It would tax any vocabulary to come up with a fresh superlative to describe each of the 39 debutantes and 31 Young Men of Distinction presented at the 40th anniversary Le Bal de Ballet.
So let’s make it easy and say they’re a bunch of great kids who’ve done wonderful things, and their futures look awfully bright.
Dr. Toby Cole introduced the 70-member Class of 2008 last Saturday night at Boettcher Concert Hall. Afterward, the honorees took the traditional horse-drawn carriage ride to the Sheraton Denver Hotel, where dinner and dancing awaited in a ballroom.
Pam Kelsall chaired the ball; Edie Bell is president of the sponsoring Denver Ballet Guild; and Pam Gatz was the honorary chairwoman.
Accomplishments in the areas of academics, athletics and community services count heavily in the honoree selection process, as does family involvement in the community.
Young Men of Distinction included outstanding prep golfer Beau Schoolcraft, who in May won the Colorado Golf Association Two-Man Team Championship with partner Kaleb Mahanes. Beau will attend the University of California at Los Angeles. His dad, Dr. William Schoolcraft, is one of the nation’s top fertility doctors.
Debutante Jordan Poyfair is putting college on hold to pursue her dream of skiing for the U.S. Freestyle Team in the World Cup. The Kent Denver alum is the defending two-time champion of the U.S. Junior Olympic freestyle competition and is ranked No. 8 in the U.S. for women of all ages in moguls.
Elizabeth Marsico made her sporting mark in tennis; the Cherry Creek High School grad will attend the University of Southern California on a tennis scholarship.
College choices are almost as numerous as the honorees. Some, however, are more exotic than others.
Colorado Academy grad Andrew Kugler vonGunten is heading to Scotland to enroll at that country’s first university, St. Andrews.
Andrew Whitney Pritzlaff is going to one of this country’s oldest, Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. It was founded in 1775 and today remains, as it was then, a private, very selective school for men. Those who’ve attended range from the speaker of the Confederate House (Class of 1838) to Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert.Sarah Ann Sharpe, whose mother is mayor of Greenwood Village, is one of about a dozen honorees planning to attend the University of Colorado; others include Warren Nathaniel Eckloff, who’ll be on a basketball scholarship; Madison Elisabeth Autterson; and Megan Manley, an up-and-coming actress who had starring roles in three of her Broomfield High School plays.
The Class of 2008 also included Samantha Roseman, whose father, longtime Denver television personality and author Rob “Sunny” Roseman, is currently plying his meterology/climatology skills at CW2; Natalie Medved, daughter of auto mogul John and Debi Medved; Charles Patrick Gallagher, whose paternal grandparents, Charlie and Diane, are the 2008 recipients of the Metro Volunteers Heart of Volunteerism Award; and Trey Miller, whose mom, Michele Austin, is a Colorado delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention.
For more on the 2008 honorees, including a complete list of names and schools, visit
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com
