Blame (or credit) the economy, the election results or the price we’re paying at the pumps: A good laugh is what gets us through the day.
Or night, as evidenced by the amazing response to the Denver Center Alliance’s annual theater party.
Chairwoman Gayle Novak was using the old noodle when she chose “Girls Only: The Secret Comedy of Women,” and preceded it with cocktails and a seafood buffet not at the tried-and-true Seawell Ballroom but the cool-and-delicious Oceanaire restaurant.
“I thought maybe — maybe — we could fill 75 seats,” Novak said. “I thought I was taking a chance by ordering 125 tickets, but looking back, I should have reserved the whole theater because we were sold out from the minute this was announced.”
It just goes to show, Novak added, “that ladies do enjoy a night out.”
Judi Wolf had her driver fire up the infamous Wolfmobile, a limousine that she stocked with pink champagne to make the ride downtown more pleasant for herself and her Cherry Hills Village neighbors Lorraine Salazar and Judi Newman. Deb Smith arrived with four pals who’d also been with her for lunch that day: Sue Kruger, Jackie Rotole, Lyn Schaffer and Helga Ragsdale.Anna Sie and Linda Yip enjoyed their crab cakes and shrimp with a group that included Celeste Fleming, Denise Gliwa, Gayle Ray and Jamie Jones, who was talking up a Joshua School benefit, starring Hao Jiang Tian, that will take place in June at the home of her parents, Ralph and Betty Peterson.
Ray’s daughter-in-law, Carla Kenny, was there with fellow Newborn Hope supporter Candy Palazzo (Kenny is chair-elect of the corporate board) and they were spreading the word that instead of the traditional children’s fashion show and luncheon, Newborn Hope will be turning to the Internet to raise money in 2009.
Others enjoying the pre-show party, where Saks Fifth Avenue makeup artists were on hand for touch-ups, were Liz Frawley with granddaughter Breanna Ferrara; Helenn Franzgrote; Faye Washington; Anne Curran; Suzy Palin; sisters-in-law Trisha and Lani Hood; Adrienne Ruston Fitzgibbons with daughters Erinn Corson and Kimi Porterfield Brown; Layne Hunt; Stephanie Odak; Sharon Whiton Gelt; Jamie Angelich; Judy McNeil, Joan Swinehart; Ryta Sondergard; and Caroline Karlin.
And, there’s more.
After a 15-year hiatus, Friends of Nursing returns to Phipps Mansion, 3400 Belcaro Drive, for an Old Fashioned Christmas Tour that will be open to the public from Dec. 4-6. In addition to admiring the exquisitely decorated rooms, guests can drop by the adjacent Tennis Pavilion for boutique shopping. Proceeds go to nursing scholarships; Greta Pollard is the chair . . . The Junior League Holiday Mart opens at 2 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Denver Merchandise Mart, and special events planned for the four-day run include a champagne brunch, with private shopping and a fashion show, at noon on opening day, and the family-oriented Cookies With Santa party on Dec. 6. Tickets can be purchased at . . . Plans for the 2009 Denver Heart Ball were announced at a reception held last week at Denver Botanic Gardens. It’ll be on Feb. 7 and Brenda Lambert, chief executive officer at South Denver Cardiology Associates, is the chairwoman . . . On the same Sunday afternoon that Glory Weisberg was having a baby shower for her daughter-in-law, Fatima, Artemis Khadiwala-Donian was having an open house to introduce her first grandchild, Nico Elias Khadiwala, born Sept. 1 to son Armen Khadiwala and his wife, Jameela. Fatima Weisberg is married to Glory’s son, Steven, and the baby, their first, is due in December.
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also,
