The room? Beautifully decorated. The food? An artfully presented harvest supper of sliced beef, mushroom Wellington and pots of pumpkin mousse.
The bottom line? For the 29th year in a row, Tennyson Center for Children raised a significant portion of its operating budget by staging a gala to which no set price was attached.
In keeping with tradition, guests – and there were 860 this year – gave as the spirit moved them. They could write a check, make a pledge or even tuck cash into the envelopes that each table captain distributed as the evening wore on.
The response is always gratifying, thanks to the touching way in which chief executive Bob Cooper and his staff convey the Tennyson Center’s mission of “Changing lives. Giving hope” to the abused children who are treated there.
Only those with the hardest hearts are not moved by the stories shared about the often horrific situations the children have survived before landing at Tennyson.
“Behind the Mask” was this year’s theme, and those responding to the center’s financial need included retired Frontier Airlines CEO Sam Addoms; Hensel Phelps Construction president Jerry Morgensen and his wife, Gayle; Linda and Jim Bradburn (he’s a retired partner in Fentress-Bradburn Architects); Laura Love, president of Ground Floor Media; Matt Balder, president of Steele Street Bank; LaFawn Biddle; Morris Price Jr. of the El Pomar Foundation; Lois and Jack Kennedy; and Colleen Stanley, the evening’s keynote speaker and president of Sales Leadership Inc. and the evening’s keynote speaker.
The evening ended on an up-note: dance music by Chris Daniels & the Kings.
This and that
Colorado chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society presented the Marvin “Swede” Johnson Hope Award to CoBiz Inc. and honored state Supreme Court Justice Mary Mullarkey with the MS Achievement Award during its annual Dinner of Champions held at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center … Scones with jam and Devonshire cream, tea sandwiches and pastries will be served Dec. 1 when Friends of Nursing has its annual Christmas Tea at the Brown Palace Hotel. Tickets are $35 and prospective members are encouraged to attend. Judy Robinson has details at 303-688-5322 … Storyteller Opalanga Pugh shares tales of how various cultures celebrate the winter holidays when Denver branch of the American Association of University Women meets Dec. 9 at Park Hill Golf Club. Reservations for the luncheon event can be made by sending a check or money order to the branch at P.O. Box 100373, Denver, CO 80250-0373 by Dec. 2 … Hilary Johnson and Karen Wheeler have been elected co-presidents of the Girls Inc. Alliance for 2007, succeeding Hillary Adams and Melinda Dark.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. She also writes at denverpostbloghouse.com/davidson.
