It doesn’t get any Ritzier than this:
One hundred twenty friends of the University of Colorado Hospital Foundation paid $250 each to enjoy a deluxe cocktail party at the new Ritz-Carlton Denver, a night that included food from all the countries Steve and Sharon Bangert will be visiting after they paid $60,000 for an around-the-world tour that was the benefit’s sole auction item.
Steve Bangert is chief executive of the $2.3 billion CoBiz Financial, and a member of the foundation board.
The fundraiser came about because the Ritz’s developer, Charlie Biederman, also is a member of the foundation chaired by brewmaster Peter Coors.
Coors, at the party with his wife, Marilyn, said that the foundation was established in 2006 and is the hospital’s sole fundraising arm. Sharon Magness Blake, Chris Anschutz, Ed Haselden, Steve Farber and hospital president Bruce Schroffel are members of the foundation board and were on hand for the festivities held Thursday night.
Interior designer Beth Slifer drove down from Vail with her husband, Rod, and was catching up with stockbroker Paul Esserman, who spends much of the winter in Vail and had celebrated his 65th birthday there several days before.
Others there for a look around the luxurious new hotel were University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center chancellor M. Roy Wilson; Linda Bowen Scott; Dr. Dean Prina; LaFawn Biddle; Don and Arlene Johnson; Sharon and Dr. Donald Ferlic; John and Lauren Kivimaki; Matt Keeney; Lynne Hamstra and Rance Rogers; Project C.U.R.E. president Doug Jackson; KBNO Radio chief Zee Ferrufino; Rollie Jordan and Bruce Granger; David Engleberg; Schenkein co-owner Leanna Clark; and Jessica Ferrufino, who is marketing the Residences at the Ritz- Carlton.
What’s more
SoHo Sendoff, which the invitation describes as a “tres chic cocktail celebration” in honor of the Kim Robards Dance performances at New York’s Joyce SoHo Inbound Festival on Feb. 8 and 9, begins at 8 p.m. Saturday at the KRD Dance Loft, 1379 S. Inca St. Fans who’d like to wish the troupe well are invited to stop by for dance excerpts and hors d’oeuvres; admission is $38. Call 303-825-4847 . . . Denver Area Panhellenic celebrates its 100th birthday by staging a centennial gala Feb. 23 at the Grand Hyatt Downtown. The $75 tickets are available from Diane Andrich, 303-696-7246 . . . The “ever-glowing” drag queen Nuclia Waste teams with 7News meteorologist Mike Nelson to call the digits for Howard Dental Center’s Bingo Ball. Festivities begin at 6 p.m. Feb. 23 on the Club Level at Invesco Field. Tickets are available at . . . Rainbow Bridge, formed to brighten the lives of nursing home elders by matching them with young visitors, will be changing its name. The new moniker will be announced at the April 19 Intergenerational Idols gala, also at the Grand Hyatt.
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@ ; also,
