By Joy Donovan
Photos courtesy of The Greater Keller Women’s Club
The Greater Keller Women’s Club is brewing up a spot of British fun this spring, inviting guests to trade their casual yoga pants and tennis shoes for more elegant hats and gloves.
That’s because the club’s 30th anniversary Garden of Roses fashion show will carry the theme “Luxe in London.” The fundraiser is set for March 20, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at The Bowden in Keller.
Forget the usual ladies’ luncheon with a chicken breast, followed by cheesecake. This will be an afternoon tea, worthy of royalty and sprinkled with English flair.
It will be an elegant afternoon tea, which is really more elegant than what some people mistakenly call “high tea.” That is an evening meal, rather than the chic tea for the refined and regal set. Beth Murray, a repeat event chair who is co-chairing this year’s fundraiser with Patti Stone, knows these things. She loves England and all its many tea-time traditions.
“You’re not getting supper,” Murray said with a laugh. “I went to school in London, and I’ve never gotten to do a London theme.”
Over the 30 years of Garden of Roses fashion shows, the themes have ranged from Paris to “Gatsby in the Garden” to “Under the Tuscan Sun.” This spring, the spotlight shifts across the pond as the club embraces all things British, promising an afternoon steeped in English charm to raise funds for its charitable work.
Guests can expect all the delights of a proper English tea, including dainty sandwiches, scones and even charcuterie served inside a teacup, a charming takehome favor for every attendee. To mix tradition with a bit of British finesse, the afternoon will also include optional diversions like a “Cask and Crown Pull,” where winners walk away with topshelf spirits, and a raffle for an authentic Fortnum & Mason hamper brimming with teas, biscuits and jams.
Then there’s the actual fashion show, of course, that holds its own traditions. Serving as fashion show chair for not quite as long as Queen Elizabeth reigned is Dorene Badalamenti. She’s chaired the event five times, but she has directed the fashion show since 1999.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” she said. “We’re telling the ladies to wear your hats, wear your fascinators, wear your gloves, wear whatever you would wear to a tea.”
Dillard’s department store again will provide the fashions, modeled by club members and community supporters.
“Dillard’s has outdone itself year after year to help us be successful with this fundraiser,” Stone said, underscoring how crucial the partnership has been year after year. “We use the fashion show to extend scholarships to Keller Independent School District students and for grants to nonprofits in Tarrant County.”
The 30 years of fashion shows have resulted in giving $2.7 million back to the community. Last year, the Greater Keller Women’s Club awarded $5,000 scholarships to 29 seniors graduating from the six KISD high schools. In the past, nonprofit organizations have included such charitable entities as Metroport Meals on Wheels, Community Storehouse and Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth.
To pour out the long-steeped opportunities, the club’s allocation process has already begun. An application, available online at gkwc.org, is available for both students seeking scholarships and nonprofits requesting grants. A committee reviews the applications and selects the winners, who are invited to a celebratory dinner on Jun. 18, where the funds are distributed.
In addition to the dinner, another Greater Keller Women’s Club tradition is to hold this annual fashion show at The Bowden. The late Linda Bowden, a long-time club member, and her husband, the late Don Bowden, envisioned the venue because Keller did not have an event center. Linda, who chose each chair and chandelier during the construction, died in 2017, just months before the building was completed. The event center, though, was a gift to the women’s club’s foundation, with any proceeds from event rentals benefiting it.
“Linda dreamed that we wouldn’t have to do the fashion show anymore to fund our scholarships and non-profits,” Murray said.
About 30 GKWC members volunteered to work on the 2026 fashion show — raising funds for scholarships and grants, but also to form friendships. The club’s symbol, the yellow rose, stands for friendship.The club’s symbol, the yellow rose, stands for friendship.
“Honestly, members of our club are very interested and involved in giving back to the community in which they live,” Stone said. “One way they give back to the community is to support this event.”
The fashion show is open to the community. Tickets, priced at $75 each, are on sale now on the club’s website. The fundraising goal is $50,000, and the co-chairs are counting on Northeast Tarrant County residents to help them reach that goal.
“It takes the whole community to pull this together,” Stone said.
Then Murray quickly followed with “Not just a village.”