Chicken isn’t on the menu every year, but when it is, guests at the dinner for Judi’s House can rest assured it isn’t going to be the rubber- like variety that is a banquet circuit staple.
Frank and Jacqueline Bonanno are the hosts and the menu they plan is fit for discriminating palates, featuring ingredients that are both unique and familiar to a crowd that helps raise upward of $100,000 for Judi’s House, a refuge that retired quarterback Brian Griese started to help young people cope with the death of a loved one. It is named for Griese’s mother, who lost her battle with breast cancer when he was 12 years old.
The Bonannos have donated each of the seven dinners that have netted a total of $650,000 for the counseling and special activities provided to 2,600 youngsters since Judi’s House opened in 2002.
The first five were served at their Luca D’Italia restaurant and when the crowd outgrew the space, the event was moved to their larger Osteria Marco on Larimer Square where this year’s feast started with appetizers and ended with semifreddo and tiramisu. The main courses, served family style, included rotisserie chicken, lamb meatballs, mascarpone-enriched polenta and broccoli Milanese.
Dr. Dean Prina chaired the sold-out affair that also introduced Ona Wiggington, who succeeds Karmen Carter as the chief executive of Judi’s House. The speaker was Erik Johnson, head coach of the University of Denver women’s basketball team, who lost his young son to a sudden illness less than a year ago.
“The difference Judi’s House made in our lives is just incredible,” Johnson said. “It gave us — me, my wife and our two daughters — a platform to feel it, experience it and just cry when we needed to.”
Guest Cate Dobson was so moved by Johnson’s remarks that she donated $5,000 to Judi’s House in his family’s name. Ditto for attorney Ernie Blake, who added an extra $5,000 to the $5,000 he had already bid for a dinner at another Bonanno restaurant, Mizuna. And Charlie Fote gave the ruby ring from Hyde Park Jewelers that he purchased in an auction called by actor Paul Borrillo to Johnson’s wife, Laura.
Others there to support and enjoy were Caz Matthews; Dawn and Dan Horvat; Linda Poletti and J Madden; Lee and Susan McIntire; Ed and Mimi Roberson; Lisa and Bill Snider; Jerrel and Maggie Armstrong; Molly Broeren and Bill Mosher; Jean and Dr. Ben Galloway; John and Katie Wickliff; Andrew Kauth; Elaine Gampel; Tonya Frank; Liz and Chris Fuselier; Larry DiPasquale; Patricia Barela Rivera; and Dan and Becky Gutrich.
This and that.
One hundred forty students from Hallett Fundamental Academy and Smiley Middle School are going to Dick’s Sporting Goods later this week to be fitted for new pairs of athletic shoes, courtesy of the Broken Road Foundation and its founder, Sarah Middleton. . . . On Saturday, Arrupe Jesuit High School honors Regis University president the Rev. Michael Sheeran at its annual Magis Night dinner. Nancy Zoellner and Linda Bandy are chairing the event held at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center; call 303-455-7449. . . . John and Martha Gart are chairing the 10th anniversary edition of PUSH, a dinner benefiting Craig Hospital. It’s set for March 3 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown; PCL Construction is the presenting sponsor. Register at . . . . Up, Up and Away: An Evening Around the World is the theme for a March 5 dinner, dance and auction to benefit Mount Evans Hospice and Home Health Care. Call 303-674-6400.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
