How to water the lawn when a tent shaped likeand nearly as big as — the terminal at Denver International Airport covered a good portion of it was the last thing Mike and Peggy Shanahan had to worry about last weekend.
Mother Nature gave both the grass and the guests a good soaking on Friday night when 430 friends of Anchor Center for Blind Children assembled for Sunset in the Country. She followed up with a brief sprinkle on Saturday when the Kempe Children’s Foundation hosted Salt on the Rim. We’ll have more on that event in Tuesday’s Denver Post.
Sunset in the Country, which netted $150,000, is unique in that each dinner table is decorated by the person, couple or corporation hosting it. The meal is catered (Occasions by Sandy did the honors this year) but the host provides the beverages and can invite as many, or as few, guests as he or she wants.
One of the larger tables this year was filled by friends of Adam and Katie Kemp, whose 3-year-old daughter, Hallie, is a student at Anchor. Katie Kemp was the featured speaker and received a standing ovation after sharing her family’s story.
Gretchen McComb, chief philanthropic officer for the Women’s Funding Network, also was a table host; her guests included former Ball Corp. chairman/CEO George Sissel, who was celebrating a birthday that night, and Sissel’s wife, Mary, an honorary trustee of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado. McComb is WFCO’s former president.
Dick and Marla Gentry also used a birthday theme to decorate their table; it was daughter Lisa’s 40th and there to celebrate with them was their other daughter, Stacy, Dick’s 91-year-old mother, Amalie Gentry, and longtime friends Joe and Nancy Galas.Curt Brown chaired Sunset in the Country and with his wife, Natelle, welcomed a crowd that also included board president Alexander Cmil and his wife, Jennifer; architect Jim Bradburn; Sandy and John Blue; Sharon and Lanny Martin; Cheryl and Dave Dutton; Nancy and Grant Wimbush; Mary and Tom Rogers; Tricia Potucek; Pete Pittenger; Janice and Jim Hunt with sons Jeffrey, Brian and Spencer; Gayle and Denny McGowan; Cathleen and Al Chambliss; Kendal and Derek Mullins; Marcia and Jack Mitchell; Ann and Dennis Clark; Julie and Gary Carlson;and master of ceremonies Tom Gold.For art’s sake.
A committee headed by David Alexander got 200 local celebrities to paint canvases that will be sold at an Aug. 15 party expected to raise $10,000 for the Art Institute of Colorado’s scholarship fund. The 3 p.m. event also will have signature fruit drinks from Crema, DJ music, and manicures by the nail artists from Beauty Bar. Call 303-824-4846. … The DU Art Walk on Aug. 19 is an opportunity for the public to view the University of Denver’s various art collections with commentary by Dan Jacobs, director of the Victoria H. Myhren Gallery, and artists Maynard Tischler, Lawrence Argent and Kathi Caricof. Register for the 5:30 p.m. “friend-raiser” by calling 303-791-6445.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
