JLD to the rescue
It has been over a year since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, but a delegation from the Junior League of Denver has found there’s an extraordinary amount of cleanup yet to do.
“We (were assigned) to areas that looked like Katrina hit the day before, not over a year ago,” says Littleton resident Brigette Ruffel, who was accompanied by such fellow members as president Barbara Miller and Christine Benero, a past president of the Association of Junior Leagues International who now heads Mile High chapter of the American Red Cross. The JLD delegation was part of a 1,000-member cadre of volunteers that included 600 league members from 200 cities in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. They spent nine days in New Orleans, gutting houses, sanding drywall, painting buildings, planting trees and mixing concrete for a sidewalk that stretched the length of five homes.
Phoebe Yeager of Denver spent one day helping to restore the historic Willie Mae’s, a restaurant said to serve the best fried chicken in Louisiana, and then spent the balance of her visit in the Freret Street district where she stood waist-deep in mold, wielding a crowbar to gut several severely damaged homes. “We wore mold masks and every time we’d let out a heavy breath, you could see the mold and dust fly everywhere,” Yeager recalled.
The volunteer effort was part of AJLI’s Rebuilding a Better New Orleans initiative. Other JLD members taking part in it were former Louisiana resident Ruth Rohs, Julie French and Skye Barker, accompanied by assorted husbands, sisters and mothers.
Fresh from the deep, red sea
Visitors to the Oxford Hotel ballroom will be seeing red on Jan. 25 when the venue becomes Club Rouge for one night as Volunteers of America presents its 12th Red Wine & Seafood extravaganza. In exchange for a $50 donation, guests will be treated to unlimited samplings of red wine, donated by Southern Wine and Spirits, chosen to accentuate the seafood dishes prepared under the supervision of Stephen Vice, executive chef at McCormick’s Fish House and Bar. In addition, there will be a silent auction and music by the Andrew Hudson & Friends Jazz Band. Proceeds go to Brandon Center and Theodora House, VOA-operated shelters for homeless and abused women, and their children. Call Clare Compton, 720-264-3321.
A return engagement
Terrie Fontenot has been nominated for a second term as president of AWARE, and will be installed Thursday when this guild supporting Colorado chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association kicks off its 10th anniversary year. Fontenot’s installation also is part of AWARE’s annual meeting. Co-chairs Debbie Davis and Jerilyn Bensard say that festivities begin with a 9:45 a.m. coffee reception at the Denver Country Club; brunch and an address by Mike Splaine, the association’s national director of state policy and advocacy, follows. Prospective members are invited. The cost is $25 and reservations can be phoned to Carol Haycock, 303-743-7464.
