The phrase “less is more” certainly wasn’t coined at Project PAVE’s 2005 Scholarship & Awards Luncheon. It seemed that every time an award was announced, someone upped its amount.
The Janus Foundation, for example, donated enough money to fund $2,000 scholarships for 11 graduating seniors associated with Project PAVE (Promoting Alternatives to Violence Through Education). Two thousand bucks was enough to make the winners smile, but executive director Jim Bernuth gave them reason to be positively thrilled.
He announced that as a tribute to Bill Ritter, the grants were being increased to $3,000 each. Ritter, Denver’s former district attorney, had been chairman of the Project PAVE board for 12 years and was saluted at the luncheon for guiding the organization through tough times and turning it into a community resource.
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Project PAVE was founded in 1986 by attorney Jeanne Elliott in the wake of a courthouse shooting that left her paralyzed. She was representing the wife of Aurora police officer Gerald Utesch in a divorce; Utesch shot Elliott four times in the back. Ritter was the prosecutor in the case, which resulted in a conviction for Utesch. Ritter joined the board at Elliott’s behest in 1992 when the agency was at a crossroads; largely through his efforts, it has prospered.
Elliott attended the luncheon chaired by board member Marc Levine and received a standing ovation.
In addition to the increased scholarship amounts, benefactors Lisa and Roger Koenigsberg pledged to match the luncheon’s proceeds, up to $15,000.
The 2005 scholars were Carolyn Cole, who is graduating from East High School with honors and plans to study neuroscience at Emory University; Shannon Rudd; Zack Craddock; Martha Espinosa, a senior at North who will be the first in her family to attend college; Justine Steveson; Nicole Miller; Kaite Carlson; Alicia Escamilla; Travis Bryant; Natasha Cordero; and Lindsay Harman Servin.
Lindsay, a senior at Thompson Valley High School in Loveland, grew up in Phoenix, where her mother supported her four children by working as a stripper until heroin addiction led her to prostitution and life on the streets.
Project PAVE also has a Safe School project, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente. Pediatrician Harvey Bogard was at the lunch to present a $3,000 check to Cherrelyn Elementary, represented by principal Gail Neubert; and $2,000 checks to Kunsmiller Middle School and Abraham Lincoln High School.
The 550 guests at the event held at the Marriott City Center also included Noel and Tammy Cunningham; Dr. Dean Prina; Jill DiPasquale; Tai and John Beldock; Judge Larry Manzanares; Gary Mobell; Rich and Carmela Gonzales; principal Miguel Salazar of Kunsmiller; Abraham Lincoln High social worker Gerry Bloquist; Justine Nathanson; and Cec Ortiz, president of the Project PAVE board.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-820-1314 or jmdpost@aol.com.
