Anne Manning
Anne is a 5th generation Texan who grew up on a cotton farm in South Texas. She moved to NW Houston 45 years ago, immediately involving herself in community activities, just as she had the previous ten years in Corpus Christi. Anne’s involvement has put her in leadership roles with the local, state, and national Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity, and on the NW Harris County Panhellenic Board. She was selected as the first recipient to receive the “Sorority Woman of the Year” award. Anne also helped teach the young boys living in Lakewood Forest to play tennis for many years, while serving on the boards of the NW Houston Youth Tennis League and the Ladies Tennis Association. She believes her greatest accomplishment in the area, was talking Commissioner Bob Echols into planting oak trees along Cypresswood Drive, from Lakewood Forest Drive to Grant Road.
For the past two decades, Anne has been truly fulfilled. It began by being asked by some of the community leaders who are her friends, including Sue Stewart, Kathy Carson, Suzanne Ellis, Clara Lewis, and Kim and Chuck Watson, to help develop a new arts organization. The volunteer group had a vision, but not a name for it. Within months, on August 25, 1998, a membership event was organized by Kathy Carson and Sue Stewart, which was held in Anne’s home in Wincrest Falls. It was attended by 150 curious and interested guests. At the first board meeting of this newly organized group, Sue Stewart was elected president. As president she asked the board to vote on a name for their group; and, it became The Centrum Arts League (CAL). This group was soon up and running, and Pizzazz with Jazz was created to help raise money for music scholarships and a free children’s series, which it continues to do today. Anne has been an officer on The Centrum Arts League Board for 20 years. She and her husband, Baines, have served on, and chaired, the FACE board, during the 20 years FACE has been in existence. They were honored at an early gala for their contributions. Anne has been an officer on The Centrum Arts League Board for 20 years. Fundraising for CAL and FACE has become her mission.
Anne’s education began in Bishop, Texas, where she was president of her senior class. Business and education degrees from SMU prepared her for life after college. What Anne wanted more than anything else, was to marry Baines, and have a family. Her greatest loves, in addition to her husband (who she has known since she was born), are her children, Leslie and John, and her five grandchildren, Richard, Jennifer and Jordan Francis, and Barkley and Claire Manning. Her family was all Anne needed to be happy; but, her involvement in FACE and CAL’s activities has given her added joy!
