Tilman Fertitta’s Lavish Bayou Mansion Hosts an Explosive Houston Police Gala — Bonding With the Bomb Squad, SWAT Teams and More

What: The Houston Police Foundation True Blue Gala

Where: The Tilman Fertitta family home

PC Moment: When dinner chair Laura Ward suggested “We’ll Have Big Fun on the Bayou” as the theme, it was both a nod to her heritage, New Iberia, Louisiana, and to the benefit location on the banks of Buffalo Bayou, where the Fertitta mansion rises like a French chateau. She worked with foundation executive director Charlene Floyd on securing all the details with the assist of The Events Company.

The 12th annual True Blue Gala raised more than $750,000 to provide equipment and training for the Houston Police Department.

The nod to Cajun country went beyond the mere theme to include entertainment by Grammy Award winner Wayne Toupes, a 10-foot alligator and two wee ones for photos and an elaborate Cajun-inspired buffet feast courtesy of Landry’s Inc.

On the menu: jambalaya, gumbo, grits and grillades, fried shrimp, crawfish empanadas, hush puppies, cornbread, build-your-own mac and cheese bar, and quail. And the pièce de résistance: two cakes in the shape of life-sized  armadillos plus pralines and red-velvet mini cupcakes, pralines and two life-size armadillo replicated cakes.

More than 650 dug into the yummy fare in between participating in the interactive elements. That included observing high-risk drills such as taser weapon target demonstrations; challenging one’s skills at the shooting arcade with the SWAT team; trying on riot gear with the Special Response Group; and visiting with officers manning booths from the Bomb Squad, the Dive Team and Air Support.

PC Seen: Host Tilman Fertitta, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo and wife Tanya, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Constable Alan Rosen, Astros owner Jim Crane, State Senator John Whitmire, honorees Alice and Keith Mosing, as well as Amy and Gary Becker, Kristina and Paul Somerville, Dancie and Jim Ware, Laura and Don Sanders, Brandy and Karim Hijazi, Blake Tartt, John Eddie Williams, and Edna Meyer-Nelson.