Last time I attempted to cook in front of a crowd, it turned out to be quite a tap dance as I struggled to (literally) keep all the ducks in a row.
Things promise to run much more smoothly on Oct. 6 when the 2007 Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Gala takes place at the Colorado Convention Center. “Dancing With Cleo, Cooking With Maya” is the theme, and while the famed poet Maya Angelou won’t be working out behind a stove – she’ll be there to accept an award from CPR Dance – the dinner will be based on recipes from her latest book, “Hallelujah! The Welcome Table.”
No word yet which recipes will be used, but our vote goes to the banana pudding, Oprah Winfrey’s “favorite dessert of all time.” Roselyn Saunders is chairing the gala and says that ticket information is forthcoming.
Sew, here’s the story
Compassion may be the Rev. Susan Kiely’s middle name, but even she was unprepared for the impact that the 2006 World AIDS Conference in Toronto would have on her. She left the session in Toronto knowing that while she couldn’t solve the problem singlehandedly, she could make a meaningful difference.
After considering many possibilities, the wife of Molson Coors CEO Leo Kiely started Women with a Cause: Women Helping Women to Help Themselves. What it involves is Susan leading trips to India, where her friends that sew teach impoverished Indian women to make articles of clothing to be sold in America. The Indian women are paid for their work, and receive proceeds from each sale.
The clothing, Kiely explains, is designed for American tastes and fashioned from fabric made in India. It’s also made “with the woman over 40 in mind,” Kiely says.
Each piece will have an image of, and a brief message from, the woman who made it sewn inside. “That way, every time you put it on you’ll be reminded that your purchase has helped make a difference in someone’s life,” Kiely says, adding that she will soon have several of her high-profile Denver friends wearing samples to help promote sales.
Kiely also says she is in the process of expanding the program to Thailand.
It’s a date
The seventh Art from the Heart, benefiting Seniors’ Resource Center, begins at 6 p.m. Aug. 25 at the Sculptured House on Genesee Mountain. Tickets are $150 and $225; call 303-235-6927 … Also starting at 6 p.m. that night is the fifth Morgan Adams Foundation Concours d’Elegance. It’s at the XJet hangar at Centennial Airport and in addition to displays of rare and vintage automobiles and aircraft, there’ll be an auction that includes a one-week Rothschild Safari to South Africa and a Breguet Type XX Aeronavale watch, courtesy of Oster Jewelers. RSVPs are being taken at blacktie-colorado.com.
