Fête des Fleurs raises $250,000 for Denver Botanic Gardens
des Fleurs, the signature fundraiser for Denver Botanic Gardens, is much more than a lovely dinner-dance held in the late summer splendor of one of the city’s most beautiful venues.
The money that it generates funds Dbg-hosted programs that range from therapeutic horticulture to the distribution of fresh vegetables to those living in areas of the city that are considered food deserts.
As event chairs Jocelyn Ege and Samantha Thompson told the 565 who attended Fête des Fleurs 2017: The $250,000 in ticket purchases, table sponsorships and generous donations will enable the DBG staff and volunteers to build on what was done with proceeds from the 2016 gala.
Last year, they noted, the money was used to grant free admission to some 34,000 children on school group tours and to expand the Veterans Farm Program that resulted in 57,000 pounds of produce being grown for the Community Supporting Agriculture Program and Urban Food Initiatives. Also, in cooperation with Denver Housing Authority and Denver Human Services, Fête funds were responsible for helping DBG staff and volunteers grow 3,500 pounds of fresh vegetables to give to those whose diets otherwise would not include such healthy elements.
Therapeutic horticulture sessions, Ege and Thompson added, also received funding and involve using plant life to comfort, enhance memory or simply evoke a smile in seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and children on the autism spectrum.
Fête 2017 began with cocktails, conversation and hors d’oeuvres served in the All-america Selections Garden and continued with dinner — roasted yellow pepper custard surrounded by heirloom tomatoes, marinated purple fingerling potatoes and baby greens, and basil-butter tenderloin followed by an assortment of bite-sized desserts from Catering by Design.
Guests dined at tables set up in the beautifully decorated Amphitheater Tent and Orangery and then danced until midnightto the music of Tunisia.
The evening’s floral arrangements, underwritten by the Robert and Judi Newman Family Foundation, were arranged by Cora Wheeler and members of the Garden Club of Denver. Andrisen Morton sponsored the succulents that were given as souvenirs of the event.
Former Fête chairs Marianne and Tim Sulser, Kelly and Matt Stava, Allison and Nelson Perfête kins, Heidi and Mike Hammell and Merrill and Lem Smith were on hand for the 33rd edition of this popular event, joining a crowd that also included Pete and Marilyn Coors; Dr. Jandel Allen-davis, immediate past chair of the DBG board; and such current trustees as Lakewood City Manager Kathy Hodgson, Mike Imhoff, Christina Caulkins, Mary Lee Chin, Ding-wen Hsu, Wy Livingston, Meg Nichols and Charlie Woolley.
Brian Vogt, the DBG’S chief executive, also welcomed such valued supporters as Joy and Chris Dinsdale; Sarah and Chris Hunt; Heather and Mike Miller, Andi and John Freyer, Lise and Ric Bellmar; Mandi and Peter Buche; Anne Marie and Andrew Blaustein; Mary Schaefer; Stephanie and David Tryba; Nancy and Tim Buese; Emily Sturm; Lauren and Christopher Davis; and Maggi Quinn, who was marking her last day as the DBG’S director of operations.