The Dallas Symphony Orchestra League invites you to join in the celebration of music and fashion at the 10th annual Fashion Notes Designer Award Luncheon and Style Show on Thursday,  October 12, 2023 at the Meyerson Symphony Center. Jada Mowles and Laura Price are the event chairs for the luncheon. Nancy Labadie is the DSOL President.

 

The Honorary Chairs for the event are Karen Cox and her daughter, Isabella Cox, longtime supporters of the Dallas Symphony. Karen is a former Fashion Notes Chair, and Isabella was a Dallas Symphony Orchestra League Debutante in 2020.

 

The Fashion Notes Designer Award 2023 will be presented to Catalina Gonzalez of Dondolo, a luxury children and woman lifestyle brand. The talented designer and her beautiful lifestyle brand will be celebrated.

 

The morning will begin at 10:30 with a fashion show followed by lunch and a raffle. Fall fashions from LoveShackFancy, Dondolo, accessories by Milliard Diamond Concierge and boots by Petite Paloma will be featured. The fashion show will be produced by Robyn Chauvin Productions. PaperCity is the digital and print luxury lifestyle media sponsor.

 

Through this event, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League strives to raise funds that support the love of music and arts for thousands of young people in the Dallas community. Funds raised help provide quality outreach and educational programs that light the way for talented local musicians. A musical performance by a Young Strings musician will be a highlight of the event.

 

Sponsorship tables are $15,000, $10,000, $5,000, $3000. Single Tickets are available at $500 (Patron Level) and $300. Tickets are available on the website: www.dallassymphonyleague.com. For further information m.haba@dalsym.com or 214-871-4005.

 

Mark your calendars for a night of music and dancing on Saturday, January 27, 2024, as the Junior Symphony Ball takes over the iconic Gilley’s Dallas for an evening of fun and entertainment. Full details will be unveiled in the weeks to come.

 

The lineup of the 2024 Co-Chairs represents schools across Dallas: Ela Austin, Ursuline Academy; Cara Lichty, Episcopal School of Dallas;  Adelaide Boisture, Parish Episcopal School; Cash Nix, Highland Park High School; Caroline Woram, Highland Park High School; Ashton Krug, Jesuit College Prep of Dallas; James Sutherland, St. Mark’s School of Texas; Kate Fagan, The Hockaday School; and Baker Trent, Bishop Lynch High School. 

 

Their supportive and proud moms are: Suzanne Austin, Jenny Lichty, Ashley Boisture, Jonika Nix, Dana Woram, Holly Krug, Lauren Sutherland, Aimee Fagan, and Katy Trent.

 

The JSB is the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League’s longest running fundraiser now in its 66^th year. It is a student-led event that unites high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors for a night filled with live music, dance, gaming tables, exciting raffle prizes, and refreshments. Funds raised benefit education and community engagement programs of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.  

 

Link to high resolution photo  https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/2yzp34ii4xlvaejo2o6ds/h?rlkey=syd3wrdpx93t7rrhy54hgrdqc&dl=0

 

Married for 33 years, Michael and Victoria Steindorf have a rich Texas history. Victoria was a Highland Park graduate, and in 1881 her great grandfather, Tom Scollard built the first five-story building in downtown Dallas. Her grandmother was a DEB in 1912 and her sister was a DEB in 1908. “My mother was also a DEB,” shared Victoria. “The tradition continued with our daughter, Ellie, who recently participated in the DSOL DEB Ball.” Michael grew up in Houston and West Texas and moved to Dallas in the mid-80s as he joined Norton Rose Fulbright, a law firm here. The Steindorfs have three children – Michael, Caroline, and Ellie. Michael is in private equity and is a partner at Trinity Hunt.  He and his wife have three girls. Caroline is a Highland Park graduate and currently lives in Columbia, South Carolina, with her husband and three sons. Youngest daughter, Ellie, just finished her sophomore year at The University of Alabama where she is studying finance.

