Colorado’s tie to Mongolia is rich and long, a fact that was emphasized at a gala held the night before the Genghis Khan exhibit opened to the public at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
Mayor John Hickenlooper and Colorado’s honorary consul for Mongolia, Jim Wagenlander, described how a Mongolian community was established here in 1989, when the first students from Mongolia to study in the United States arrived at Colorado School of Mines in Golden.
Many of the 400-plus guests got their first taste of Mongolian cuisine during cocktail hour when waiters offered the signature drink, Silk Road martinis made from vodka and beet juice. The dinner buffet — including a stir-fry bar, made-to-order noodle bowls and a potsticker station — preceded a Mongolian wrestling match that pitted four authentic wrestlers against Wagenlander, Robert “Bob the Beerman” Donchez, Harold Hughes and Cameron White.
Mongolian wrestling dates back some 2,000 years to the days of Genghis Khan and is practiced as a martial art. Mongolians consider it one of the “three manly skills.”
Mongolia’s ambassador to the United States, Khasbazar Bekhbat, and his wife, Jamsrangiin Gerelmaa, flew in from Washington, to attend this benefit for the Denver Sister Cities, specifically its Luby-Jenkins School Pairing Program. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, is one of Denver’s sister cities. Other guests were Wagenlander’s wife, Mary Lee Chin; Khulan Dashpuntsag, vice chair of the Mongolian Community Association; Denver City Councilwomen Marcia Johnson and Carla Madison; the mayor’s chief of staff, Roxane White; Sister Lydia Peña; Tai-Dan and Ding-Wen Hsu; Judi and Joe Wagner; Nancy Elkind; Toby and Dr. Stan Ginsburg; Gil Asakawa and Erin Yoshimura; and Denver Health’s Elbra Wedgeworth.Coming right up.
Thirty-year supporters Kathy and Rob Klugman will be honored Monday at the Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center’s annual dinner at Seawell Ballroom. Scott and Trina Reisch are the chairs; for tickets call 303-399-2660. . . . Dr. Alison Gopnik, author of “Scientist in the Crib,” speaks Wednesday at a luncheon benefiting Colorado Bright Beginnings. It’s at the Ritz-Carlton Denver, and co-chairs Beverly Eagle and Sumaya Vanderhorst say the program also includes a celebration of Adele Phelan’s contributions to early childhood education. Call 303-433-6200. . . . On Thursday, Lisa Genova talks about her best seller, “Still Alice,” the story about a Harvard professor diagnosed with early- onset Alzheimer’s disease, at Memories Lost and Found, a Hyatt Convention Center luncheon hosted by AWARE, a guild of the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado. Tickets are available at . . . . Mayor John Hickenlooper and Helen Thorpe are honorary chairs for the Spirituals Project Gala, which begins with a 6 p.m. VIP reception Saturday at Newman Center on the University of Denver campus. Tickets: 303-871-7993.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
