Autry Gala

We attended the 23rd outing of the annual gala at the Autry National Center last night.  It was a bittersweet moment because it was our last chance to see outgoing President and CEO John Gray who is retiring to a gentleman rancher/farmer's life in Dixon, New Mexico.  John's very capable shoes are being filled by Dan Finley, the former CEO of the Milwaukee Public Museum where he received high marks for his stewardship there.  We met Dan's lovely wife Jenifer, who is also the leader of a non-profit in Orange County.

We were also sad to say goodbye to our dear friend Anna Norville who is leaving the Autry's development department to serve as Executive Director of Major Gifts at USC.  Any USC fans out there who would like to get to know Anna, please let me know.  I'll be happy to introduce you.

At the silent auction, we were lucky to pick up a mixed case of very nice wine, donated by our friends Sharon and Rich Allen, long-time members of the Autry Gala Commitee.  We also picked up a weekend stay at the Glendale Hilton that will certainly come in handy when the Masters of the American West rolls around next year.

We were fortunate to join join Jay Grodin, Chairman of the Autry Master's Committee at his table along with John Geraghty - the perpetual sparkplug behind the Masters of the American West and his sweet wife SaraLynn.  Also at the table were artist Robert Peters and his wife Nanette.  Robert contributed the beautiful oil painting "Spring Into Summer" to be auctioned off at the gala dinner.

Spring Into Summer - 30 x 40 Oil - Robert Peters

Adding to the special evening was the fact that it was Jackie Autry's birthday.  What a wonderful way to celebrate the woman who has done so much for the Autry.  The special honoree for the evening was Merle Haggard who was presented with the Spirit of the West Award by Jackie Autry.  Entertainment during the dinner was provided by the trio Texas Tenors, who won Best Vocal Group in the 2009 America's Got Talent competition.

After the dinner, we had drinks, cigars (rolled on site by an artisan from Tambor Dominicano) and dance music was provided by Caught Red Handed.  It was a wonderful evening and thankfully, the micro-thunderstorms that have been popping up all over town in recent days decided to stay away.

That is it for this post and as always, if I can be of any assistance to you or any of your friends, family or colleagues with any of your real estate needs (residential, commercial or otherwise) or if I can help find a real estate professional for you to work with in your local community, please let me know.  It would be my pleasure to help.