They aren’t calling it Gala Gone Wild for nothing.
With a spring break kind of atmosphere and some very high-profile guests, the May 20 fundraiser for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America promises to be every bit as zany as its name.
Still, the evening presents a delicate situation for chaircouple Jack and Adrienne Fitzgibbons. Because there’s no cure for Huntington’s — and it is a terrible disease — they can’t stage a party that’s all fun and games. Yet no one wants a pity party that bums everyone out.
So, after Distinguished Leadership awards are presented to Marcus Camby of the Denver Nuggets; former Colorado first lady Frances Owens; CH2M Hill; and McGetrick Golf Academy, Trey Gray, drummer for the legendary country duo Brooks and Dunn, will talk about his own battle with Huntington’s.
Gray, who was diagnosed in 2003, was a drummer for Faith Hill and Jewel before joining Brooks and Dunn. They’re showing their support by giving Gray an autographed guitar to auction off at Gala Gone Wild.
Gray’s symptoms began in 2001 when he started feeling “Not quite right. I would feel fatigue or off balance for what seemed like no good reason. Sometimes my moods would change on a dime, or it was hard to leave my hotel room,” he recalls.
He shrugged it off as “just getting older,” but in 2002 he learned his uncle had something he had never heard of: Huntington’s Disease. Shortly after, Gray’s mother tested positive for it, and in January, 2003, he did, too.
Gray is still able to play all over the world, develop new artists, and help spread the word about HD, a genetic, progressive brain disorder for which there is no cure. To buy tickets for Gala Gone Wild, call 303-947-5209 or visit Blacktie-Colorado.com.
On a lighter note.
At a dinner held in Washington, D.C., the American Heart Association presented its highest honor for volunteers, the Gold Award, to Dr. Reginald Washington, chief medical officer at the new Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children. A pediatric cardiologist specializing in childhood obesity, Washington twice served on the AHA’s national board and is considered a national authority in his field by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. In 1995, the AHA named him Physician of the Year for his work in the prevention of atherosclerotic disease in childhood . . . Christine Benero, who has led the local American Red Cross chapter since 2003, has been named president and CEO of Mile High United Way, succeeding Michael Durkin . . . Janet Elway and Peggy Shanahan teamed up last week to host a shower for Denver Health’s Newborns in Need program.
