Really, it was more a toast than a roast.
And honoree Darrin Williams, seated in a Chesterfield chair onstage, took the gentle roasts with the gracious humor that has made him so popular ... if benign threats directed to the roasters can be counted as gracious humor, that is.
The chief executive officer of Southern Bancorp was the honoree for the annual Toast & Roast benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas. The event, hosted by Craig O'Neill, took place Sept. 28 at the Metroplex in Little Rock.
Guests dined from a buffet of heavy hors d'oeuvres and listened to the sounds of Kemistri featuring Nicky Parrish. Event chairman was Mark Hodge.
Toasters/roasters were Lauren Steel, vice president of presenting sponsor McLarty Capital Partners; Sherman Tate, board chairman for Southern Bancorp; Linda Tyler, director of human resources for TargetSmart Communications; and "The Boyz" -- members of a close-knit group of six friends that includes Williams and spokesmen Greg Mays, Ricky Mays and Bruce Moore. They ribbed Williams about his attitude toward money and shared hilarious memories of a rather disastrous "boyz" trip he'd planned for them.
The evening also included a video featuring Big Brother Morris Williams Jr. and his relationship with his Little Brother Khaleel Jones -- now a college student on a track to success thanks to that relationship. The two then took the stage to help O'Neill conduct a live appeal that resulted in $7,620 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas.
"We ended up with a wildly successful event that raised over $101,000 as well as an awareness of mentoring," says Chrissy Chathan, the group's chief executive officer. "I had several people tell me they want to be Big Brothers after the event -- this is priceless."
High Profile on 10/08/2017