The point on which all 800 guests will agree: Tribute, the signature fundraiser for Mental Health America of Colorado, was one sweet affair.
The popularity of honorees Don and Patty Cook caused attendance and net proceeds to soar — and we’ll get to that in just a minute. First, we want to share the most mouth-watering detail of all: The apple pie that president/CEO Jeanne Rohner baked for the live auction.
Made from apples she’d picked from her daughter’s tree, the pie touched off a bidding frenzy that continued until auctioneer Don Martin hollered “sold!” after Michael Touff’s $550 topped all other offers. Touff’s wife, clinical psychologist Pegi Touff, is a member of the MHAC board.
Rohner graciously shared her recipe, and I have it in my Seen First blog: .
Held at the Sheraton Denver Downtown, Tribute was chaired by two couples who have been previously honored by MHAC, Andrea and Jack Hyatt and Dyana and Dr. Bert Furmansky. April Zesbaugh, co-host of the KOA Morning News was mistress of ceremonies.
The event raised $425,000.
The Cooks have been involved with MHAC since 2002, when Patty became a member of the board of directors. “They’re workhorses, not showhorses,” Rohner observed. Lyndia Harvey, honored in 2009 with her husband, Cy, added that Patty is known for having “unique solutions to big challenges” while Don is skilled at seeing the big picture and leading by example.
“The doer and the visionary” is how Cy Harvey described them. Cy Harvey also pointed out that the apple(s) didn’t fall far from the tree. “At 88, Don’s grandfather is still building homes for Habitat for Humanity; their daughter, Sarah Schnabel, co-chaired tonight’s silent auction, and their other daughter, Katie, a filmmaker living in Santa Fe, created the video we’ll see tonight.”
Colorado first lady Jeannie Ritter was among the guests, joining a VIP crowd that included state legislators Evie Hudak, Suzanne Williams, Sue Schafer, Betty Boyd, Moe Keller, Ken Summers, Cindy Acree and Joe Rice; former Denver Bronco Brian Griese; Seth Belzley, chair of the MHAC board; Dr. Stu Kassan, the chair-elect; and Joe Garcia, candidate for lieutenant governor.
Others supporting the cause were preservationist Dana Crawford; Kit Karbler, whose Blake Street Glass donated the Tribute award; Dr. Robert Freedman, founder, and Steve Edmonds, executive director, of the Institute for Children’s Mental Disorders; U.S. Bank president Hassan Salem; Golden Police chief Bill Kilpatrick; Heather Cameron, CEO at Foothills Animal Shelter; Peter and Marti Cudlip; psychiatrist Kenneth Krause; Rob Bremer, CEO of Colorado Access; Barb Archuleta of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado; Tom Dillingham of the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health; and Peter Buirski from the University of Denver’s department of psychiatry.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