Ancestry has become a fascinating part of the Steindorfs’ lives, and they have located genealogical records that have proven to be quite fascinating. “I was never interested much until 2012,” shared Michael. “Victoria’s side of the family can be traced back to ancestors in Jamestown. We recently took a trip to Gettysburg, Jamestown, and a family farm in Virginia where we visited Stephen Bedford’s home. My own ancestors came to Philadelphia in 1751. In a later generation there were four sons who fought in the Civil War. Having that family connection makes it very interesting.” Michael’s side of the family moved to Oak Cliff in 1900 and the oldest daughter was Della Owens Rice. In 1928 she was hired by Herbert Marcus, co-founder of Neiman Marcus and became one of its first models. “She used to ride her bike from Oak Cliff across the viaduct to Neiman’s to work downtown,” said Michael. “Her claim to fame was that she became friends with Grace Kelly and was involved in the design of her wedding dress in 1956. They exchanged letters for many years and some of those are now family heirlooms.”  Interestingly, Michael and Victoria say that their daughter, Ellie, bears a resemblance to Della.

Staying involved and plugged into the community is important to Victoria, Michael, and Ellie. Victoria has volunteered in a multitude of ways. She was introduced to Junior League Dallas in the early 90s by her mother and has also been involved with the Women’s Auxiliary to Children’s Medical Hospital. She has been a volunteer at Armstrong Elementary, McCulloch and HPHS. Victoria has participated in fundraising for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, as well as raised money for Dallas Summer Musicals and participated in National Charity League, which introduced Ellie into volunteering. She enjoys golf, tennis, scuba diving, and genealogy. Michael, along with Victoria, is a member of Dallas Country Club and Park Cities Presbyterian Church. He is a past chairman of Dallas Summer Musicals and has previously served on the boards of the North Texas Food Bank and Dallas Opera. In his free time, he enjoys golf, SEC football, genealogy and US History. Ellie continues philanthropic endeavors while in college and is a member of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority. She, along with her mother, is a member of Daughters of the American Revolution – Highland Park Chapter and has previously participated in a dance marathon to raise money for the Children’s Hospital. Additionally, she has participated in La Fiesta to raise money for arts at Highland Park.

All of these activities tend to keep the Steindorf family busy, but they do love to vacation with some of their favorite destinations being Seaside, Florida and Lake Michigan. “Lake Michigan is always a favorite,” said Michael. “Ellie grew up going there, as did Victoria, and it’s a great place to visit.” Over the years business has taken Michael to New York and London frequently and Victoria and Ellie have occasionally tagged along. The family enjoys seeing shows on Broadway and in the West End and keeping up friendships they have made in both cities.

Describing themselves as traditional, the Steindorfs say they like to perpetuate traditions. “We value those traditions and try to stay involved,” shared Victoria. “We also loved watching old movies and listening to 40s music as Ellie was growing up. By the time she was eight years old, she could recite word-for-word the Hope and Crosby Road movies.” Ellie laughed and added, “I still can! It puts everyone else to sleep, but the three of us love them more than anything!”

 

The Underwood family has had a rich and adventurous life together! From their diverse backgrounds to their love for travel and exploration and, career accomplishments, their story began in South America, where Gina’s grandfather, a successful businessman, investor, and politician in Peru, had a passion for real estate. Gina shared that he even purchased a property in Louisiana, where she spent her formative years in Baton Rouge until the age of 10. Despite English being her first language, the Underwood family is bilingual, and Gina became fluent in Spanish after moving back to Peru at the age of 10. She pursued her studies at Universidad del Pacífico, earning a degree in business and finance. With a deep-seated affinity for the oil and gas industry, Gina worked at ExxonMobil Exploration and Producing Peru and crossed paths with Trey, who was also working in the same industry in Peru for his father’s oil and gas company. Trey lived in Peru for 14 years.

Trey is from Dallas, having grown up in Preston Hollow and attended Park Cities schools before pursuing his graduate degree at Midwestern University for business administration.

After meeting Gina in Peru, they returned to Dallas, where they got married and welcomed their first daughter, Megan McKamy. However, familial obligations prompted them to make a move back to Peru for three years to assist Trey’s family with the formation and administration of their agricultural company in Northern Peru. It was during this period that their second daughter, Charlotte Kate, came into the world. Gina fondly recalled how they took the girls on adventures all over Peru and South America during their early years.

