A close group of friends and former alumni of Colfax Elementary School in Denver have turned their warm memories of the place into a project to raise money for the school’s depleted library.
Tonight, they’ll encourage donations at an open house and “Play Party,” a performance of student singers and dancers at the school, 1526 Tennyson St.
“If we put one book on the shelf and it turns the life around for one child, then this is worth it,” said Marc Rosen, class of 1962.
For nearly three years, Rosen and 15 of his former Colfax Elementary classmates who attended the school in the late ’50s and early ’60s have gathered Sunday mornings at a deli in Denver.
The friends grew up together as first-generation Americans in the West Colfax neighborhood, where yards did not have fences to keep them separated.
They shared Jewish culture, customs and religion.
At Colfax Elementary, they learned arts and crafts during summer programs. The boys played on softball teams and joined Cub Scout Pack 163. Boys and girls teamed up to bowl on the Alliance Junior bowling league.
“We were all from the same cup of soup,” Rosen said.
Today, Colfax Elementary still has first-generation Americans, but they’re predominantly Hispanic.
“I knew the school hadn’t changed,” Rosen said. “It’s still a school for first- and second-generation students.”
Not long ago, Rosen stopped by the school on a whim. He asked principal Joanna Martinez if there was anything the friends could do to help the school, where more than 94 percent of the students qualify for federal lunch assistance. She pointed to the library.
The shelves are “kitchen cupboards that were half-full,” Francie Licholat, class of ’62, said after a tour.
“We have 10 books per student,” Martinez said.
At every weekly meeting, the friends contribute $5 each until the pot is worth $500. They’ve donated that amount for housing for Hurricane Katrina victims and to a synagogue for an air-hockey game, a favorite pastime of the late Barb Feldman, a member of the group who always urged them to help others.
“We do everything in Barb’s memory,” Licholat said.
The friends have raised nearly $3,000 for new books. They’ve challenged former classmates to visit the school during the open house and “Play Party” at 6 p.m.
“You just want to do the right thing,” said Ron Bernstein, also from the class of ’62. “It’s easy.”
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com.
THE DETAILS
What: Open house and “Play Party” to raise money for books at Colfax Elementary School
When: 6 tonight
Where: Colfax Elementary School, 1526 Tennyson St.
