It sounds a little like a FOX network TV special, but it’s not. It’s the Disciples of Trinity’s (D.O.T.) 11th annual gala, “In the Still of the Night.” And yes, Tom Wopat, better known as Luke Duke, will really be there.
“When Jim said last year that Tom would be there, I thought, ‘Well, that’s interesting,’” says D.O.T. spokesperson Kristi Bare, referring to the organization’s founder, Jim Davis. “But then I started doing my research, and he’s got a great voice. We’re real excited about Tom.”
Wopat, who just released a CD, is best known for seven seasons of playing a muscle car loving, good-hearted redneck on Dukes. But he’s also an accomplished theater actor, having starred on Broadway in “Annie Get Your Gun” and most recently in “42nd Street.” At the gala, Wopat is in for a treat himself:
Dallas ’ own Ebby Halliday Acers will play a song in his honor on her ukulele.
And if that’s somehow not enough to get you interested, you can also bid on a new Lexus — donated by Park Place Lexus — at the gala’s live auction.
Also new this year will be the Jill Milling Heart of Gold award, given to neighborhood resident Willetta Stellmacher. The award is named after an longtime “friend and supporter of D.O.T.,” Bare says, who left her estate to the organization after she died.
“And Willetta just been a longtime supporter,” Bare says. “She’s been our top underwriter this year, and she just gives and gives. She’s such a generous person.”
The gala will be held at the Fairmont Hotel Saturday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. The event includes a cocktail hour with entertainment, a sit-down dinner, and a live and silent auction to be followed by a musical performance from Wopat, the gala’s first-ever male headliner.
“I don’t know his whole repertoire, but the show will probably include some of his Broadway music,” Bare says. “And I’m assuming he will do some of his own music.”
D.O.T. is a non-church related organization that helps terminally ill children, women and men. The organization runs a food pantry and clothing bank, and provides assistance with household goods, medical bills, housing, special wishes and sometimes funeral assistance. Today, D.O.T. serves more than 2,000 individuals from the Metroplex and some outlying areas.