Following their time in Peru, the family relocated once again to Dallas. Gina was rehired by ExxonMobil Corporation, this time at the corporate office in Irving. She devoted herself to the company for a number of years before retiring to focus on caring for Megan and Charlotte. During this time, Gina found fulfillment in pursuing activities she had always desired, such as joining the Junior Group of Dallas Garden Club, the Afternoon Book Review Club, playing tennis at Northwood, and Mahjong with a beloved mahjong group formed by her friend group at Ursuline Academy “The Magnificent Seven” and indulging in their family passion for travel. Eventually, she reentered the oil and gas industry as a consultant while also serving as a district Spanish Translator and Interpreter for Garland ISD and the Dallas County Court Juvenile Department. Meanwhile, Trey flourished as a Finance executive at AutoNation and frequently embarked on fishing trips to the Texas coast, making the most of his leisure time.

 Their eldest daughter, Megan, attended St. Rita Catholic School and Ursuline Academy before moving on to the University of Texas at Austin (UT).  She is an active member of Kappa Alpha Theta and finds joy in playing tennis, golf and traveling. Currently, Megan is completing an internship for the Highland Park Education Foundation and is also business owner of MUM, a company that imports baby alpaca and designs scarfs and home accessories. Charlotte, at the age of 15, attended Christ the King Catholic School and now attends Highland Park High School. Her love for fashion has ignited aspirations of pursuing it as a career, with plans to potentially attend prestigious institutions such as FIT, Parsons, or a fashion business school in Europe. Trey’s mother, Kathleen McKamy Johnson, was an Idlewild and Fiesta San Antonio Debutante, so it was inevitable for Megan and Charlotte to become Debs themselves, Gina expressed.  Kathleen always hosted Deb parties, and Gina vividly remembers being captivated by the grandeur of these events. In fact, Kathleen even preserved her own Idlewild dress to be passed down to Megan and Charlotte.

As avid travelers, the Underwoods have explored various destinations worldwide, with Greece holding a special place in their hearts. They make it a point to visit Greece every year, although one amusing incident involved traveling five hours to Olympia, the home of the ancient Olympic Games, only to find it closed. Nevertheless, it was still a memorable trip. Their adventures have also taken them to Japan and China, countries rich in culture and history. This summer, they have plans to travel to Croatia, Italy, and return to Greece. Closer to home, they enjoy frequenting Café Pacific for intimate date nights, as well as Northwood Country Club and Dallas Petroleum Club. They often take leisurely walks from their home to Highland Park Village, using it as a time to plan their next big adventure. 

