By Roxanne Roberts
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 20, 2001 ; Page C01
When Texans have a party, they have a party: live longhorn steers, 12,000 cases of beer, two tons of barbecued ham and beef and 10,000 real or honorary Texans. Last night, the latter included President-elect Bush, Lyle Lovett, Clint Black, Lee Greenwood, Troy Aikman, the Beach Boys and a U.S. senator wearing a red Oscar de la Renta gown with red and gold ostrich cowboy boots.
"This is our night to be outrageously Texan," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, president of the Texas State Society, which hosted the Black Tie & Boots ball at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. "We know that Texans brag, but I always tell people that our hearts are as big as our mouths."
Everything about the bash was big, starting with the demand for tickets. In many ways the party was a victim of its own hype. Yesterday afternoon two of the $125 tickets were going for $1,410 on eBay. It was too big: Texas big, which meant big crowds, big lines -- and yes, big hair.
"This is like the ultimate experience for me," said Houston's Michael Poehl, a BP Amoco general manager, who was wearing a Texas flag vest. "We've got a Texan becoming president, all my boyhood heroes are here -- and beautiful women."
This party was the first chance for Texans to really kick up their heels. The victory party in Austin on election night never got off the ground. The official inaugural festivities have focused on the "peaceful transition of power" instead of Dubya's hard-fought win. So this was really the only place to whoop and holler.
"Obviously, it's not every day a person we know and love becomes president of the United States," said Texas Sen. Phil Gramm. "So we have one of our own in the White House. It's going to be good for America."
Gramm was wearing one of the more modest ensembles of the night: a tux with shirt studs made out of badges of the Texas Rangers, U.S. marshals and Texas police officers. Rick Perry, the hunky new Texas governor (he's just 31 days into the job), led the list of oil, land and high-tech barons up for the inauguration.
Mike Mewhinney of Dallas, a hedge fund investor and former partner of Bush when they owned the Texas Rangers baseball team, sported a bolo tie with a sterling silver steer's head. He divulged, "I've had women offer to take their clothes off for this thing." No naked women that we noticed, but there were boots, hats, diamonds, rhinestones, sequins and all those other touches that make Texans so much fun.
And Texans are fun, which is how this whole thing got started in the first place. The bipartisan Texas State Society, founded in 1904 to keep Texans in exile here from going crazy, has hosted a ball during every inauguration.
This time they planned to have something to really celebrate so they booked big-name entertainers: Black and his wife, Lisa Hartman Black, George Strait, Tanya Tucker, Greenwood and Asleep at the Wheel. They stocked the sports bar with Aikman, Roger Staubach, Ben Crenshaw and Mia Hamm. The ball grew so large that a San Antonio-themed festival was added to the day's proceedings, plus the Beach Boys, plus a fighter jet.
The hotel lobby featured an oil derrick erupting with silver tinsel. Organizers also brought up "Bevo," the longhorn mascot of the University of Texas, and "Old Pete," the fiberglass mule from Muleshoe, hometown of ball co-chair Rick Meyers.
The party ended up taking over the entire hotel. Banquet steward Greg Johnson yelled to his workers, "Watch out! Watch out! I've got to move these beef briskets!"
The lines for drinks were Texas long. Tending one of the main bars in the ballroom, where some 4,000 guests would watch Mark Chesnutt sing "Bubba Shot the Jukebox," was Patricia Whelpley. She took in the black spaghetti-strapped gowns worn by diamond-studded women in big cowboy hats. "I knew I could never afford to come as a guest, so I decided I'd work. . . . This is as close to big time as I can get."
For Christian Ascarrunz, a construction worker who works weekends as a banquet server, "the hardest part is standing and seeing other people have all the fun."
Well, maybe not all the fun. Robert and Dianne Miller of St. Louis plopped onto the shoeshine benches to take a break. His lizard-skin boots were killing his feet and "it was too crowded listening to Wayne Newton call out little numbers so somebody could win a $45,000 Suburban." And Rob Gentry said he and his wife "didn't get to see any of the main events." Marilyn Gentry vowed, "Next inauguration, I'll watch it from TV."
At the coat check, Maria Anderson, who works for the D.C. Office on Aging full time and checks coats part time for $10 an hour, shared her secret for a successful night: "You tell them how good they look and next thing, here comes the big tip."
And Texans are polite. Bell captain Larry Robinson was trying to help two women find the eight bags they had misplaced in the lobby. "These Republicans are very nice," said Robinson, who has worked in Washington hotels since 1963. "They're saying 'please' and 'thank you.' I couldn't believe it."
Planning for the onslaught has been underway at the hotel for at least six months, said Chris Ottway, director of catering. He ran through the numbers: 12,000 cases of beer with an additional 4,000 cases on hold out back (and the beer man was on call), 900 cases of liquor, 120 bartenders, 60 coat checkers and 400 waiters.
Forget real china. Think "upscale plastic ware" -- 100,000 plates and glasses for 35,000 jumbo shrimp, 3,000 pounds of smoked ham, 3,500 pounds of beef brisket, 21,000 little pastries, 800 pounds of peach cobbler and one of Dubya's favorite desserts, a caramel praline called a "kicker."
There were, in fact, real plates at the VIP dinner, where 800 corporate sponsors were treated to Lovett and dined on filet mignon, jumbo shrimp and a chocolate dessert in the shape of -- what else? -- the Lone Star State.
"We're pleased as punch," said Penne Korth, co-chair of the ball. "It's subtle, but it's kind of Texas," she said, pointing at a massive, wrap-around painting of the Austin skyline. "This is a time to celebrate your Texan-ness before you get down to business," she said before easing down next to actor Chuck Norris.
"Texans put on a helluva good party," said Norris, who isn't a real Texas ranger but plays one on TV. Lovett tried to keep the crowd amused while they waited for Bush to arrive. "This is a love song that I wrote for my . . . truck," he deadpanned.
Then the real star of the night turned up, wearing black tie and, yes, boots. The crowd exploded. "These are the people who love you the most," Hutchison told the president-elect.
"I'm glad I'm here," Bush said. "Actually, we're glad we were able to get a ticket."
There was praise for Dick Cheney, praise for the soon-to-be first lady ("Looking pretty good for a Midland girl," he cracked) and, mostly, praise for his home state. "I don't care if you're Republican or Democrat, it's sure great to be a Texan in Washington, D.C. I'm looking forward to some good common Texas sense."
Then Bush moved to the packed main ballroom, filled with big silver stars and a map of Texas.
"I love you!" he told the audience, who would have given him a standing ovation if they weren't standing already. "And I love Texas! And I love my wife!"
Folks cheered and waved Texas flags. Then Greenwood sang, "I'm Proud to Be an American."
Which, last night, meant being a Texan.
Staff writer Dana Hedgpeth contributed to this report.
