![<B>Chris Towt,</B> left, poured Sand Hill wines from California's Durell Vineyard; <B>Troy Guard</B>, center, presided in the kitchen for the dinner at TAG that honored Denver Nuggets head coach <B>George Karl</B> and raised money for AnthioGen. <!--IPTC: [CUT1]Chris Towt, left, poured Sand Hill wines from California’s Durell Vineyard; Troy Guard presided in the kitchen for the dinner at TAG that honored Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl and raised money for AnthioGen.[CREDIT] Photo by Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post-->](/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/20100609__20100611_D16_FE11DAVIDSONp1.jpg?w=587 "20100609__20100611_D16_FE11DAVIDSON~p1.JPG")
How many of us mean it when we say “To your health” before taking that first sip of wine?
My guess is 80, if we are talking about a fundraising dinner held last week at a popular Larimer Square restaurant. The men and women who filled every seat on the main floor of TAG were there to toast Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl while raising money for AnthioGen, a Wheat Ridge-based agency formed in 2007 to help cancer patients with their health insurance premiums.
The $125-a-ticket Wine & Dine was a four-course feast prepared by a kitchen crew headed by owner/chef Troy Guard. It began with pasilla-seared ahi, ended with roasted nectarine shortcake and was accompanied by chosen-for- the-occasion samplings of rose, chardonnay and pinot noir wines from California’s Sand Hill/Durell Vineyard.
Drs. Samir Witta and Kevin Schewe started AnthioGen with J. Nicholas Napoli, attorney and leukemia survivor Bill Buckley and the late Barbara Jean Spence.
Coach Karl attended the dinner with his life partner, Kim Van Deraa, sitting with a group that included Heather Knight and her husband, Sherif Sakr, Holly Kylberg and Tracy Shaffer.
Others who enjoyed the vocal and guitar stylings of Dave Kimball and some laughs generated by comedian Sam Adams included AnthioGen board members Kathy Geiss, Stephanie Preusse, Jennifer Ford-Smith and Martin Snow; Lawrence and Marie Phipps; Jillian Abramson; Chris and Jan Jeffers; Howard, Mary Gay and Chris Towt; Brent and Denise Snyder; Ellen Robinson; Deana Perlmutter; and Scott Thompson of Sauce Distributors, which distributes Sand Hill and Dunstan wines in Colorado.
Coming right up.
Party, Peeps & Poker, a Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament benefiting Seeds of Hope Charitable Trust, begins at 6 tonight at RedLine Gallery. The $50 admission ($40 per person for groups of 10 or more) includes an open bar, food and music for dancing. Call Justin Zuiker, 303-715-3186. . . . Le Bal de Ballet debutantes and Young Men of Distinction will be presented Saturday night at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and then travel by horse-drawn carriage to the Sheraton Denver Downtown for dinner and dancing. . . . Hope Communities celebrates its 30th year of providing affordable housing and other services to low-income families by staging a barbecue-tasting June 21 at EXDO Event Center. Colorado first lady Jeannie Ritter and founder Ray Stranske are honorary chairpersons; 9News entertainment reporter Kirk Montgomery emcees, and there will be ribs, chicken and hot links from Jim ‘n Nick’s, Famous Dave’s, Big Papa’s, M&D’s, Bennett’s, Moe’s Original Bar B Que and Sam Taylor’s. Sign up at . . . . Dress like an Egyptian for the June 25 Flappers and Pharaohs, and check out the King Tut exhibition at Denver Art Museum before it opens to the public. Co-chairs Wendy Lee, Susan Noble and Dr. Dean Prina say there’ll be cocktails, heavy hors d’oeuvres, music and remarks by Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. Call 720-913-2763.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
