Holiday housing: A recent giveaway centered around a hotel night during the holidays … to get away from or keep away the in-laws. “The response must have been overwhelming,” said Lovely Linda Franko of Hyatt Place Fort Worth Stockyards. “You might need another room.”  To say you wanted to get away/keep away is an understatement. More than 300 entries. Hmmm, stress anyone? Well, Lovely Linda has come through with a night at Her Hyatt and when you’re ready to get away, let Mr. B know. Maybe Princess Pam at Billy Bob’s Texas can help make the evening even (more) eventful.   Are you ready for some…: Holiday songs? There’s a million of them, but none so good as when performed by the Texas Millionaires Chorus. We rocked the house and got two sets of two tickets (and desserts) from Rocky Willett of the Millionaires for this Saturday night’s performance of "What the Dickens" at Mayfield Road Baptist Church.   Aged like fine wine: Ever since Mr. B turned 65, the AARPsters are coming out of the mothball woodwork to offer up special senior giveaways. Debbi McGrath at Senior Citizen Services of Greater Tarrant County, is holding three sets of two tickets for The Greatest Generation to attend the 2 p.m. concert Dec. 9 at McDavid Studio. Sentimental Journey and the aforementioned Texas Millionaire Chorus will perform. Mr. B is thankful for afternoon performances so he can still make the early-bird dinner specials for seniors and B in bed by 8 p.m.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK       Jeff Eskew, Courtyard by Marriott Fort Worth Southwest, and Corey Dennis, City of Fort Worth, were “vested” in the Cowboy Santas festivities Nov. 24. They networked and noshed on delicacies by The Vault Mediterranean, Reata Restaurant, Affairs to Cater / Zorro’s Texas Buffet, Coors Distributing, Kincaid’s Hamburgers and The Melting Pot. TXU Energy donated 100 bicycles for underprivileged children, and Chesapeake Energy presented a $25,000 check toward the cause. See more photos here.   Sponsored by

What does brown do to you? And at 65, you start to notice these thingees on the bod, either brown spots or old dog bumps growing where once there was skin smooth as a baby’s. Oh, but not you, of course. You’re probably already Halle Berry/Brad Pitt-pretty with your microdermabrasion. Dr. Samadi and his microdermettes sooth your skin at his Artisan MedSpa, Laser & Wellness haute spot and we’ve got one for a giveaway. If you don’t win, you still can see for yourself Dec. 3 from 4-8 p.m. at Artisan’s Open House, during which there will be gifts, food, fun drinks and a sale on all services.

Selling futures? Texas Exchange Bank of Crowley will have a presence in downtown Fort Worth in early 2010. Mr. B asked veep Esther Thedford how much cash she could exchange for son NoBGood. 

Sams I Am: “Broadcast news will be gone in 15 years; it all will be on your computer.” So spoke CBS 11 morning anchor Scott Sams during the recent East Area Council luncheon. Sams said he almost didn’t make the luncheon. “I was horseback riding and my horse was spooked. I fell backward and only my left foot remained in the stirrup. If it hadn’t been for that Wal-Mart manager who unplugged that thing, I could have been seriously hurt.” Ba-da-bing. And more:

• In Knoxville, where he lived, his mother was Miss Ruth for the local Romper Room. He made his TV debut at six weeks.
• “(Ch. 11) is going to be doing more Fort Worth news. We’re a Fort Worth station.”
• I worked at Ch. 11-minus-three for nearly 20 years…After about seven years, Dale Hansen finally spoke to me. He said: “Get out of the way, punk.”
• Scott’s favorite interview of all time was with Steve Allen, the first late-night TV host.

FrogHorn: UT grad and Del Frisco’s GM Greg Kalina is sporting a TCU Horned Frog on his lapel. “My customers want it,” he said. Frogs are fine, but Mr. B wants some more of that calamari appetizer he served at a recent Business Press reception. Oh-my-gosh!   Kicking the bucket: Marilyn Sammons, still full of life and the diva of development at Lena Pope Home, was talking about her bucket list. Mr. B started wondering how many bucket list items you should plan if you don’t know how long you’re going to live.

