Five apples that didn’t fall far from the tree are the children — now young adults — from the three families honored at the Anti-Defamation League’s Passing the Torch Dinner held last week at the Grand Hyatt Denver.
While none of the parents — Polly Baca; Gary Antonoff and Carol Karsh; and Kevin and Mary McNicholas — is expected to leave the family’s community contributions completely in the hands of the next generation, the fundraiser was a perfect time to celebrate all that has been done, and what is to come.
Each family has attained considerable prominence, to be sure, but not one of them was born with the proverbial silver spoon. All of them faced challenges having to do with their ancestry, financial or marital status.
Described by ADL’s regional board chair Rob Klugman, who presented the awards, as “One of the most remarkable women in our time zone” and one of the most honored women in Colorado, Polly Baca grew up in a family of modest means and raised her two children, Monica Barragan Perez and Miguel Baca Barragan, as a single mother. Gary Antonoff built his success in commercial real estate, but only after leaving the small Midwestern town where his was the only Jewish family. Kevin McNicholas, whose K-M Concessions was formed in 1971 when he shook hands with Lou Saban, then coach of the Denver Broncos, and agreed to sell programs and souvenirs and provide press- box catering at the old Mile High Stadium, grew up in an Irish Catholic family that arrived in America to be greeted with signs saying “No Irish allowed” or “No Irish need apply.” Today, K-M Concessions is a nationwide concern.
Baca’s children are following her footsteps by establishing careers in fields that help others; the younger generation of Antonoffs are active in many of the same charitable organizations as their parents; and the McNicholas offspring, particularly Sean, are busy starting or working with nonprofit organizations that appeal to young professionals.
Passing the Torch was chaired by Irv and Roz Ash; Dan and Becky Foster; Steven and Leslie Levine; and Evan and Kelli Pfaff. Honorary chairmen were Marvin and Bebe Levy and Bob and Dale Silverberg.
Guests included such former honorees as Larry Atler; Anna Jo, Khadija and Happy Haynes; Sheldon Steinhauser and his daughter, Karen, chair-elect of the ADL board; and Donald Sturm. The Melvin and Elaine Wolf Foundation underwrote the affair with Coors Brewing Co., HealthONE Rose Medical Center and the MDC/Richmond American Homes Foundation, and Elaine Wolf was there with her daughter and son-in-law, Sandy and Walter Yearick, and Sandy’s daughter and son-in-law, Kelly Hume and Peter Hodges.
Other familiar faces in the crowd: Harvey and Sue Allon; Rose Community Foundation chief Sheila Bugdanowitz; developer Jordon and Essie Perlmutter; Craig Piper, the new president of the Denver Zoo, and his wife, Marilyn; Dr. Larry Spivak; and the ADL’s regional director, Bruce DeBoskey.
