyone happy. How? "We bring in tremendous props," says Deen. This year, for instance, he built five 5-foot-wide skillets in which he cooked the meat as onlookers watched at the Cattle Baron's Ball. "They worked like giant woks," says Deen. "Then the guests could serve themselves from it."
At the Yellow Rose Gala, Foster ended up with mango salad, salmon, and steak. She was particularly happy about the dessert selections, an elephant-shaped chocolate concoction and cream cake.
For the entertainment, Foster decided she wanted to go low-key (once Cirque du Soleil was out) so the activity didn't upstage the auction, where she wanted to keep the attention focused. She hired a local band and performers from Preston Center Dance Studio. They borrowed gymnasts and models from another charity, the Dallas chapter of DIFFA, the Design Industry Foundation's Fight Against AIDS, which raises money for medical research.
Foster and her volunteers believe they pulled it off. They created a fancy ball without overspending.
"Everyone left happy," Van Willson says.
An eye doctor left with a $39,000 Porsche 2000 Boxster donated by a car dealership. It was raffled at $100 a ticket.
Even though Foster was happy, the entertainment at the Yellow Rose gala must have paled in comparison to the old years. In 1985, for instance, the event brought in singer Tony Bennett. "The reason we got away from the big entertainment," says Robin Birnbaum, a foundation executive board member and former gala chairwoman, "[is that] the sponsors want to see you spend money frugally now. It has evolved into a business."
