Is there life after Denver – is there life after Colorado at all?
The answer would have been a resounding “no!” when Larry Gatlin serenaded an intimate group who’d paid $200 each to spend a starlit summer’s eve on the patio of Alice and Jack Vickers’ home in Cherry Hills Village, enjoying cocktails, dinner and the music of this award-winning singer-songwriter.
“It just doesn’t get any better than this,” mused Jamie Angelich, who with her husband, Alan, helped organize the benefit for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. The evening also was a tribute to J.D. Schlatter, a Huntington’s patient who inspired the event.
Gatlin had met Schlatter at the HDSA’s 2004 Celebration of Hope and was so impressed by his spunk (“He reminds me of my grandpa,” Gatlin explained during the Vickers dinner) that he issued a challenge to Schlatter’s son, George.
“Larry told me if I could put together something that would raise $10,000 – and arrange for him to play golf at Castle Pines – he would come back to Colorado and sing for it for free,” George Schlatter said.
Not only did he arrange for 18 holes at Castle Pines, Schlatter, with help from pal Tommy Vickers, made it possible for Gatlin to play at Cherry Hills Country Club, too.
Best of all, though, was the fact that the dinner made triple what was expected.
Huntington’s disease is relatively rare – there are an estimated 30,000 cases nationwide. It has been diagnosed in people as young as 2 and as old as 80, but it usually strikes between the ages of 30 and 50.
It’s similar to Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease, with symptoms that include memory failure and slurred speech. There is no treatment or cure.
Alice Hinkle, the local Huntington’s Disease Family Services Person of the Year, spoke about how Huntington’s has affected her family. She lost her father to Huntington’s, and two of her sisters have been diagnosed with it.
She and another sister have chosen not to be tested, she said.
Dinner guests included former CBS4 news anchor Aimee Sporer and her husband, attorney and radio talk show host Dan Caplis; Sara and Larry Grace; Roselyn Saunders; Lina and Ted Shipman; Andrea Bankoff; Rhonda and Tommy Vickers; and Jan Blankennagel.
The 2005 Celebration of Hope, starring singer Rita Coolidge, is Aug. 17 at the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom. Douglas Kerbs and Roselyn Saunders are the chairmen; actor Leslie Nielsen is the Hope Award recipient and Ed Greene of CBS4 and KYGO Radio will emcee.
In addition, Distinguished Leader awards will go to Walt and Shelly DeHaven, the Denver Broncos Football Club, Faye Tate and KC Veio, while Anne and Ralph Klomp of Trice Jewelers will be recognized as honorary chairmen. For reservations, call 303-947-5209.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jmdpost@aol.com.
