House of DreamMaker

The Houston Chronicle -Wednesday 2 STAR EDITION

The Covenant House Texas Guild will host its gala Friday evening at the Westin Galleria. The event, chaired by Moselle Young, will honor Elizabeth Stone, a volunteer who has worked with homeless youths at Covenant House for more than 15 years. A silent auction will offer getaways to the Bahamas, Pebble Beach and Washington, D.C., as well as an instant wine cellar and Labrador retriever puppy. Following dinner, guests will dance to the music of Eclipse. Funds will benefit homeless youths at Covenant House. Tickets are $ 150. For more information, call 713-523-2231, ext. 282.

Free smoothies

Jamba Juice is sponsoring a Free Smoothie Morning from 7 to 11 a.m. Friday at its four free-standing locations in Houston. Customers will receive a 24-ounce fruit smoothie free of charge and will be encouraged to make a donation to the Building for Children campaign of Texas Children’s Hospital. Jamba Juice is also donating 25 percent of all smoothie sales this week to Texas Children’s Hospital. The stores are located at 2521 Post Oak Boulevard, 1151 Uptown Park, 2506 University and 909 Texas Avenue.

Garage sale

A garage sale to benefit the Drug Policy Forum of Texas, an organization dedicated to reducing the harm current drug laws cause, will begin at 9 a.m. Sunday at 1425 Blalock in Spring Branch. Donations are accepted. For information, contact the DPFT office at 713-784-3196. (Rain date is April 29.)

Opera preview

Ann Thompson will present a preview of Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catan, the final production of the Houston Grand Opera season. Thompson will present her preview from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Spring Branch/Memorial Library, 930 Corbindale. The opera opens April 28. For more information, call 713-465-0755.

Horticulture show

The Garden Club of Houston, River Oaks Garden Club and the Museum of Fine Arts will present their biennial flower and horticulture show from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and April 25 at the museum. All proceeds will benefit the clubs’ civic projects and the museum’s general operating budget. Betty Davis and Pinkie Searls are co-chairs of the event. The show is open to the public for the price of admission to the museum, but several special events during the show require fees and reservations. For reservations and more information, call 713-639-7571.

Tax speaker

AARP Woodlake Houston Chapter #4357 will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the auditorium at Tremont House, 2501 Westerland Drive. The program will feature Paul Bettencourt, Harris County tax assessor-collector, who will speak on the services of his office. For more information, call 281-870-9496.

Education challenges

Robert Houstonwill discuss challenges in education at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Tracy Gee Community Center, 3599 Westcenter Drive. The meeting is open to the publicand sponsored by the American Association of University Women, West Harris County Branch. Houston is project director for a five-year, $ 3.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to reform teacher education. He is executive director of the Institute for Urban Education, a research and development unit at the University of Houston. He also is a John and Rebecca Moores professor of education.

Quilt Guild

The Quilt Guild of Greater Houston will meet at 10 a.m. April 25 at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, 11612 Memorial Drive at Blalock. Liz Broussard will present “Let the Tools Work for You.” For more information, visit the website at http://www.qggh.org.

Drug Policy Forum

District Court Judge Ted Poe will be the honorary host of a luncheon benefiting the Drug Policy Forum of Texas at noon April 26 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel, 5150 Westheimer. California Superior Court Judge James P. Gray will speak at the luncheon, discussing ideas from his new book, Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It A Judicial Indictment on the War on Drugs. Admission is $ 35 and is tax deductible. For more information, call 713-784-3196.

Women voters

Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, president of the League of Women VotersU.S., will speak at the state league’s convention banquet at 7 p.m. April 27 at the Marriott West Loop. The public is invited. Tickets are $ 35 and may be obtained from the League of Women VotersTexas, 1212 Guadalupe Street, Suite 107, Austin, TX 78701.

Mary Gillette, a member of the League of Women VotersHouston, has been chosen to receive an award for excellence in environmental awareness. Her award will be presented at the state convention’s seventh annual environmental awareness luncheon at noon April 27 at the Marriott West Loop. Tickets are $ 25 and may be obtained by writing to the address listed above.

Fashion show

Boys & Girls Harbor will host its fourth annual children’s fashion show and luncheon at River Oaks Country Club May 5. A reception will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by the show and luncheon at noon. The Children’s Collection will feature summer styles modeled by sponsor children and Harbor kids. Dominique Sachse of KPRC-TV Channel 2 will emcee the festivities. Single tickets run from $ 125 to $ 300, and tables for 10 from $ 1,250 to $ 3,000. For reservations, or for sponsorship information, call 713-688-6262.

Delta Gamma Foundation

Houston Delta Gamma Foundation for the Visually Handicapped has awarded grants totaling $ 65,275 for the 2001 year. Recipients are: Lighthouse for the Blind, Taping for the Blind, Hermann Eye, Prevent Blindness, Retina Research, Museum of Fine Arts, Beep Baseball, Harris County Library and Texas Commission for the Blind.

Summer theater camp

The Creative Actors Theatrical Studio is registering students for its summer musical theater camp, which runs from June 11 through June 30. Camp hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Classes are held at the Houston Community College Northwest performing arts center located at Town and Country, Interstate 10 and the Beltway. The camp serves children from age 5 through high school and includes vocal, dance and acting instruction.

