Think big. You never know what’ll happen.
For Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado, naming its annual gala The Big Ball and advising guests to think big in terms of wardrobe choices brought some very interesting results.
D.C. Melton and Colin Runge, for example, showed up in gigantic bow-ties that extended almost to the edge of their shoulders. Board member Tony Peters sipped from a martini glass that appeared to hold at least a quart of the cocktail’s ingredients.
Many of the female guests wore oversize jewelry, king-size sunglasses and corsages the size of a flying saucer. Carrie Gunarsen’s triple-strand necklace was made from pearls the size of golf balls; ditto for the turquoise in Yolanda Ellerbroek’s necklace and chandelier earrings.
Four-hundred seventy friends of BBBS attended The Big Ball, paying a minimum $175 each for a night that included a silent auction with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, dinner, an awards presentation and dancing to the Big Band music of the Hot Tomatoes. Ressie Pate, the Denver Newspaper Agency’s vice president for classified advertising and a BBBS board member, was the chairwoman. CoBank and Wells Fargo were the presenting sponsors.
Geoff Bailey, president of Arby’s/the Bailey Co., and Leslie Andrews, the director of marketing and consumer affairs, were given the Distinguished Supporter Award for 2006 by Dave DeForest-Stalls, the president of BBBS. The Bailey Co. owns 67 Arby’s restaurants in Colorado and several surrounding states, and has been a frequent donor to agency-sponsored events. Andrews is a longtime member of the BBBS board.
In addition, Steve and Pamela Lass were honored as Outstanding Alumni Mentors.
Other guests included chairman of the board Brian Jackson, the chief financial officer at CoBank, and his wife, Nancy; board members Jurgen Denk, Dan Blakeman; Marvin McDaniel, Gary Lutz, Mark Safty, Ken O’Neal, Mark Meyer and Stephanie Rivers, with her husband, former Denver Bronco Reggie Rivers; CBS4 news anchor Tom Mustin, who was master of ceremonies; Randy and Joanne Edgar; Brad and Catherine Stone; Vince and Sandy Shoemaker; David Miller; and Dorothy Donnelly.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado is the state’s largest youth-mentoring organization, serving an estimated 1,400 children between the ages of 7 and 17 this year alone.
It has four key programs: REACH, serving children with an incarcerated parent or guardian; Sports Buddies, in which the “bigs” meet once or twice a month with their “littles” to build friendships in a sports setting; School Based Mentoring, in which bigs and littles meet once a week during the school year in a structured group environment at the child’s school; and Community Mentoring, in which the bigs and littles meet two to four times a month for at least one year to enjoy activities ranging from ballgames and movies to hikes and window-shopping at the mall.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jmdpost@aol.com.
