2023 Cattle Baron’s Ball Promises ‘Iconic’ Anniversary Fundraiser
Cattle Baron’s Ball organizers are working to plan an “Iconic” evening for the 50th anniversary of what’s become the largest single-night fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
In fact, the promise of an “iconic” ball is in this year’s theme for the sold-out affair Oct. 14 at a familiar venue – Southfork Ranch.
From the first Cattle Baron’s Ball in 1974 through 2013, the ball was held at several ranches across North Texas. It moved to Gilley’s Dallas for nearly a decade before returning to Southfork last year.
Since it started in 1974, the event has raised more than $93 million for cancer research.
“Cattle Baron’s Ball is iconic to Dallas, and Cattle Baron’s Ball is iconic to the American Cancer Society,” 2023 ball co-chair Andrea Cheek said. “There’s now 20 throughout the country, but Dallas was the first and original.”
Shania Twain, recognized in Billboard Magazine as “the best-selling female country music artist of all time,” will be the headline entertainer on the main stage for the ball’s milestone anniversary.
“We’re an organization of 100 women, so it was only fitting to have the greatest female country music artist of all time,” Cheek said.
Guests will also be able to enjoy the return of the familiar Ferris wheel. The VIP and live auction party will move indoors to the convention center at the ranch rather than the Ewing Mansion like last year.
Also unique to the 50th anniversary: an exhibit opened in September at NorthPark Center with fashions from past ball chairs and gallery walls with Cattle Baron’s Ball history.
Cheek and 2023 ball co-chair Isabell Novakov Higginbotham are no strangers to Cattle Baron’s Ball. Both have been involved for years – Cheek for seven and Higginbotham for 15.
“Cancer has touched everybody in some form or fashion,” Higginbotham said. “Finding a cure for cancer is important not only to me personally and my loved ones but as a whole.”
“It’s touched several of my family members and close friends, and just being a mom of two young kids, I really hope that we can find a cure for cancer in their lifetime,” Cheek added.
Shania Twain Headlines, Randy Rogers Entertains VIPs
Shania Twain is sure to provide “the prerogative to have a little fun” when she takes the main stage Oct. 14 at the 50th anniversary Dallas Cattle Baron’s Ball.
With more than 100 million albums sold worldwide, Twain remains the best-selling female artist in country music history and the multi-Grammy Award winner behind such hits as “Any Man of Mine,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” “You’re Still the One,” and “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” She will take the main stage at Southfork Ranch at 10:30 p.m.
Twain was the first artist in history to release three consecutive diamond-certified albums. Last year, Netflix released a documentary spanning Twain’s career called “Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl.”
Before Twain takes the stage, the Randy Rogers Band will perform on the VIP/live auction stage beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Fronted by singer-songwriter Randy Rogers and featuring Geoffrey Hill (guitar), Jon Richardson (bass guitar), Brady Black (fiddle), Les Lawless (drums), and Todd Stewart (guitar, fiddle, mandolin, keyboards), the Randy Rogers Band was founded in San Marcos about 20 years ago.
With eight studio albums and global streaming numbers in the hundreds of millions, the band has charted seven singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, two Top 10 hits on national country radio, and numerous Texas Country Radio chart No. 1s.
