“Do you know where you’re going to?” — Diana Ross, in the theme song to “Mahogany.”
The 150 people who’d purchased tickets for the inaugural Dinner in White didn’t have a clue where they were going until a mere hour before this benefit for AMC Cancer Fund was to begin.
And it wasn’t because someone dropped the ball.
The dinner was geared to a younger crowd and inspired by flash mobs that attract huge crowds on a moment’s notice. Part of the fun was in not knowing where it would be held until the text messages, e-mails and Tweets started flying.
Guests had been advised to be standing by, dressed in white and packing their own picnic dinners. When word came, off they went to the patio at the Chase Bank building at 18th and Lawrence in the heart of downtown Denver.
They were greeted by music from the Boulder-based band Meniskus and a party space illuminated with twinkling white lights.
“EO,” the band’s violinist and lead singer, moved through the crowd as guests had their caricatures drawn by artist Brooke Howell, shopped at a Parisian-themed market and bid on silent auction items.
Shana Mader and Krista Gilbertson spent a year developing Dinner in White and are confident it will be considered a “must-attend” benefit for next year.
Mader also shared her story as a cancer survivor, reminding guests of the importance of early detection and healthy living in the battle against this deadly disease. And, in a gesture of honor and remembrance to those who have survived and those who have been lost to cancer, she invited everyone to release white balloons into the evening sky.
Among the guests: Gary and Kathy Kortz, Mark and Melissa Osborn, Todd and Lina Olinger, Anamaria Osborne, and David and Dr. Laurie Gaspar. AMC Cancer Fund supports programs of the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
Coming right up.
The 14th annual Race for Research, honoring the memory of Michele Plachy-Rubin, begins at 8 a.m. Sunday in Washington Park. Register at . … Denver Center Alliance president Gayle Novak and Saturday Night Alive chairwoman Sharon Magness Blake will preview the year’s activities when the Denver Center Alliance meets for lunch Aug. 25 at Debi Tepper’s home. … The young ladies to be presented at the 2011 Fine Arts Foundation Debutante Ball will be introduced by chairwoman Mary Ann Henry at a reception that begins at 3 p.m. Aug. 29 at Don and Arlene Johnson’s home in Cherry Hills Village. … “Fore Families First,” a golf tournament dedicated to the late Sugar Chalus, has a 1 p.m. shotgun start Aug. 30 at The Ridge at Castle Pines North. The $225-per-player entry is due Aug. 23; sign up at . … The Denver Center Alliance meets for lunch Aug. 25 at Debi Tepper’s home. … Deborah Lowenstein, Pushpa Mehta, Sharon Whiton Gelt and Lora Witt are among those featured in the Artists of Greenwood Village, an exhibit that continues through Sept. 17 at Curtis Arts & Humanities Center, 2349 E. Orchard Road.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
