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Durango Friends of the Arts say gracias

It’s hard to imagine a better way to spend a summer June evening than margaritas, good food and fun company. Especially when it’s rainy outside and full of bright colors on the inside.

Held as a fundraiser for Durango Friends of the Arts at the home of Tom and Allison Morrissey, this may have been the first DFA event where the husbands were just as involved as the wives.

Gary Treat and Tom Morrissey were responsible for marinating and grilling the meat for the build-your-own-taco bar. John and Susan Welty, along with DFA President Carol Treat, decorated up a storm with balloons, streamers and Mexican textiles galore. Jack Morrison made such killer margaritas, Treat’s sangría barely got a taste. Barbara Morrison and Carol Treat provided the rest of the fixin’s for the taco bar.

Add in lively music and raising $2,000 for the Grant Fund, which will go to artists and arts organizations, and color it a fun time all around with and for friends.

My thanks go to Betty Kilpatrick for providing photos enough to make me feel like I got to enjoy the fun even though I was stuck in the newsroom that night.

HHH

Keeping their birthday cakes undercover so they will neither melt in the heat nor dissolve in the rain for their monsoon-season July birthdays are Dinah Swan, Jeff Karraker, Clark Lagow, J.C. Ellingson-Condie, Bonnie Jung, Freddie Mickel, Michael Meyer, Patricia Padilla, Lee Dalenberg, Adam Bogle, BJo Hatten, Robin Goldman, Ginny Brown, Kathy Thomas, Nancy Van Mols, Peggy Zemach, Jessica Miller, Deck Shaline, Buster Weahke Jr., Jerry Sheldon, Debby Morgan, Bee Atwood and Donna Chase.

HHH

For the third consecutive year, the Durango Duplicate Bridge Club hosted charity bridge events benefitting the Alzheimer’s Association for The Longest Day – June 21. Although, to give the club its props, it didn’t restrict its fund- raising efforts to just one day but offered bridge on June 18, 19 and 22. You might have noticed they didn’t actually play on the 21st. That’s because the Durango/La Plata Senior Center was closed that day, and that’s the headquarters for the event.

The summer solstice was selected to recognize that those who suffer from the degenerative disease and those who care for them have no relief from its effects.

The event was co-chaired by Barry Hillmer and Jim and Willa Beatty. Continuous bridge games were played from sunrise, when the center opened its doors, until well after sunset. By the time all was said and done, club members and guests had played more than 500 hands of bridge in five sessions.

While the duplicate folks hosted and organized the activities, social bridge was also offered. The Senior Center was a sea of purple as players wore purple shirts to mark the occasion.

Club members directing the various games included Jean Walter, Jim Beatty, Hillmer, and Bob and Arden Westerwick.

An important part of bridge is keeping players’ brains fueled. Club members provided snacks, and Subway, Durango Doughworks and Bread contributed meals.

The club raised more than $6,315 in donations, which exceeded its goal, and all of that was donated to the Alzheimer’s Association.

The event is co-sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League and the association. In addition to the symbolism of The Longest Day, there’s another perfect synergy in play here, if you’ll pardon the pun. Bridge is one of the activities that keeps an aging brain sharp, as every hand is different, and the game requires strategical thinking, card tracking and communication skills while strengthening social connections. That multitasking gets all the neurons firing.

One of my biggest regrets is that I don’t get to play enough bridge. Even though I’m a bit of a hack, my brain always feels like it got a good workout after an afternoon of bidding and playing.

Organizers have already committed to holding another The Longest Day bridge extravaganza in 2016, so bridge players, mark your calendars now.

HHH

In April, I wrote about the Bowl for the Veterans fundraiser, which raises funds to provide recreational activities for veterans at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Grand Junction, where many La Plata County veterans go for health care.

Octogenarian Louise White once again chaired the event with the able assistance of Janey Silver. They raised about $800 on Armed Forces Day, and Bowlers to Veterans Link, the overall effort, has raised $5,000 this year. They presented the check to Matt Lucus, head of recreation at the hospital, last week.

Doug McCall and the staff at the Rolling Thunder Lanes were an integral part of the success, as were sponsors Ritter Construction, Dairy Queen, Vectra Bank, Hanson Honda and Sky Ute Casino and Resort. One highlight of the day was having the Phoenix Boys Choir join them for the bowlathon.

In other bowling news, the bowling team Senior Moments, which includes White, Silver, Hilda Burch and Jan Wesley, won first place in their division at the Colorado Women’s Bowling Tournament in May. I’ve lost track, but White has competed in the event for more than 50 years, which has earned her more than one accolade.

HHH

The Rochester Hotel will hold the inaugural concert in its Secret Garden Concert Series featuring Lisa Blue from 4:30 to 7 p.m. today. In what it called a flash-grant process, nonprofits had about 10 days to be one of the beneficiaries of the gate – a $10 donation. The concerts also give the nonprofits a chance to present what they do to a new audience of music lovers and the bands to perform for nonprofit supporters who may not be familiar with their music.

Fifty-seven nonprofits applied to be part of the first year, and 12 were selected. They are Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado, Dogsters Spay and Neuter, the Durango Arts Center, Durango Education Foundation, Durango Friends of the Arts (funny how columns have a bit of a theme, isn’t it?), iAM Music Institute, La Plata Family Centers Coalition, Merely Players, Mountain Studies Institute, Sexual Assault Services Organization, the Southwest Center of Independence and Trails 2000.

Wow, talk about a cross-section of nonprofits that will benefit!

It’s worth going to more than one – or all – because the entrance donations will go into a pot to be split evenly among the 12.

Kirk Komick, co-owner of the Rochester, was thrilled to see all the applications. He said, to keep spreading the wealth, the nonprofits that were selected this year won’t be allowed to apply again next year.

“The fact that we received 57 applications in the first year illustrates that opportunities like this are needed for the nonprofit community,” said Briggen Wrinkle, executive director of the Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado.

HHH

The fireworks are over, but the celebrations are just starting for the anniversaries of Steve and Debbie Williams, Jon and Stephanie Lowe, Josh and Sue Magyar, Jerry and Joyce Wood, Jim and Tina Marie Trump, Brad and Susan Stamets and Tony and Nancy Stohl.

HHH

Here’s how to reach me: neighbors@durangoherald.com or phone 375-4584.



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