{"id":414905,"date":"2025-11-30T10:57:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T10:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/414905\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T10:57:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T10:57:42","slug":"giselle-inspired-evening-sets-the-stage-for-2026-houston-ballet-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/414905\/","title":{"rendered":"Giselle-inspired evening sets the stage for 2026 Houston Ballet Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sequins, disco sparkle, and slimming sass lit up the ballroom at the Post Oak Hotel for the Citizens for Animal Protection<\/a> (CAP) Celebrity Paws Gala. No boring centerpieces and meh entr\u00e9es here.<\/p>\n

The Studio 39-themed bash \u2014 marking the gala\u2019s 39th year \u2014 was more Studio 54 than staid social, as 680-plus guests and four-legged companions leaned all the way into disco glam. Think head-to-toe shine, white, black, gold, and silver dripping from most ladies, and a life-size silver horse centerpiece paying tribute to the infamous Bianca Jagger entrance circa 1977.<\/p>\n

Angela Hernandez<\/strong> and Kamisha Mickey<\/strong> helmed the co-chair duties for what would become CAP\u2019s most successful gala to date, bringing in more than $1.1 million to support animal shelter, rescue, and adoption programs. That includes proceeds from a premium silent auction and a raffle for a 2025 Subaru BRZ Premium donated by West Houston Subaru<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The vibe? Party. The crowd? Full Sparkle.<\/p>\n

And the menu? Heavy on Branson Cognac espresso martinis and Le Chemin du Roi champagne, served from sleek ice bars courtesy of Sire Spirits<\/a>. Guests mixed, mingled, and posed in front of custom selfie vignettes (shoutout to Lowenberg Law Firm<\/a> for the glam-on-the-go photo moments), reluctant to take their seats until the music stopped.<\/p>\n

Leading the program was 2024 Celebrity Pet Champion of the Year Andy Cerota<\/strong>, who served as emcee. A string of awards followed, including honors for Ben Ackerley<\/strong>, Daphne <\/strong>and Steve Savva<\/strong>, Meghan <\/strong>and Clint Conroy<\/strong>, Mary Kenner<\/strong>, Brian Spack<\/strong>, and Edna Meyer-Nelson<\/strong>, who received the Melcher Humanitarian of the Year award and reflected on her connection to the award\u2019s namesake, Lucile B. Melcher<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The runway moment of the night belonged to the CAP honorees and their photogenic pets. They were junior honorees Shefali<\/strong> and Maya Desai<\/strong>, and elite honorees Tori Halbert <\/strong>with Tilly, Emily Carruth<\/strong> with Nala, Iraida Brown <\/strong>with Panda, Kellie Geitner <\/strong>with Chloe, Melanie Camp <\/strong>with Matilda, Mandy Kao<\/strong> with Mei Mei and Teddy, Kimberly<\/strong> and David King<\/strong> with Hank, Jenna Morris<\/strong> and Sarah Morris<\/strong> with Ellie Lush and Honey Bee, Suzanne<\/strong> and Adam Stiles<\/strong> with Charlie, and Sarah Vercher<\/strong> with Coco.<\/p>\n

Kao\u2019s pup arriving via remote-controlled kiddie car, driven by her son, earned audible squeals from the room. Portraits by Gittings Photography<\/a> added a luxe touch to the honoree wall, while Olly, a Paws for Therapy service dog, received a standing ovation for her work in local hospitals and libraries.<\/p>\n

A surprise gift from Heritage Ranch dog and cat food by H-E-B during the Paws Up appeal added fuel to an already fiery room.Other supporters were Patricia<\/strong> and Sig Cornelius<\/strong>, Dr. Mary Riley<\/strong>, the Fertitta Family, Gloria<\/strong> and Frank Meszaros<\/strong>, and Carol Altman Simmons<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Serving sparkle were Sandi Mercado<\/strong>, Kappy Muenzer<\/strong>, Linda Schmuck<\/strong> and Todd Zucker<\/strong>, Alicia<\/strong> and Eric Jansen<\/strong>, Courtney<\/strong> and Zac Harmon<\/strong>, Susan Boggio<\/strong>, Danielle<\/strong> and Derek Gillespie<\/strong>, Marian<\/strong> and Austin Cornelius<\/strong>, Christine Johnson<\/strong>, Jody Merritt<\/strong> and Steve Spencer<\/strong>, Ghada Ali<\/strong>, Hershey Grace<\/strong>, Susan Klein<\/strong>, Nora<\/strong> and Bob Ackerley<\/strong>, Eve Ackerley<\/strong>, Dean Putterman<\/strong>, Ed Finger<\/strong>, Marcellus Upshaw<\/strong>, Dr. Roxanne Riefkohl<\/strong>, Vicki Luna<\/strong>, Frankie Demeris<\/strong>, Tim Goldman<\/strong>, Nicki<\/strong> and Evan Keenan<\/strong>, Bryce Kennard<\/strong>, Dwight Boykins<\/strong>, Beau Miller<\/strong>, Mica Piro<\/strong>, Liz<\/strong> and Pete Carragher<\/strong>, Melna<\/strong> and Mike Moriarty<\/strong>, Cindy<\/strong> and Frank Liu<\/strong>, Debbie<\/strong> and Rudy Fesatri<\/strong>, Alex Blair<\/strong>, Marla Press<\/strong>, Lidiya Dean<\/strong>, and Elizabeth Martin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sequins, disco sparkle, and slimming sass lit up the ballroom at the Post Oak Hotel for the Citizens…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":414906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[15045,4345,7258,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-414905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-fundraisers","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-ballet","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115638295243054606","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}