When pigs fly? How about when astronauts dance?
When Cleo Parker Robinson was in New Orleans last month to be honored by Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, she had the opportunity to talk to fellow honoree Mae Jemison, the first woman of color to travel in space. Robinson, of course, knew who Jemison was but what startled her is that Jemison knew who she was.
Turns out a former member of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance had roomed with Jemison. Way back when, and before rocket ships beckoned, Jemison wanted to be a dancer. With Cleo’s company, no less.
Jemison will be in Denver later this week to address The New Color of Money, an economic summit being held at the Colorado Convention Center.
So, what’s new?
OK, so they didn’t get the numbers right the first time around. When the counting was complete, both Families First and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation discovered the net profit from Steppin’ Out and the Dream Gala, respectively, were much higher than originally thought. Families First came away with $117,000 while JDRF made $675,000. . . . Work Options for Women also was low on its initial estimate for WomenCook! The event raised $103,000, or about $30,000 more than anticipated. . . . Dr. Neal Baer, an Emmy-nominated writer and executive producer for “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,” returns to his native Denver June 11 for the opening of “The House Is Small, but the Welcome Is Big,” an exhibition culled from photos taken with digital cameras given to AIDS orphans in Maputo, Mozambique, and mothers in Capetown, South Africa. It will be at Gallery M in Cherry Creek North before opening in New York and Los Angeles. . . . Also on June 11, Lin Merage, founder of Divine Physics Health Institute, speaks at a Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Maggiano’s DTC. It starts at 11 a.m. and tickets can be purchased by calling 303-458-0220. . . . Denver Sister Cities International has given its 2008 Friendship Award to restaurateurs Noel and Tammy Cunningham for their worldwide humanitarian efforts. They’ve enabled impoverished Ethiopians to help themselves by donating $800,000 to establish farming and water projects; giving African women from families that make less than $100 a year money to survive by having them make the HOPE bracelets that are sold in America; and helped feed Colorado’s hungry by staging benefits for Volunteers of America, Food Bank of the Rockies and the Colorado AIDS Project.