Garden club

The Men’s Garden Club of Houston will host the Southwest region conference May 4 and 5 at the Holiday Inn near the Galleria. The group’s regular meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. May 17 at the Houston Garden Center, 1500 Hermann Drive in Hermann Park. The public is invited to hear Deanna and Earl Krause of the Houston Rose Society, who will present a program on miniature and Old Garden roses. For more information, call 713-461-2757.

Spring soiree

The Houston Children’s Charity fifth annual spring society soiree is set for May 6 at Tony’s restaurant, 1801 Post Oak Boulevard. Cocktails will be served at 6:30 p.m. with dinner at 7:30 p.m. This years theme is The Rat Pack Is Back. Co-chairs are Lynn Mathre of Assets Management and Ken Fisher of Cingular Wireless. Tickets to the fund-raiser are $ 300 per person. Music will be by the Kit Reid Band, and Bobby Bane will present the Sounds of Sinatra. Live auction items include floor tickets to a Houston Comets and a Houston Rockets game, a deluxe Aspen condo for five nights and an exotic trip created by Gregory Patrick of Tours of Enchantment. Proceeds will benefit the children’s charity, which helps support more than 50 agencies in the Houston area that provide assistance to handicapped and underprivileged children. For tickets, call 713-524-2878.

DAR luncheon

Alexander Love Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will install the 2001-03 board of management at an 11:30 a.m. luncheon May 10 at the Forest Club, 9950 Memorial Drive. To make a reservation, send a $ 20 check to Alexander Love DAR, 15513 Creekhaven Drive, Houston, TX, 77084-3606. Officers to be installed are Nita Smith, regent; Cynde Juda, first vice regent; Vauna Mechura, second vice regent; Shila Smith, chaplain; Rebecca Vandagriff, recording secretary; Shirley Provenzano, corresponding secretary; Evelyn Gunnels, treasurer; Bobbie Jackson, registrar; Gail McDonald, historian; Pat Howard, librarian; Jan Fields, curator; and Manya Rawl, Jenny Fagg and Kay Smith, directors. For more information, call 281-497-7153 or 713-464-3158.

Post Oak YMCA

Free hearing screenings are offered at the Post Oak YMCA, 1331 Augusta Drive, between San Felipe and Woodway, from 9 a.m. to noon the last Monday of every month. The screenings are done by Jackie Allen, a certified audiologist. To make an appointment, or for more information, call 713-781-1061, ext. 45.

The Post Oak YMCA presents War Stories, memoirs from service men and women, from noon to 1 p.m. on the third Friday of every month. Bring a bag lunch and enjoy this free program.

Awards breakfast

The Galleria Chamber of Commerce honored three community leaders and announced a donation to Space Center Houston at the annual Houston Metropolitan Study Awards Breakfast. The community leaders who were honored are Ted Bauer, co-founder and retired chairman of AIM Management Group Inc.; Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of Windsor Village United Methodist Church; and former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier. Space Center Houston’s charity the Manned Space Flight Foundation received a donation of funds raised at November’s gala. Patricia Tribe, director of education for Space Center Houston, accepted the donation, which will be used to send school children to the center.

Variety Club

The Variety Club of Houston honored Edwards Cinemas and their volunteers at the 2001 gold heart appreciation luncheon at Jalapeno’s Restaurant on Kirby Road. Edwards Cinemas Grand Palace Stadium 24 on Weslayan, Edwards MarqE Stadium and IMAX on Interstate 10 at Silber hosted this year’s gold heart campaign, selling all available heart pins. The pins were sold at both Edwards Cinemas locations, raising $ 10,079 to benefit Houston-area children’s organizations supported by the Variety Club of Houston.

Country Playhouse

The Country Playhouse and its resident company of young actors known as The Rag Tag Players will present 110th Street Station at 11 a.m. SaturdayAdapted and directed by Barbara Lasater, the play examines what happens when people from all walks of life are thrown together in a New York subway. The playhouse is located at 12802 Queensbury in Town and Country Village. Tickets are $ 5. For reservations, call 713-467-4497 or 281-497-6672.

Hemlock Society

Faye Girsh, president of the Hemlock Society USA, will address the following groups: Rotary Club of West University, 5215 Buffalo Speedway, 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Breakfast is $ 6.:First Unitarian Church, 5200 Fannin, noon Friday. Lunch will be provided at a nominal cost.

The Hemlock Society aims to maximize the options for a good death, including legal physician-aid-in-dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults who request it.

Intercultural network

International Connections of Houston, an intercultural networking group, will meet from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, at the Oakwood on Voss, 2424 Voss Road. Ronald Hatchett, director of the Center for International Studies at the University of St. Thomas, will speak on “Foreign Policy Challenges for the Bush Administration.” The group welcomes citizens of foreign countries living in Houston and Americans who have lived abroad. For more information, call 1-888-590-7947.

Shakespeare Pub

Joe Hughes & Blues Plus will play at the Shakespeare Pub Friday. John McVey & the Stumble will appear Saturday. Spare Times Open Mike Blues Jam performs every Sunday, with Steve the Chiefs C&W Revue on Tuesday lineups. The Texas Destroyers Blues Band plays on Wednesdays and the Sonny Boy Terry Blues Quartet on Thursdays. The pub is located at 14129 Memorial Drive.

Astrology class

Marva Mason will teach a beginning astrology class from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, at Leisure Learning Unlimited, 2990 Richmond. To register, call 713-529-4414.

Copyright 2001 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company