Fabulous at 50? The Junior Symphony Guild has every intention of being just that, even it it involves a few nips and tucks.
The cosmetic work we’re talking about has nothing to do with the individual members. Rather, it’s the face-lift that a team of talented interior designers is giving to the site of the guild’s 2008 Designer Showhouse, the historic Phipps Tennis Pavilion in Denver’s Belcaro neighborhood.
“Surgery” began following a Sneak Peek Weekend held earlier this month. The big reveal will be April 29, when the Showhouse opens its doors for public tours that continue through May 9.
“You have never seen a Showhouse like this,” promises Showhouse administrator and interior designer Tom Pagel. Anyone who has visited the tennis pavilion in the past — be it for a benefit, a wedding or other special event — will be amazed by what Pagel and the others have done to update the great room, snack bar, bride’s and groom’s suites, and the space that was formerly an indoor tennis court that was part of an estate built for the family of U.S. Sen. Lawrence C. Phipps in the early 1930s.
Phipps’ widow, Margaret R. Phipps, and the couple’s sons, the late Gerald and Allen Phipps, gave the property to the University of Denver in the 1960s.
Sarah Omer, Evelyn Wright, Andrea Kirchhoff and Jane Koerbel are the showhouse chairwomen. Linda Bryant is the guild president.
The traditional Showhouse Gala, chaired by Carol James and Jane Wilson, is on May 2. Additional information can be found at or by calling 303-355-7855.
King legacy lives on.
When she died last June, Wilma Taylor already was the recipient of numerous awards that honored her 30-year dedication to granting equal rights and political opportunity to all. But perhaps the one she would have appreciated most was bestowed posthumously when the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Awards were presented Jan. 17 as part of a citywide celebration held at Boettcher Concert Hall.
Taylor’s sister, Mildred Taylor, accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award for her at a ceremony attended by dignitaries and ordinary citizens bound by a respect for King and the rights he fought hard to win before an assassin’s bullet ended his life.
A graduate of Leadership Denver, Wilma Taylor was special assistant to Denver’s manager of aviation during Wellington Webb’s years as mayor. She also served on the Denver Women’s Commission and was the 2005 recipient of the ACLU’s Carl Whitehead Award for lifetime contributions to civil liberties.
Other award recipients were Peter Groff, president of the Colorado Senate; former Denver Bronco Haven Moses, a founder of Seeds of Hope, which helps fund inner-city Catholic schools; Denver Police Lt. Les Perry; Randle Loeb, an advocate for the homeless; Project Angel Heart, which provides meals to the terminally ill; and Volunteers of America for its annual free Dinner for Those Who Hunger.
The award ceremony was chaired by Charleszine “Terry” Nelson, a director of the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, and Joe Mauro, president of JFM Consulting. Sharon Alexander-Holt, the Urban League’s chief executive, heads the awards commission.
Special guests included Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien and Mayor John Hickenlooper.
dp|See more pictures from the Martin Luther King Jr. Awards ceremony
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also,
