Far be it for me to try to manufacture any kind of rivalry between the events of two charitable organizations, but if – and I stress if – the folks behind Western Fantasy have the feeling something’s breathing down their collective necks, said breaths would be coming from the Buckaroo Ball.
For 13 years, Western Fantasy has had a lock on big ol’ cowboy-themed parties with entertainment by top names in country music – stars like Brooks and Dunn, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Alabama and Wynonna Judd. It brings between 1,200 and 1,500 folks to the National Western Events Center every October and has raised about $12 million for Volunteers of America.
The Buckaroo Ball is a relative upstart, cooked up in 2000 when Diana and state Sen. Tom Wiens sat down in their living room with their friends Mike and Pati Palumbo to brainstorm ideas for raising money for The Children’s Hospital Research Institute, on whose board Sen. Wiens serves.
The Buckaroo Ball is held at the spectacular Wiens Ranch in Sedalia and is a day-long affair culminating with dinner and a show.
“We started small, basically as an opportunity for our friends and neighbors to participate in an event to benefit The Children’s Hospital that wasn’t your typical black-tie affair,” Sen. Wiens explained.
But after bringing in such popular performers as Clint Black, Randy Travis and Collin Raye, word spread and the $500-a-ticket Buckaroo Ball is now one of the hospital’s top five fundraisers. The 2007 edition, on Aug. 25, had 700-plus seated for dinner, live and silent auctions and a Dillard’s fashion show; a couple hundred more came for the concert only.
A final accounting wasn’t in by press time, but with a $50,000 Triple Crown sponsorship from Charlie Graft on behalf of Phipps/McCarthy, a $25,000 Platinum Buckle sponsorship from Dale Schamel’s Fast Trac Buildings, and Intermountain Electric’s $12,500 Silver Spur contribution – plus at least two dozen Bronze Boot sponsors at $5,000 each, well, it all adds up.
Then there was Idaho Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, who showed up with his wife, Vicki, and several friends to present a $150,000 check on behalf of Greensprings Christian Charity Inc. to further Children’s Hospital-sponsored research into the benefits of equine therapy, also known as therapeutic riding. “The good work that Children’s Hospital does doesn’t stop at the Colorado border,” Risch said. “The results are far-reaching.”
Guests included hospital President Jim Shmerling; Peter and Cathy Culshaw; Diana and Stu Boulter; and hospital ambassadors Owen Huss, Cassie Keeton, Natalie Murrow, Isaac Sargent, Jacob Sensenbaugh and Breanne Wardell, who helped model in the fashion show. Director of special events Denise Ames said Arlis White, manager of Dillard’s Park Meadows, was gifting each ambassador with the outfit he or she modeled.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. She also contributes at
