If you can’t make it to the exotic, glamorous life of international casinos, High Noon Rotary Club of Durango will bring it you.
Members held their annual Casino Night on Saturday at the DoubleTree Hotel’s Ballroom, where the masquerade fun was all the rage.
A number of the more than 150 guests wore masks, and a lot of black tie wear was on display. It was so busy, there were times it was hard to find a seat at a table, making it the best kind of crush.
Jeannie Wheeldon led the decorating effort, lining the walls with giant masks rimmed with lights and giant playing cards and using more masks, beads and lights as centerpieces to really set the scene.
Executive Chef Raun Sutton and his crew served a deluxe menu including smoked salmon mousse-stuffed profiteroles; baked Brie with sweet fig jam; goat cheese crostini with caramelized onions and arugula; fresh spring vegetables served in martini glasses and topped with dried tomato-ranch dressing; a “Slider Action Station” with fresh housemade brioche, herb-roasted turkey, Cajun-rubbed pork loin and rosemary-roasted top round of beef; and Granny Smith apple tarts with orange pastry cream for sweets.
Guests received “$5,000” at the door and could either go down in flames and buy more or accumulate some sweet moolah, which would enable them to put tickets in for a drawing for a trip to Las Vegas. (OK, not as glamorous as Monte Carlo perhaps, but still ...)
Howard Wilson, who has competed in the World of Poker Tournament, was the winner of the trip. He and wife, Marjie, are generous to a number of causes in the area, so this was definitely a good karma win.
Casino Night is High Noon’s largest fundraiser of the year, with proceeds going to the club’s scholarships. It generally gives from $12,000 to $15,000 in scholarships every year to outstanding local students, so you can see how much the event matters.
Rotary, in general, works to benefit the community and the world, because it’s Rotary International, after all. Most recently, the club teamed up with the Rotary Club of Durango and Durango Daybreak Rotary Club to remodel the kitchen at the Volunteers of America’s Durango Community Shelter, donating both money and manpower.
The club’s current international project is working with a Mayan tribe in Guatemala to create a self-sustaining business with cacao beans.
HHH
They can save their breath because these birthday celebrants can let the hurricane strength – well majorly gusty winds – blow out their candles for them: Verlena Collentine, Arden Peters, Sarah Maxted, Charlie Hakes, Mary Ann McCarthy, Lynsey Powell, Alane Brown, Bella Kidd, Marjie Wilson, Ben Barker, Kate Scott, Joyce Hondru, Trish Simonton, Jacob Ward, Dana Hoffman, Ashley Bertrand, Zachary Harrison, Tom Ware, Bryan Bauer and Erin Blackwell.
HHH
About a decade ago, the big foundations on the Front Range really began noticing there was good work being done by nonprofits down here. (There had been support before by several, but it took lots of trips to Denver to actually get the money down here.)
And the foundation that led the way was El Pomar, which has steadily and consistently given big-ticket money.
El Pomar even formed regional councils, where members who know their communities make recommendations for where the money should go.
In March, Peter Maiurro, vice president of El Pomar, was in town to hand out checks with lots of zeros on them to a number of deserving nonprofits who help youth in our area.
The presentation took place at Sorrel Sky Gallery. The total presented was $192,500 to organizations from La Plata, Archuleta, Montezuma, Dolores and San Juan counties.
Included among the recipients was Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado, awarded $45,000 for its High School Big Program. I wrote a story about the program in January, and it was amazing how younger kids responded to an older student taking an interest in them and how older students thrived when a younger kid depended on them.
Several organizations received funds for general operating expenses. It’s not glamorous (am I sounding pretty focused on glamour today?), but keeping the doors open and the lights turned on is a key component for success.
Those nonprofits included the La Plata Family Centers Coalition, $15,000; Boys and Girls Club of La Plata County, $10,000; La Plata Youth Services, $15,000; Mountain Studies Institute, $10,000; Pagosa Youth Center, $10,000; Southwest Open School, $10,000; Boys and Girls Club of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, $7,500; Piñon Project, $7,500; Archuleta County School Heath Clinic, $5,000; Montezuma County Farm to School Project, $5,000; Silverton Youth Center, $5,000; and STUDents Taking Action Against Underage Drinking, $5,000.
STUDents is a wonderful group founded by students at Dove Creek High School, who saw a problem among their peers and decided to do something about it.
They put a great quote by Catharine M. Wallace on their Facebook page: “Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them, all of it has always been big stuff.”
That’s a good idea for communications between adults, too.
The School Community Youth Collaborative received $17,500 for its general operating expenses and Teen Maze; Regional Substance Abuse Prevention Partners got $10,000 to conduct its Healthy Kids Colorado Survey; the San Juan Board of Cooperative Services took home a check for $10,000 for its Check and Connect Program; and Seeds of Learning Family Center was given $5,000 for The Incredible Years Program.
Since the Southwest Regional Council’s founding in 2004, it has recommended grants totaling more than $1,675,550. Current council members include Byron Maynes, the president of First National Bank of Cortez, Chuck McAfee, a community leader in Montezuma County, Durango City Councilor Dean Brookie (president of Brookie Architecture and Planning for his day job), Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, and Mary Jo Coulehan, former director of the Pagosa Springs Chamber of Commerce.
From whence cometh this largesse? El Pomar is one of the oldest and largest private foundations in the Rocky Mountains. Founded by Spencer and Julie Penrose in 1937, it gives away about $20 million a year through grants and Community Stewardship Programs. The foundation focuses on health, human services, education, arts and humanities and civic and community initiatives.
I’ve written more than one story about El Pomar. It has been a consistent presence here, and its focus on helping us help our youth thrive proves the African proverb that “It takes a village to raise a child.”
It sounds trite. But having an organization like El Pomar, which has really vetted its grantees, recognize your exellence and put its money into achieving your mission is not only good for morale, it opens the door to other foundations, too.
Thanks to El Pomar for making it easier for a lot of important community organizations to do their work.
HHH
The whole world is greening up for the 55th anniversary of Bud and Sandy Beebe.
HHH
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