The recipe is simple enough; there’s not even a need to adjust for high altitude.
But it’s a brand-name-only situation — no substitutes allowed — and not everyone can get their hands on the key ingredient. When they do, the result is spectacular.
We’re not talking cookbooks and potluck suppers here. The key to the success of the Allied Jewish Federation Men’s Event, a dinner that raised $1.6 million in this, its 11th, year, is Larry Mizel.
He started it, he chairs it, he gets the speaker, and his Mizel Family Foundation picks up the tab for it.
Few can say no to the man behind M.D.C./Richmond American Homes as 1,500 filled Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum on a recent Sunday night to hear U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan describe his role as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and offer his perspective on the Middle East and how current events are affecting the relationship between the U.S. and Israel.
Joining the Michigan Democrat on stage was Dr. Rick Hodes, who talked about his experiences as Ethiopia medical director for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
The evening began with a VIP reception at which the federation’s major donors mixed and mingled with Levin and 30 of Colorado’s elected officials. That group included Gov. Bill Ritter; U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter and Mark Udall; state Sens. Ken Gordon and Chris Romer; House Speaker Andrew Romanoff; Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper; Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer; and Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.
Mizel and his co-chairs, Norm Brownstein and Gary Levine, also welcomed such friends as Mark Sidell; Simon, David and Sam Kaufman; Bruce Plotkin; Geoffry Fey; and Doug Seserman, Allied Jewish Federation’s president and CEO.
“The event was spectacular, and we couldn’t be happier with the results,” Seserman said.
Let’s get physical
The U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, has tapped Dr. Judy Regensteiner, director and co- founder of the Center for Women’s Health Research at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, to help develop the nation’s first set of physical-activity guidelines. She and the 12 others named to the Department of Health and Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee expected to present their recommendations by the end of next year. Regensteiner is known for her research in the cardiovascular effects of diabetes in women, and the effects of diabetes and peripheral arterial disease on the ability to exercise.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, /denverseen
