Despite the spring blizzard of 2009, approximately 80 die hard Cottonwood Institute fans strapped on their snow shoes and winter gear to attend the Cottonwood Institute’s 4th Annual Base Camp Bash fundraising event at the Wynkoop Brewing Company in Denver. The Earth Day Ale was flowing as everyone got down to business bidding on their favorite silent auction items.

Dave Kagan, from Grand Rapids, MI, attended the event with his son Jeff Kagan, a Boulder resident, Environmental Educator, Cottonwood Institute Instructor, and one mean guitar player. Dave thoroughly enjoyed the night and was a lucky winner of a Cottonwood Institute vest and gift certificate to the Mountain Sun Restaurant and Brewery. Dave had only good things to say about the Bash: “I was very impressed with the people and organization of the event. It was very well put together, educational and laid back. I learned a lot from the slide show presentation about the mission of the Cottonwood Institute and where it is going. There was a nice feeling about the whole event, and I felt a real warmth from Ford and everyone who attended. We had a really good time and enjoyed the whole evening.”

Robbie Knight, from 99.5FM The Mountain helped Emcee the event and really helped make this a fabulous evening. She plugged the silent auction items and really helped highlight the purpose of the Base Camp Bash: to raise money to underwrite the Community Adventure Program in public schools in the Boulder/Denver area and to fund the Jason F. Griffith Scholarship Fund for our 2009 Summer Courses.

After tallying the donations, we ended up just $3,000 short of our fundraising goal. Unfortunately, many people who had planned to attend, could not make it through the blizzard to Denver where the event was held. In the week following the Bash, two anonymous donors stepped up to the plate to offer matching gift challenges up to $3,000 to help us reach our final goal. If you were unable to attend the Bash it not too late to contribute! You can still make a donation by clicking the link to DONATE NOW, or by simply head down to the Wynkoop Brewing Company before the end of April to enjoy a tasty pint of Earth Day Ale.