Party patter

Last night, I helped Cynthia-Hightower Jenkins celebrate her birthday and met the new Louisiana Tech football coach.
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Hightower-Jenkins invited pals to toast her special day — she is not saying which one — with martinis at the Petroleum Club.

To set the scene, she wore silk pants dancing with prints of martini glasses and even shoes with a martini glass on each toe.

Shreveport treasure Freddie Pearson played the piano and bartender Michael Jeter served martinis.

We were driving, so sipped water, but guests could order apple, cherry and lemon martinis, vodka martinis with olives, vdirty martini with an olive or a Gibson.

The secret to making the perfect martini?

"Just the right amount of everything!" answered Jeter.

Tech football coach Derek Dooley and wife Dr. Allison Dooley — she is an ob-gyn — were guests of honor at a party at the Spring Lake area home of Dr. Billy and Linda Bundrick.

Derek comes to Tech from Miami where he was an assistant coach with the Miami Dolphins.

When Derek introduced his wife, he said that one coed stopped by his office to introduce herself and started talking about how thrilled she was that they were here and how devastated she was when they left Baton rouge. (Where they once lived.)

He was feeling very special.

At the end of the conversation, the coed added, "Your wife was my doctor and I haven’t found a doctor I liked since!" (Allison plans to practice part-time.)

Louisiana Tech president Dan Reneau was among those meeting and greeting — and then making a pitch for money to help fund sporting plans in the work.