America loves “Dancing with the Stars,” and Denver is smitten with “Dancing for the Youth at Goodwill.”
That much was obvious Saturday night when 700 people gathered at the Marriott City Center to cheer as 10 civic leaders willing to step out of their comfort zones waltzed, cha-cha’d and two-stepped in a fundraiser patterned after the popular TV show. When the dust had settled, $200,000 had been raised for Goodwill Industries of Denver.
Sharon Sweeney, co-founder and charter member of the Greenwood Village Chamber of Commerce, captured the Judges’ Choice award for a routine that incorporated the waltz and pasodoble; Kate Paul, president and CEO of Delta Dental of Colorado, received the People’s Choice award after her fans gave $10,925 to show how much they enjoyed the spirited Texas two-step/East Coast swing that she performed with Scott Koogle of Colorado Dancesport. Sweeney’s partner, also from Colorado Dancesport, was Mitch Kibel.
Others vying for the titles were Kelly Brough, president of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce; advertising exec Ed Romero; Realtors Judy Fahrenkrog and Juanita Chacon; former Broncos cheerleader Lindsey McBride; developer Brent Snyder; restaurateur Michael Ditchfield; and makeup artist Michael Moore.Roselyn Saunders and Carrie Mesch chaired the event that also paid tribute to Martin Pocs, vice chairman of DHR International, for his longstanding support of Goodwill. Pocs founded the Goodwill Golf Classic and established the agency’s endowment fund.
9News anchor Kim Christiansen was mistress of ceremonies and the judges were dancer/choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson, theater impresario Bob Garner and Dan Sharp, whose Dan Sharp Luxury Outerwear donated the chinchilla shrug that was part of the evening’s live auction.
I have some behind-the-scenes stories, and more on who was there, in my Seen First blog:
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com
Dinner and a show, times two
It may have sounded odd when Sharon Magness Blake announced that Behind the Curtain, a benefit she was organizing on behalf of prostate cancer programs at University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus, was going to be a women-only event. Prostate cancer, after all, only strikes men. But it made perfect sense, as Joanne Davidson explains in her Seen First blog: . While the 170 guests were enjoying dinner and scenes from a special edition of “Girls Only” at Invesco Field, 150 friends of the Urban League of Metro Denver were enjoying an evening of food and fall fashions at Neiman Marcus Cherry Creek. Check out the details, also in Joanne’s Seen First blog.
Scroll down for more photo from these events.
