Special Olympics Colorado brought the Roaring ’20s back to life for a night by staging its second Gatsby in the Park, a fundraiser designed to draw a younger generation of supporters into the fold.
Vintage automobiles, period attire, lawn games and live jazz were the highlights of this al fresco event in Denver’s City Park; the goal was to raise $100,000.
Special Olympics athletes were the special guests, along with Colorado Avalanche president Pierre Lacroix and his wife, Coco, and Mike Myers, a left-handed relief pitcher whose Major League Baseball career spanned some 17 seasons and included stints with the San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies. Myers was joined by his wife, Robyn.
Period attire was encouraged, and Gatsby- esque outfits were sported by folks including Mindy Watrous, the president and CEO of Special Olympics Colorado; board members Ann Parriott and Pat Lovett; and Kroenke Sports exec Deb Dowling-Canino, there with Melissa Stokes, a Special Olympics athlete and 2007 inductee into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
Eat up
The Counter, which GQ magazine says makes one of the “20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die,” makes its Colorado debut Aug. 18 in the Vistas at Park Meadows. And to demonstrate what a friend to the community it intends to be, management is hosting fundraisers for Children’s Hospital and Real Colorado Soccer on Aug. 16. Reservations are required (720-220-4511) and regular menu prices will be in effect.
Times are tough for individuals and businesses alike, but on Saturday a group of small-business owners in East Colfax Avenue’s Bluebird District are joining forces to help kids in need while showing the public how they can hang with the big boys when it comes to doing good in the community.
Porche Lovely, owner of Lovely Confections, is one of the organizers. She says shop owners from Fillmore to Monroe streets will have refreshments and special deals from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. for all who contribute to the Stuff for Students school-supply drive.
Suggested donations include binders, rulers, filler paper (wide and college rule), pencil sharpeners, pocket folders, black and blue pens, scissors (all ages), No. 2 pencils, 24-count crayon packs, highlighters, glue sticks and erasers.
Kimberly Lord Stewart, author of “Eating Between the Lines,” the supermarket shopper’s guide to the truth behind food labels, unravels the complicated net of fish — wild versus farmed, risks of mercury levels and concerns about endangered species — at a $30-per-ticket lecture and tasting Thursday at Whole Foods Market, 444 S. Wadsworth Blvd., in Lakewood’s Belmar Center. Starting at 6 p.m., chef James Herringer will prepare and offer tastes of dishes that include scallop ceviche, fish en papiotte and coconut rice with fresh mangoes.
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also,
