Celebrating the Grande Dame of Dallas

Most people don't get a lot of attention the year before their 100th birthdays, but in the case of iconic Dallas Realtor Ebby Halliday, the hoopla is completely deserved. And despite her desire to "keep things low-key" this year, Ebby's birthday celebration is lasting an entire week:

The festivities kicked off Friday night at American Airlines Center. She met her favorite Dallas Mavericks player, Dirk Nowitzki, who presented her with a team-signed ball at center court before the game.

The team offered to courier the ball home so she wouldn't have to worry with it, but she refused to let it out of her sight the rest of the night. She's ecstatic that it represents the team's 10th win in a row.

On Saturday, her longtime physician, Dr. Hugh McClung, hosted his annual birthday hoedown for some of her closest friends, including Ellen Terry and Ron and Nance Chapman. They dressed up in Western wear and loaded up in a party bus for the trek to and from Terrell.

And that was just the first two days; on Sunday, she had a post-church reception and a Sunday school class party (with belly dancers; seriously!), and her "official" party was last night at the new Winspear Opera House. Today, it's lunch with buddy T. Boone Pickens and a board meeting at her namesake realty headquarters (yes, she still works every day), and it all wraps up tomorrow with a luncheon at City Hall.

And remember, this is "just" for her 99th birthday. I wonder what they'll do next year...

(Be sure and check out the picture of Ebby side-by-side with Dirk Nowitzki at the link above, and you can send her birthday wishes here.)