Mother Nature owed Anchor Center for Blind Children a big-time “I’m sorry” for the way she behaved last year, when torrential rain and high winds turned its signature fundraiser, Sunset in the Country, upside down.
So on Friday night, she apologized by providing a picture-perfect summer’s eve for the dinner and auction held in a beautifully decorated tent on the grounds of Jim and Pam Crowe’s Cherry Hills Village estate.
“Quite a difference, huh?” marveled Anchor trustee Curt Brown. “This time last year, we were ankle-deep in water.” Brown chaired the benefit in 2010 and 2011.
He also joined executive director Alice Applebaum in thanking Crowe, chief executive of Level 3 Communications, and his wife not only for providing such a spectacular locale but for additional generosity that included the purchase of three tables, two of which enabled several Anchor parents to attend; for sponsoring a luncheon thanking table hosts; and for underwriting the evening’s entertainment, the Dillon Dixon Band.
Net income is still being determined, but early tallies show that the live auction and special appeal, conducted by Gary Corbett, brought in $219,000 while Key to the City — three urban getaways donated by the Four Seasons Hotel Denver — resulted in a $13,000 profit. The hotel also purchased a table for Sunset in the Country.
In keeping with tradition, each table was decorated by the host. Asian motifs were prevalent this year; so, too, were whimsical beach and children’s fairytale themes.
Neon-hued flip-flops, pinwheels and linens made Tom and Mary Rogers’ table a standout; Anchor trustee Kerry Musfeldt took a page from “Alice in Wonderland” for the table she and husband Brian shared with a group that included Louise Hawley and her daughter, Dr. Karen Hawley, and Corey Spootes. Board president Alex Cmil and his wife, Jen, treated their guests to a setting that incorporated “hedge” made from a dozen or more arrangements of fresh flowers atop a white satin cloth and napkins accessorized with fresh blooms.
The placemats at Craig and Mary Stromberg’s table transported everyone to summer at the shore with beadwork images of creatures from the deep — seahorses, crabs and shells — while Vonda Mills incorporated bamboo, ceramics and art to give her table the flavor of Japan.
Occasions by Sandy did the steak and salmon supper that was enjoyed by such other Anchor supporters as Pete and Marilyn Coors, Peter and Rhondda Grant, Jean and Dr. Ben Galloway, Jan and Dan Casson, Tim and Beverly Jackson, Emmet and Toni Stephenson, John and Sandy Blue, Randy and Karen Woods, John and Julie Mork, John and Wendy Clayton, and Dan and Joan Dixon.
