Thursday, February 26, 2026
Master of Ceremonies and Auctioneer
Frank Billingsley has been a favorite Houston TV weatherman for more than 30 years and retired in June of 2024 from KPRC Channel 2. He was chief meteorologist and investigative reporter, starting his TV career in Virginia. An author himself, he wrote Swabbed & Found, an accounting of his journey to find his birth parents. Through his book, Frank “put a human face” on the science of genealogy. He was a presenter at our 2022 Books and Brunch and emcee and auctioneer last year. He still serves the community by emceeing and acting as auctioneer at other fund raisers.
Guest Authors
Sylvia Casares: Houston’s Enchilada Queen When it comes to claiming the crown for Houston’s enchilada kingdom, the Enchilada Queen is without question Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen owner Sylvia Casares. Her restaurants serve a whopping 20 varieties of enchiladas along with a variety of other border and Tex-Mex dishes. Sylvia was born on the Texas-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, and grew up with an acute interest in food, flavors and taste. She started with a degree in Home Economics from the University of Texas which eventually led to her working with restaurateurs all over the state until 1998 when she opened her own. She now has two, one of which is where this Enchilada Queen regularly holds court in the form of ongoing cooking classes. Another of her long-time dreams came true in 2016 when a debut cookbook, “The Enchilada Queen Cookbook” (St. Martin’s Griffin, $27.98) by her, went on sale nationwide. In 2024 she launched a line of Signature Sauces made popular at her two successful restaurants for commercial sale. The three sauces – Sylvia’s Salsa, the Enchilada Tomatillo Sauce and the Enchilada Chili Gravy – are now for sale at Central Markets statewide, at various retail stores, online and at the restaurants. Over the years she has received international attention for her skills in the kitchen, and was named a semi finalist for Best Chef Texas by the distinguished James Beard Foundation.
Tobey Blanton Forney: A native Texan and 1993 graduate of Rice University, Tabitha (“Tobey”) Forney is a novelist and an attorney. Her debut novel, PAPER AIRPLANES, was published by She Writes Press and has garnered many awards and accolades, including the 2022 Eric Hoffer Book Awards Winner in General Fiction, 2022 Eric Hoffer First Horizon Book Awards Winner, 2022 16th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in both Literary Fiction and Women’s Fiction,2022 IPPY Awards Bronze Winner in Best First Book (Fiction), 2022 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards Finalist in both Best New Voice: Fiction & Fiction: General, and 2021 American Fiction Awards Finalist in Literary Fiction. In addition to writing, she’s an estate planning attorney, ashtanga yoga practitioner, MENSA member, Presidential Scholar, and member of the Writer’s League of Texas. She lives in Houston with her three children.
Last Year’s Event
April 3, 2025
