A Touch of France in Fantastic White

A luscious blue Colorado sky never meant so much to someone as it did for Megan Peddycord, chair of Dinner in White, a premier fundraising event for the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Last year, the event was rained out even before it began. This year was not to be a repeat poor-weather performance.

“Look at all these blue skies,” Sara Peddycord, Megan’s mom and faithful supporter, gleefully reported.

“The committee was incredible, so enthusiastic,” said Megan with pride. “It was so important that it happen this year so we could get the momentum going again.” Although once slightly dampened, the event is solidly set in Denver’s social scene. In 2010, the Association of Fundraising Professionals named it “Best Special Fundraising Event”. The gathering, organized by a committee of young professionals, models Paris’s annual Diner Blanc.

This year, more than 250 people found their way to the party’s whereabouts. The location was kept under wraps until one hour before start time. Dot and Dan Bonnel enjoyed the anticipation.

“It was exciting and mysterious; such a clever idea,” said the giddy couple as they came through the entrance gate. They found their way perfectly to the towering white Eiffel Tower, a signature piece of the event, placed on Larimer Street between 32^nd and 33^rd.

An array of vendors lined the street from Le Central, with its outlay of inviting, delicious French pastries to the sweet, clean smells from MIG Soap & Body Co to the knock out coolness of everything in the Denver Fashion Truck. The mobile boutique owner Desiree Gallegos gratefully acknowledged the gift of a clear evening.

“The temperature is perfect. It’s just a gorgeous night,” she said. “I love that they have it later in the summer when the air is cooler. We’ll be back again and again.”

Founder of the urban winery Infinite Monkey Theorem Ben Parsons shared his heart when he spoke about his support for cause. He lost his father to colon cancer one year after the diagnosis.

“I started this business inspired by my father. We had always talked about creating a winery together.” He is an incredible supporter of the center, donating thousands of dollars and contributing an abundance of wine to the center’s events.

In short: Pour la beauté de la France à Denver, la simplicité magnifique de blanc viennent dîner en blanc. Rendez-vous l’année prochaine mon ami!

The University of Colorado Cancer Center is a consortium of three state universities, including the University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Colorado Denver and Colorado State University, and six institutions (University of Colorado Health, a network comprised of University of Colorado Hospital, Poudre Valley Hospital, Medical Center of the Rockies and Memorial Hospital; Children’s Hospital Colorado; Denver Health, Denver VA Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Colorado and National Jewish Health).