High Altitude Society

Carolyn Pope, VailCarolyn@comcast.net
April 23, 2008

VVMC VOLUNTEER CORPS FASHION SHOW
The spring wouldn’t be the same without the annual Vail Valley Medical Center Volunteer Corps’ annual spring luncheon. Neiman Marcus of Cherry Creek stepped up to the plate once again and presented a spectacular lineup of this coming summer’s fashion collection. The event was chaired for a second year by the amazing Sandi Kinsley. And trust, after chairing that event once myself, the lady deserves kudos for putting herself on the front line for two years in a row!

The Marriott Mountain Resort was overflowing with more than 400 women anxious to see not only what Neiman’s had to bring, but also to raise money for a Breakaway Imaging O-arm, which is a multi-dimensional, surgical imaging for complex spine surgeries. The new technology, available in only three hospitals in Colorado, provides real-time, 3-D images in the operating room.

More than $35,000 was raised on the Volvo raffle. It was fitting that the Medical Center’s Kathy Hosa won the sleek vehicle; not only has she worked for VVMC for many years, but she’s a loyal Volvo customer. Rumor has it that her family owns two Volvos with a couple hundred thousand miles on them! She won the car after purchasing only one (lucky) ticket.

The fashion show featured not only beautiful professional models from Denver, but also some of our own local volunteers. According to Sandi Kinsley, the two most memorable models were Richard Norris, one of the greeters at the hospital, who wasn’t intimidated shaking his “groove thing” in front of all the ladies, and Miss Kelly, one of the “Pet Partner” volunteers at the hospital. Miss Kelly is the proud owner of Cynthia Kruse (since we all know that dogs actually own their masters).

“It was the best show ever,” Kinsley said. “Neiman’s brought the most wonderful colorful spring fashions. The flowers were fabulous and the food was excellent.”

SPELLEBRATION
Spelling just isn’t for the young ones in school. Grown-ups can get into the action too, at the Literacy Project’s Spellebration. The event, held last week at the Eagle-Vail Pavilion, had more than a dozen teams putting on their proverbial thinking caps, or in the style of the Gallegos’ Corporation’s Norvegun Spelin Champunz, Viking horns.

The team of Randy and Ann Olin and Ric Maxson walked away with yet another win, but they definitely had some challengers. From bankers to librarians, groups of three debated words that most had never seen or read. A group of kids, however, put on the best challenge of the night. They weren’t without help, though, as some sugar daddy paid off their passes on words they weren’t comfortable with with a few “buybacks,” which ran anywhere from $50 to $200.

For this year, the grown-ups from Gallegos had the right skills. Next year? Rumor has it the kids are actually planning on studying!

The Literacy Project of Eagle County is a non-profit organization that provides free tutoring to functionally illiterate adults by training volunteers to be tutors. Since 1990, the Literacy Project has trained more than 300 tutors and helped 400 students. The program services include individualized tutoring for adults and middle school students and family literacy.

“We always need volunteers because we get students on a regular basis,” said Colleen Gray, the executive director. “Our budget is nearly $350,000 and it is raised through a library grant, two fundraisers (the Spellebration and an annual summer fashion show) and through grants and private donations.”

“You don’t know who is going to win,” she added. “It’s an event that brings people from all over the county. There are many people who still appreciate spelling and it’s a good way to promote lifelong learning.”

And it’s a humbling way to have a great time.

» To help us publicize your event, e-mail VailCarolyn@comcast.net or call (970) 748-2989.

Click on photo galleries at www.vailtrail.com to see more photos from this event.