Howard Dental Center has always bragged that its Bingo Ball is not to be confused with the game your grandma plays. It’s not held in some dingy bingo parlor that’s the sole tenant in an otherwise vacant strip mall, and the numbers aren’t announced by a some dude who delivers the digits in a monotone voice.
It’s always a fun party — thanks in large part to drag queen Nuclia Waste, who is anything but predictable as the caller — but this year organizers decided to sass things up a bit by having a masquerade theme and encouraging everyone to wear Mardi Gras masks. And whatever else might catch their fancy.
Mile High Station was packed for the Feb. 19 event that also featured a buffet dinner by Footers Catering, an open bar hosted by Wynkoop Brewing Co. and Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, and entertainment by Sing Out Louise, an a cappella group from the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus.
In the end, $50,000 was raised for the “comprehensive and compassionate” care that the not-for-profit Howard Dental Center provides to people living with HIV/AIDS.
7News meterologist Mike Nelson was master of ceremonies.
Guests included attorney Ted Trimpa and his guest, state Sen. Pat Steadman; Fox-31 reporter Justin Joseph and artist Jess E. DuBois.
HDC executive director Ernest Duff and development director Mary Salsich also welcomed attorney Ellen Stewart; Dean Williams; Carley Janda; Melinda Fisher; James McCavey; Mike Dirks; Anthony Montoya; Ali and Elizabeth Akalin; Lawrence French and Gregory Sargowicki; Noah Slauson; and Brittany Chapman.This and that.
Yikes! Two more major fundraisers are going to be happening on May 7 — a night already claimed by the Colorado Symphony Ball, which will have entertainment by the Temptations; Denver Health, whose NightShine Gala is being headlined by Lionel Richie; and Beacon Youth and Family Center, where the Platters are featured at its Cherish the Children Gala: Passport to Hope. Now we are told that the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Dream Gala, starring the Neil Diamond tribute band Super Diamond, is on May 7, as is the Mad Hatter’s Ball hosted by Dani’s Foundation. . . . Best wishes to Vicki Aybar Sterling, who has retired after 15 years as assistant director of the Denver Art Museum. . . . Denver Ballet Guild has awarded $75,000 to nine Colorado dance companies, including Colorado Ballet and Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. . . . Ballet Nouveau Colorado wrapped up its latest giving-back effort, Community Sundays, by donating $5,279.50 to Denver’s pay-what-you-can restaurant, Same Cafe. . . . And, on a very sad note, Dick Watt, a leader in Denver’s banking and philanthropic circles, has died. Jean, his wife of 48 years, is a past president of the Fine Arts Foundation; in 1996,they shared the FAF’s Citizen of the Arts award.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
