Monaghan Construction, a company owned by Liz Deline’s great-grandparents, created some of Colorado’s original mountain passes and built many of the state’s highways, military bases and airports.
Rettie Duke’s grandfather was vice chairman of the Gates Corp., and her grandmother founded the Aspen Country Store. The 83-year- old Bell Plumbing and Heating is owned by Lindsey Bell’s family, and Cory Smith is the granddaughter of architect Dudley Tyler Smith Sr., whose credits include the Denver City Annex building. Emily Hemming’s maternal great-grandmother, a wardrobe mistress on Broadway, traveled by train to Colorado several times in the early 1900s to assist her friends Helen Hayes, Mae West and Hedda Hopper when they appeared in shows at the historic Central City Opera House.
Deline, Duke, Bell, Smith and Hemming are all 2009 Central City Flower Girls, and will be presented in the Teller House Garden June 27 when the Central City Opera kicks off its Summer Festival.
And, along with fellow honorees Lizzy Clark, Ali Morss Dehncke, Taylor Duke, Becky Ferrell, Meredith Kaufman, VeeVee Lichty, Caitlin McGonagle, Shelby Parker, Sarah Rich and Nicole Wissmann, they were introduced to the opening night committee over tea at Barbara Danos’ home in Denver’s historic Country Club neighborhood.
At the late-afternoon gathering, Pam Powell, herself a former Flower Girl and member of the opera’s governing board, recounted Central City’s colorful past and explained how the Flower Girl ceremony has been a part of the opening night festivities since 1932.
Heidi Hoyt and Ronda Smith are the opening night chairwomen; Ericka McDaniel and Christina Dinegar will coordinate the service project the Flower Girls will complete prior to their presentation.
Read more about the Flower Girl Class of 2009 in my Seen First blog: .
More good stuff.
The Art of Nursing, an exhibition and sale benefiting the University of Colorado Foundation’s Touched by a Nurse Endowment Fund, begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Brushstrokes, a studio and gallery at 1059 S. Gaylord St. Tickets available through Angie Romani, 303-986-6261. She’s underwriting the event with her husband, Tim. … Cancer League members gather at Debra Toney’s Cherry Hills Village home on Thursday evening to begin planning the group’s comedy- themed spring benefit. Amber Freed has details at 303-907-8038. … Denver Public Library presents its 2009 Juanita Gray Community Service Award at a reception that starts at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Ford-Warren branch library, 2825 High St. … Pinehurst Country Club is the setting Feb. 21 for the Colorado Symphony Guild’s Mardi Gras Ball. Chairwoman Alena Stimack is taking reservations at 303-238-2834. … Arpee Adamian sends word that the new Armenian Professional Network of Colorado collected 238 pounds of nonperishables for Food Bank of the Rockies in its first Cans for the Cause drive. … Dad-to-be Aaron LaPedis has never met a practical joke he didn’t like, so imagine how tickled he was when he and his wife, Sandee, learned their first child is due April 1. In addition to running Fascination St. Fine Art, the LaPedises are very interested in saving cheetahs in South Africa, so of course it was a jungle theme for the baby shower Margot Gilbert Frank hosted for them last weekend.
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, .
