Grace me, please: After receiving a half-cent an hour raise every odd year and saving for 14 years, Mr. B thought he finally could afford to eat at Grace restaurant, the keeping-up-with-the-Jones’ downtown delish. So he stopped by for Friday lunch and got a half order of Spring Pea soup--Maine lobster dumpling and horseradish crème fraiche – and left a half order of a tip. Jennifer Kornblum was as delightful as usual and sent over extra napkins. Caroline Jones was as delightful as ever and offered to redecorate Mr. B’s wardrobe. Adam Jones was as delightful as usual and sent over a doggie bag that includes a full dinner for two for a Newz-E-Letter reader.   Cooking up a summer storm: James Morris, the official chef of Newz-E-Letter, and Robbie Tawil, food and beverage manager du jour at THE WORTHINGTON RENAISSANCE FORT WORTH HOTEL, once again have cooked up a fabulous Vidalia’s Cooking School & Dinner for five readers. You’ll get an education in the fabulous new kitchen as chef and sous chefs teach the inner secrets of a special summer meal, then you’ll get to invite a guest to join you at Vidalia’s for dinner, wine and conversation. It all happens June 15, beginning at 3 p.m., so don’t enter if you aren’t available.

Students from Harmony Science Academy – Fort Worth stopped by the Chamber to talk with BBB (Big Boss Bill) and see how the place works. They were accompanied by Don Strickland and Selami Duman of the Academy. The Chamber facilitates numerous education initiatives to help develop our workforce, including Adopt a Schools, Vital Link (junior high students “intern” at the Chamber for a week), Go Centers and Distinguished Employers of Fort Worth Teens. Read about them all here.       Sponsored by

Garden parties: Previously, in Newz-E-Letter, Mr. B re-posted the Star-Telegram Stephanie Allmon edict that pleats are out and flats are in for summer shorts. So B went to Goodwill and the YWCA Resale Shop looking for flats and all they had were shoes. Women’s, too. Conundrum. What to wear to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s Concert in the Gardens? B called fashionista Kelly Decker at Decker Jones and she said “don’t go until you can be summer sheik (chic?).” So Mr. B is at home while you are out enjoying these fabulous four-pack of tickets from babilicious Barb Lewis at the Symphony. You can enter to win for June 4 - Pardi Gras, June 5 - The M80s, June 13 - Riders in the Sky, and/or June 20 - Best of the Big Bands.

Chocolate peanut butter yogurt? Jeff Garten, the economics guru speaking at the Chamber’s Annual Meeting next Tuesday, is married to Ina Garten, better known on The Food Network as the Barefoot Contessa. Perhaps she will want the dessert recipe that host THE WORTHINGTON RENAISSANCE FORT WORTH HOTEL is making using yogurt from presenting sponsor The Dannon Company.

Inside the ropes: Bill McCoy, senior vice president at Bank of Texas and frequent TCU football tailgating “drop-in”, played in one of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial pro-ams cheered on by a group of fellow employees in custom t-shirts. His quick, understated review: “I played with Fort Worth’s Mark Brooks. Very nice guy and a darn good golfer. I also had local celebrity Red Steagall in my group. What a nice guy.  The post-round margaritas were especially cold!”

Time for a laugh: Just passing this along: Marriage is a relationship during which one person is always right and the other is the husband.

Family follies: Lance Barrow of Colleyville, producer for CBS of last week’s Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, compared a Chamber-Colonial preview luncheon to a family reunion. “The only difference is … you want to be here. And the food is better.”

Give a chinch an inch and he’ll take a yard: Orkin headhunter Dan Yuestra says he is “Licensed to Kill.”

Orkin not welcomed: There is a Cockroach Hall of Fame in a “pest” store in Plano. Seriously!

Welcome, welcome: Deborah Hansen of Southwest Gastroenterology Clinic says she’s “HAPPY to do your colonoscopy.”

Tomb Raider: Darlene Ryan, genealogy guru and executive director of TECH Fort Worth, leaves extra time during her travels to visit cemeteries.

A good bet to win: Mr. B is trying to win EECU’s “Win an Interest-Free Home Equity Loan or $3,500” blogging contest. Wrote that he would take his home’s $8 in equity to Lone Star Park and bet Secretariat in the Belmont Stakes and give half his winnings to charity. What would you do?

Fly me away: Am-Bass-Adorables are at Elite Backyard Getaways by ACP Covers June 9 and that’s about the only getaways Newz-E-Letter readers might be able to afford this summer.   Hoggin’ the weekend: Fort Worth city folk, hoteliers and more have been to College Station trying to boost Aggie presence here during the Arkansas-A&M games scheduled the next nine years at Cowboys Stadium. On the calendar? Maybe a downtown Aggie Yell. Or an Aggies Band March-In.   Un-mastered: Allie McDaniel of Sandler Sales Institute says her parents were sales masters. Sandler is the new Lunch & Learn sponsor. New venue, too: Joe T. Garcia’s.

tsk, TIF: Maggie Allen is the City of Fort Worth’s Acting TIF Coordinator/Economic Development Specialist, so Mr. B asked her if he could get a TIF because he only earns $.375 an hour. “No, but you can drive an electricity-powered car, which operates at approximately 3.4 cents per mile.  So, you could travel about 10 miles on that hourly rate,” she said smart(car)ly. More important, she said, “I’ve been trying to figure out how I can get a TIF to pay for my student loans.”

Where’s the willpower? Mr. B was in a breakfast committee meeting this week and twice lost a stare down with glazed blueberry donuts. Cheap bribe?

Minute Rice: As you might remember, Newz-E-Letter designer and social media-meister Lauren Turner left for the greener Balcom Agency. Trying to fill her size 12 shoes is TTechster Kendale Rice, who, ironically or coincidentally, was referred by Kendal (Jump in the) Lake of Modern Art Museum fame.