The Moody family has been Park Cities residents for four generations. Patty Pierce moved to the area when she was one year old after her father graduated from medical school. Her parents had both attended and met at Highland Park High School. They lived at the corner of Cornell and Auburndale and her parents stayed in that house until well after Patty graduated from college. Her great-grandfather Joe E. Lawther was a visionary mayor of Dallas who turned White Rock Lake into the destination it is today. Her grandfather was Dallas County Commissioner and University Park Commissioner Lynn V. Lawther, and she now has a grandson named Lawther after both men. Her other grandfather made the first touchdown for the Southwest Conference while playing football for SMU. Jim, originally from Mineola, Texas, attended medical school in Galveston before moving to Kansas for his internship. Initially following a path to become an ear, nose, and throat doctor, Jim changed course after his neurosurgery rotation, which really captured his interest and imagination. After training at Semmes Murphey in Memphis, Jim was interviewed and came to Dallas. “Methodist was not a desirable place to practice in 1978,” explained Jim. “I thought it had the potential to be a great opportunity.” Patty added, “Jim grew up poor and couldn’t really afford to go to college. Part of what appealed to him about going to Methodist was being able to serve the underserved.” During his time at Methodist, Jim was instrumental in starting the CareFlite helicopter program and achieving Level I trauma status for the hospital. He retired in 2019, leaving a legacy with the Methodist Moody Brain and Spine Institute.
Patty has two daughters from a previous marriage – Keeley and Cameron. After her divorce, Patty moved back to the Park Cities from West Texas to be closer to her support system, her family. She taught fifth grade at University Park, where her daughters were in third grade and kindergarten at the time. It was later at a class party where Jim and Patty first met. “Jim was there with his son, Zach, who was in Keeley’s fifth grade class,” explained Patty. Jim followed her around most of the afternoon saying, “She was beautiful, and I noticed she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, so I thought she was fair game. I followed her around just trying to have a conversation with her.” Cameron recalls seeing a picture of that day and said, “There’s a picture where she’s smiling with the other teacher and the other moms, and you can see him in the background admiring her.”
With a large, blended family including Jim’s four sons and Patty’s two daughters, they refer to themselves as The Moody Bunch. Blended families can sometimes present challenges, but they say that it really happened seamlessly. “When we got married, Jason, Jim’s oldest son, was a junior, and Cameron, my youngest, was in second grade,” shared Patty. “We went into the marriage with the understanding that ‘These are not your kids and my kids – they are our kids.’ We worked together as a team, as a partnership.”
Family vacations were, and still are, important to the Moody family. When the kids were younger, favorite family trips included skiing vacations to Crested Butte, Vail, and all over Colorado. “We would have to rent a van just to get to the airport,” said Keeley. “It was a great time and while Cameron and I were still learning to ski, the boys would help us, and we really learned to be a family.” They still go on family vacations, now with grandkids, and they are planning a Disney Alaskan cruise for this summer. In addition to family vacations, family holidays spent together are important to the Moodys. “Holidays are still spent at Mom and Dad’s,” shared Cameron. Keeley added, “Mom does holidays pretty big. She’s a wonderful hostess and I think she’s ready to pass the baton on hosting the traditions, but it’s just not the same to us without her doing it. She makes everyone feel important, even the adults.”
With six kids and nine grandkids, the whole Moody family stays busy. Keeley and Cameron live within blocks of Patty and Jim, and Keeley runs her own business, a ministry website called Life & Faith Collide that sells products to teach moms how to raise kids to know Jesus and share their faith with their kids through devotions and building consistent habits. “My husband is an Episcopal priest, and I have my Master of Divinity,” she explained. “I was looking for ways to share what I learned with others while still being a stay-at-home mom.” Cameron is a retired pharmaceutical sales rep and a stay-at-home mom who now sells Scout and Cellar wine. “It is clean-crafted wine, which are wines made from organic and biodynamic wineries and are lab-tested to ensure there is nothing artificial in them,” she shared. Her husband, an F/A-18 fighter pilot who went to TOPGUN, served for 13 years in the Navy before they moved back to Dallas where he is now CFO for Pennington Auto Group. Jim’s oldest son, Jason, lives in Austin where he is a product marketing manager for a cybersecurity software company. Twins Adam and Christopher are the middle sons, and Adam lives in San Antonio where he works for the city. Christopher lives in Avon, Connecticut, where his wife’s family is from. “He’s a big outdoors person,” said Patty, “and enjoys managing an REI store.” The youngest son, Zach, lives in Longview where he works for a plastics company.
Jim has recently written a new book with good friend Kathy Peel, On Call: A Neurosurgeon’s Story of Serving God and Others. “It’s kind of scary to have your whole life out there for everyone to read: the good, the bad, and the ugly, but that’s life. We want this book to be an encouragement to others who have struggles and trials through life to not give up on what God has called them to do,” Jim said. Jason and Keeley have also partnered together to work behind the scenes promoting the book. Jim’s memoir dives into his life growing up, his role of transforming Methodist Hospital, and his battle with pancreatic cancer, all while maintaining his faith in God. “We can’t wait to see how God is going to use this book for his glory. We are already seeing many blessings coming from sharing Jim’s story with others,” said Patty.

The Moodys’ favorite thing about the Park Cities is the tight-knit community and deep roots. “It really feels like a small town in a big city.” Patty and Jim now run into their friends’ kids and grandkids as well as Patty’s former students and their kids at elementary school programs and sports games. “It’s really fun,” says Patty. The family enjoys eating at old favorite restaurants like Kuby’s, Short Stop, and Amore in Snider Plaza, where Patty’s mom had a needlework store for over 20 years. “There are so many memories everywhere we go. We’re thankful that now some of our children and their children are able to experience some of the same joys we had when raising our family here in the Park Cities.”

*note: Williams Park, where the family photos were taken, was founded in 1939, and Patty’s grandfather Lynn V. Lawther was commissioner at the time and his name is on the plaque dedicating the park.