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The mayor digs Maggie Rogers.
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The faithful champions of The Big Good: Gary Patterson did what he could to dress as cool as Leon Bridges, left.
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Budding superstar Abraham Alexander, middle, with Marilyn and Marty Englander, Magnolia Wine Bar entrepreneurs
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Karen Abrams, a friend of the magazine, gave Andy Roddick The Beatles treatment.
The Big Good on Thursday lived up to its reputation for throwing big parties with “The Big Night” at River Ranch Stockyards.
The affair is the nonprofit’s largest annual fundraising event, typically yielding upwards of $1 million every year for its beneficiaries. The occasion always draws a collection of the who’s who of Fort Worth society — chief among them legendary football coach Gary Patterson and iconic crooner Leon Bridges, the nonprofit’s founders, faces, and faithful champions, who are proving that sports and music can be powerful engines for social good.
“If I were any better, I’d be Kelsey,” Patterson joked to me, nodding — perhaps boasting — that he married well.
Oh, and my old — as in, former — high school basketball coach was there. When David Minor is in the house, you know it’s a big night. He didn’t order me to run any pro sets. (Some inside baseball there.)
Speaking of basketball, TCU women’s coach Mark Campbell, coming off a truly historic season on Stadium Drive and likely awaiting a pay raise, was there, too. I missed him, dangit, despite my following him around like his pet hound for a steady 30 minutes. Everybody wanted a piece of him.
I should clarify. Everyone always wants a piece of the coach — any coach. But, in this instance, rather than cuss him, they wanted to congratulate him.
More basketball: Representatives of the Dallas Mavericks, the NBA franchise working at present to quell a fan revolt, were in attendance. They’re close to Bridges, too. He designed the team’s “Trinity River Blues Collection,” which pays homage to Fort Worth’s and Dallas’ rich blues heritage.
I haven’t yet mentioned the mayor and her husband, the Parkers, and the former mayor and her husband, the Prices. Texas Tech University star alum Emily Jones, she of the Texas Rangers broadcast team, was checked in.
The talent — no surprise — was extraordinary.
Charley Crockett, a son of San Benito in the Valley, gave us his distinctive blend of country, blues, and soul. Maggie Rogers, NYU Tisch School of the Arts educated, was simply amazing. Bridges joined each for a song.
And Andy Roddick, tennis luminary and good friend of Bridges, was our master of ceremonies.
However, the one I really wanted to talk to was Gizelle Hernandez, whom, through good fortune, I bumped into during happy hour.
Hernandez is a senior at Tarleton State University in Stephenville. In May she will become her family’s first college graduate. In fact, she was her family’s first high school graduate. The way I understand it, she might have been her family’s first high school student.
A native of Fort Worth and daughter of Mexican immigrants, Hernandez will graduate with a degree in psychology and a minor in business. Her path to Tarleton was through Marine Creek Collegiate High School, a program in collaboration with Tarrant County College Northwest Campus that gives students the opportunity to graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree, as well as other skills.
Hernandez was at the party because of her association with Tarrant To & Through Partnership — better known as the T3 Partnership, a beneficiary of The Big Good. The Big Good’s other beneficiaries include Tarrant Area Food Bank, United Community Centers, and Upspire.
The T3 Partnership exists to ensure that more Tarrant County students obtain a postsecondary credential and have the training and skills for today’s workforce. It’s a symbiotic relationship: The nonprofit guides a young person on a path to leading a fulfilling life, but at the same time this is big-time economic development work for a region that needs a ready workforce.
“Our whole mission is getting students to and through college and careers,” said Lauren Deen, managing director of development for T3, who was there with Hernandez. “It's about making the lives better for the students and their families, but it's also an economic mobility driver. It's a win for students and it's a win for Fort Worth."
Hernandez is a T3 Scholar, soon-to-be T3 graduate, and now a T3 ambassador, telling the story of the good things happening through the T3 Partnership. It’s a form of giving back.
“I had to walk in this journey alone,” Hernandez said. “I had no support and didn’t know what I was getting into. T3 stepped in, became that hand to guide me. And now I am bringing awareness to these other students that need this as well.”
Hernandez is going to do big things, I can assure you.
As for The Big Good, a grateful city thanks you for your leadership in inspiring, uniting, and uplifting.