Reba returns

The name Reba McEntire carries a string of memories throughout the Texoma area, woven among nearly 20 years of personal appearances by the country music, Broadway and television star.

While Reba's personal appearances waned the past few years, the fund-raising events carrying her named continued to benefit the Texoma Health Care System.

This Memorial Day, McEntire returns to Texoma in a new, bigger and brighter show to raise funds for Reba's Ranch House. The event will get underway the night of May 30 at the all-new Choctaw Casino and Resort Coliseum located just off U.S. Highway 75 north of the Red River and Calera.

Concert organizers say the evening will be a celebration of Reba's musical and theatrical strengths featuring a career-spanning array of hits that prove why she's considered one of the most accomplished female country singers of her generation.

Reba's Ranch House, built in 1992 for families with critically ill patients hospitalized in Texoma Medical Center, will once again benefit from Reba's Memorial Day concert, this time with funds earmarked for endowment. The Ranch House was the first of four major TMC projects, which includes a state-of-the-art nursery, a mobile mammography unit and a rehabilitation center - each carrying the Reba McEntire name. Concert benefits to date total more than $4 million.

"We're extremely grateful that Reba has very graciously agreed to another concert fund-raiser," said TMC Board trustee and longtime hospital supporter Jerdy Gary. "What she has done for Texoma Medical Center is monumental and will benefit our people for generations to come. Because of her generosity, TMC has grown to become the most comprehensive medical provider in North Texas and Southern Oklahoma."

"We're getting ready to do some renovations to the house itself," said Barbara Points, director of the Reba Ranch House. "The house turns 13 in September and the fabrics have started to fade and wear and we don't want the house to start to get ragged in appearance."

She said the changes they have planned are more cosmetic than anything else.

Points explained that this year's concert will increase the endowment fund for the ranch house. "Reba wants the house to be self-sustaining," she said.

Tickets to the concert will go on sale April 30th at a one-day kickoff sale in downtown Denison at the North Texas Center for the Arts, 506 W. Chestnut St. Doors will open at 10 a.m., close at 4 p.m. and organizers expect a huge crowd. Ticket prices are $35, $55 and $75, all reserved seating. Following the kickoff sale, any remaining tickets will be sold at outlets throughout the area.

"There will be no patron gala this year, just wonderful entertainment by country music's biggest, brightest and most generous star," said Maurine Ridlehuber, who co-chairs the Concert Committee with Anne Gary.

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Reba McEntire launches line of comfortable, classic clothes for Dillard's

A star's signature style

Reba McEntire is the first to admit she's not a fashion designer, but she'll tell you that she knows a lot about clothes.

With nearly 30 years in the music business, the award-winning country music singer, TV star and author has learned that feeling good in her clothes means she'll look good and feel confident. It's a lesson McEntire wants to share with women everywhere, so she's teamed up with Dillard's to unveil her signature clothing line, Reba, this month at 147 of the retail chain's 329 stores. It is the first celebrity clothing line for the Little Rock, Ark.-based retailer.

"Busy women don't have time to mess with their clothes, always pulling them up or down. They want clothes that fit and feel good," says McEntire, who just turned 50. "If it's comfortable and makes you feel good, you'll have more confidence."

It's that straightforward sensibility that led Dillard's-- McEntire's favorite place to shop when she's at home in Nashville -- to approach her several years ago about starting a clothing line. She initially declined.

"I saw their ideas and didn't like anything. I wouldn't wear anything they showed me that day," she says.

For the clothing line, McEntire wanted styles that were classic, elegant and comfortable, and she began looking in catalogs and magazines for ideas. She then worked with the New York-based Icon Creations to develop a full line that includes 50 styles from sportswear to careerwear.

Prices range from $48 to $289, with sizes 4-14. Dillard's Galleria store will carry the largest collection of Reba in Houston.

McEntire exclusively owns the line and is involved in every aspect of production.

"I pick the colors and work with a fit model to find the best styles. I own this line. If my name is on it, I want women to say, `Yep, Reba wears it.' "

Actually, McEntire wears styles from her clothing line in several episodes of her hit TV series, Reba. Some of her favorite pieces from the collection are a pistachio-green trench coat and a little black dress with a watermelon sweater.

Dillard's says the line offers styles for women of every age and hopes McEntire's wide appeal with fans will translate to sales.

"We've admired Reba for a very long time. All of our customers can identify with Reba," says Dillard's spokeswoman Julie Bull.

"She has many roles in her life, like many of our customers. She is the epitome of the multifaceted American woman with many lifestyles and attitudes."

McEntire is one of country music's best-selling female singers, with more than 48 million records sold. Her TV show is in its fourth season, and she stars in South Pacific on Broadway in June.

While McEntire is rooted in country music, her clothing line is void of a Western look. Instead, it features classic pants, embellished sweaters, pantsuits, pencil skirts and fitted jackets.

Eventually, she'd like to add Western-accented pieces to the collection, but she's in no rush.

"Right now, I just hope people are as excited as I am to wear these clothes," she says.

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