Did you know? Cook Children’s president and CEO Rick Merrill says Medicaid is the largest source of revenue at his hospital system. “As Medicaid goes, so goes Cook Children’s.”

Name game: If you were wondering about the ‘L’ in Pepper-L Specialties, it’s her middle name—Leigh.

Sweetcakes: New neighbor Karel Rucker has moved her Mother Rucker’s kitchen to Brentwood Stair Rd. and is cranking out some gingerbread cakes with lemon icing that she says will be the holiday season’s big seller. Karel expects to do 60 percent of her annual revenue between Thanksgiving and New Year’s and estimates 90 percent of that is NOT local. Warren Douglas did a logo remodel for her, too.

Gas riches: Couldn’t blame Chesapeake Energy Chairman Aubrey McClendon if he seemed gassed after releasing these incredible numbers during a Fort Worth visit:

• Chesapeake drills one of every seven wells in the U.S.
• Chesapeake is “Tarrant’s largest corporate landowner, with more than $500 million in corporate holdings and a $100-million building.” 
• It has signed more than $3 billion in gas rights leases and paid more than $900 million in royalties. “And it’s only 15 percent of our potential. We’ve only just started.”
• Chesapeake expects to spend $1.5 billion a year for 10 years in the Barnett Shale and more than $1 billion a year in royalty payments.

(Un)Grumpy Old Men: Earl Cox, 77, is one of three owners of OFCO Office Furniture and the baby of the group. “The other two are 82 and 86…and they’re workaholics.” Cox’s parents started Cox’s Department Store in 1933, and it later was merged with Stripling’s to form Stripling & Cox.   Let-tuce inform you: Angelika Wright won’t share her family recipe for Ketzler’s gourmet salad dressing, but she was offering tastes of the sweet, creamy topping with a tinge of onion. It’s verrrrry good and available in grocery stores.

Techno-lobe: Harry Gardner of American Hearing Labs can adjust the volume of his hearing aids with his cell phone. And he can program in important dates and the hearing aid will squawk when they occur.

“Family” business: Steve Newton, FACHE, President of Baylor All Saints Medical Center, was born into the medical field -- dad a doctor, mom a nurse.   Titular: Lonely without a FACHE certification behind your name or position? No ASID, CID behind your name like Rhonda McMahon of Creative Interiors by Rhonda? Why not add SME…Subject Matter Expert. In fact, please address all correspondence herewith to Mr. B, SME.

Cowhands: What formerly was the Cowboys of Color Rodeo will merge into the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo and be held on Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 18, 2010.

Networking inhibits crime: Clarence Moore and ASG Security came through for WaveLight Studios late last month. Here’s the “blotter” report from Bruce Adams, National Sales Manager for WaveLight: “We had a break-in on a Sunday night. They took a computer off the front desk and big-screen TV from the conference room. However, because of the video surveillance system that we got through Clarence’s company, police were able to identify the car, and get very good descriptions of the perps. They were apprehended within two hours and we got all our stolen property back. [We] were able to watch the video of the break-in on a home computer and notify police. We are grateful to Fort Worth’s finest as well as to Clarence’s system.”

A fine bank: Development diva Susan Fine was wearing a huge smile while relating that The Women’s Center received an unrestricted grant of  $200,000 from Bank of America.

Weighty issue: Dec. 15th is a big day for Summit Printing VP Reagan Ferguson. Yes, he turns 50. Yes, it is his 30th anniversary. But most important, it’s the final day of the challenges he made weeks ago with his Leads Group (8 competitors) and his office group (4 competitors) about who could lose the most weight by Dec 15. Not all is fair in love and war, he says: “My boss offered me donuts twice in one day? He is in on the bet.”   Reagan relates his real motivation: “What’s the difference between a chunk and a hunk?  About 25 pounds.”