“This is cool.”
That’s what first lady of the land Michelle Obama said to Colorado first lady Jeannie Ritter after she was handed a blank plaster mask to sign for the 2010 Mask Project, a semiannual benefit for Denver Hospice.
Obama was in Denver on Nov. 16 to promote her mentoring initiative. Denver Hospice arranged for Ritter to give Obama the mask and a fact-sheet explaining what the Mask Project was all about.
Obama also signed a mask with Ritter — making it a fabulous first lady mask.
The masks, signed and sometimes painted by local and national bold names, are on display at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center starting April 1. They are sold online and at a live auction during the Mask Project Gala on May 1.
Obama didn’t have the time to actually paint the mask (who does?), so event coordinator Lynn Bronikowski arranged for nationally recognized artist Carol Dyer, mother of 9News morning anchor Kyle Dyer, to create the image. The mask is an early American scene of the White House lawn. Denver Hospice got it back in the mail last week.
As part of the 2008 Mask Project, a mask signed by then presidential contender Barack Obama sold for $4,400. Even more is expected for the Michelle Mask.
“We’re thrilled that the Mask Project touched the White House,” Bronikowski says, “and expect some more big names soon.”
In the bank: Dustin Hoffman, Harrison Ford, Kevin Bacon, Nick Jonas, all the Nuggets and all of the Avalanche.
Picture this.
If you’re feeling nostalgic for old-time Denver — early ’80s anyway — spend some time on Kim Allen’s site, . And go further back at .
On the range.
Author Lori Armstrong comes to the Tattered Cover Highlands Ranch at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. She writes mysteries that come down in the West, and she’s here with her latest, “No Mercy.”
She also writes erotic Western romances under the pen name Lorelei James. The books have plenty of detailed episodes, are true to the West and what people actually do on ranches (and in pickups), and in the end, the couple always rides off into the sunset together. What a concept! So she’ll also be talking about these books, with titles such as “Shudda Been a Cowboy,” “Miss Firecracker,” “Strong Silent Type” and “Branded as Trouble.”
City spirit.
Colorado Springs elementary school teacher Rachel Gordon won $50,000 on Thursday night’s episode of “Wheel of Fortune.” The show was taped in November, and Gordon had to keep it zipped until it aired, then she partied at the Fox & Hound. . . . MTV’s reality show “America’s Best Dance Crew” started its fifth season Thursday — and Colorado’s BreakEFX will headline the show Feb. 11. . . . Richie Havens stops at Soiled Dove on March 11, Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House on March 12, Fort Lewis College in Durango on March 14 and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 2. . . . One hundred percent of all sales at Jing today go to Project HOPE for Haiti. . . . Sez who: “In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” Robert Frost
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or bhusted@ . Take a peek at Husted’s next column at .
