Like kids in a candy store …
You should have seen the way faces lit up when they spotted table after table loaded with truffles, jelly beans, Gummi Bears, frosted Oreos, malted-milk balls and chocolate-covered raisins, pretzels and coffee beans in the ballroom lobby of the Hyatt Regency Convention Center last Saturday night. A candy buffet was a sweet way to end National Jewish Health’s annual Beaux Arts Ball, and few of the 1,100 guests could resist scooping up a handful to enjoy with their coffee or tea. Or, filling one of the bags thoughtfully provided for those wishing to take “a little something” home to the kids.
The Beaux Arts Ball is known for having exceptional food — and plenty of it — and this year was no exception. The theme, Midnight in the Garden, was adapted from the set-in- Savannah book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” and emphasized the positive things about Southern living, starting with the cuisine.
The evening began with a two- hour seafood social; then came a three-course dinner: a little Tybee salad with candied black walnuts, cornbread croutons and peach vinaigrette dressing; a dual entree of grilled shrimp and short ribs that had been marinated in molasses and whiskey, served with sweet corn spoon bread, okra, butter beans and black-eyed peas; and individual angel food cakes filled with custard and berries.
Tasty as it all was, the most delicious part is $2.2 million was raised. “We have gone way beyond our fundraising expectations tonight,” said Dr. Michael Salem, NJH’s president and chief executive officer. “And we are enormously grateful.”
Of that total, $572,000 came from a special appeal on behalf of the hospital’s pediatric food allergies research and services. And, after Dr. Erwin Gelfand, chief of pediatrics, introduced one of his patients, 4-year-old Jack Littauer, five- and six-figure donations flew in from such dedicated NJH supporters as Ken Tuchman, Margie Gart, Iris and Michael Smith, Jack Thompson and Ed Mueller.
Tuchman, who gave $100,000, is founder of TeleTech and with wife Debra was one of the ball’s grand marshals. Margie Gart’s husband, Tom, is chairman of the NJH board.
Other grand marshals were CH2M Hill chairman Lee McIntire and his wife, Susan, and Sage Hospitality chief Walter Isenberg and his wife, Christie, the founder of Concerts for Kids. Philanthropists Charlie and Diane Gallagher received the President’s Award.
TeleTech and the Morgridge Family Foundation were presenting sponsors of the ball; decor was by Design Works, and Eturnity provided the entertainment.
Mayor John Hickenlooper stopped by for the pre-dinner festivities, mingling with a group that included former Gov. Bill Owens; Larry Mizel; Bill and Verna Pauls; Roger and Patrice Gibson; Richard and Linda Schierburg; Barry and Arlene Hirschfeld; Mariner and Megan Kemper; Bill and Bei-Lee Gold; Jeffrey and Carole Schwartz; Steve Arent; Hassan and Sheila Salem; Steve and Robin Chotin; Harold and Diane Smethills; Paul and MJ Powers; David Mandarich; Martin and Marie Herzog; David and Charlene Engleberg; Steve Rosdal; and Stanton and Lindsey Dodge.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
