Some fundraising galas have pizazz. Others have an air of opulence. The Diplomats Ball had bounce.
For real.
The Institute of International Education’s Rocky Mountain Center marked the 40th anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy by making table tennis the focus of its 10th Diplomats Ball.
Pingpong tables were set up on the mezzanine of the University of Denver’s Magness Arena so that guests — who’d been asked to wear tennis shoes with their after-5 attire — could swat balls around during cocktail hour. The call to dinner included a brief demonstration match where table tennis champs Marilyn Feinstein and Emad Hussain showed off the sport’s various moves, including the drop shot, top spin and fifth-ball attack.
Feinstein, a Centennial psychotherapist, is a nationally ranked table tennis gold medalist and has taught the Olympic sport for 36 years; Hussain won numerous honors in his native Iraq, where he was communications director for the Iraq Olympic Committee.
Douglas Jackson, the president/ chief executiveof Project C.U.R.E.; Frieda Sanidas Leason, Colorado’s honorary consul emeritus for France; and Lucky Vidmar, the honorary consul for Slovenia, were the event’s “head coaches” and along with members of the committee, were identified by necklaces made from brightly colored pingpong balls.
Table decor, by Bouquets, also incorporated pingpong balls. Some were mixed with gerbera daisy blossoms that floated on water in large glass bowls; others were mixed with scarlet anthurium and chopsticks in restaurant take-out containers that tied to the dinner’s Chinese menu of shredded vegetable salad, Asian- spiced short ribs and white chocolate lychee roulade.
Bill Hybl was given IIE’s first Lifetime Achievement in Citizen Diplomacy Award for his service to the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the Western Union Foundation was recognized for its support of charitable causes worldwide. Hybl, the chairman and chief executive of the Colorado Springs-based El Pomar Foundation, was the U.S. Olympic Committee’s president during four Olympic Games.
Karen de Bartolome, executive director of IIE’s Rocky Mountain Center, helped welcome such special guests as the IIE’s national leader, Allan Goodman; Sheri Cioroslan, former president of USA Table Tennis, and her husband, Dragomir, a former Olympian who now heads the USOC’s international relations committee; Andre Snyman, coach of the Glendale Raptors Sevens Rugby Team; John Low, chair of the IIE’s regional advisory board; and Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com
