Diabetes fund-raiser a true local gem

Indeed, unless your precious trinket gets sucked into the garbage disposal or falls under a steamroller (it could happen), its value will last as long as its sparkle. Catch a few minutes of Antiques Road Show sometime if you don’t believe it.

On Friday evening, April 11, local gals who like to look smart and shop smart are cordially invited to attend the second annual Jewels and Jeans in Evergreen, a dazzling pre-owned jewelry bazaar benefiting the Children’s Diabetes Foundation at Denver. The fun runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., but diamonds, as everyone knows, are forever.

“It’s part of the foundation’s Jewels for Hope program to support research and care for the kids at the Barbara Davis Center for Children’s Diabetes in Denver,” says longtime Evergreen resident and foundation guild member Sally Marovich. “People have been donating jewelry all year from all over the place — Colorado, Kansas, Arizona, the whole region. We have fine jewelry, custom jewelry, broken jewelry — it’s all good. We fix it, clean it and sell it.”

While the Jewels for Hope is a brilliant fund-raising concept, it didn’t attain its full luster until Marovich placed it in the proper setting. That setting is Jewels and Jeans, held last year at the Evergreen Arts Center.

“I was hoping we’d get 100 people,” says Marovich, whose son, Matt, and husband, Ron, both have type 1 diabetes. “More than 270 people came, and we raised over $6,000. It was so successful that the foundation’s copying it in other places. They just had a really big Jewels and Jeans at the Humphrey Mansion.”

Why so popular? Perhaps because Jewels and Jeans has many facets. For starters, the casual-dress event (that’s the “jeans” part) offers top-shelf gems at rock-bottom prices. Then, for a mere $20 per person, this year’s guests will enjoy tasty treats courtesy of Qdoba and muy bueno margaritas blended up by sure-handed bartenders on loan from Cactus Jack’s Saloon.

“We’re asking everyone to reserve their place ahead of time,” says Marovich. “We’re not limiting attendance; I just need to know how much food to order.”

The capable ladies of Evergreen High School’s student senate will be there, acting as combination hostesses, waitresses and retail clerks. And, to make sure everyone leaves feeling as beautiful on the inside as they look on the outside, free chair massages, facials, tarot readings and various other spiritual pamperings will be available at no extra charge.

“With prom coming up, this is a great place to get that brooch or necklace for your prom gown. It’s a fun thing for mothers to do with their daughters,” Marovich says.

Because everything’s more fun with a dash of mystery, guests will park at the Hiwan Homestead Museum on Meadow Drive, where waiting shuttles will whisk them away to a secret Shangri La nearby.

As every husband, boyfriend and hopeful romantic knows only too well, purchasing baubles for one’s sweet babu is an exercise fraught with peril. It’s just as well, then, that Jewels and Jeans is exclusively for persons of the Eve persuasion — no Adams need apply. On the other hand, Marovich recognizes that guy-types have their uses.

“The Evergreen High School wrestling team has volunteered to set everything up ahead of time and then split,” Marovich laughs. “They’re definitely ‘Strong Backs ‘R’ Us.’ ”

While getting first-class personal ornaments at steerage prices is rewarding, the true value of Jewels and Jeans can’t be measured in carats. Thanks to organizations like the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and institutions like the Barbara Davis Center, living with diabetes feels a lot more like living.

“When I was diagnosed, I spent five days in the hospital — I turned 10 years old there,” says North Turkey Creek resident Stacy Jochim, 46. “The only way to diagnose it was with a urine test. And there was no way to bring your blood sugar down immediately, so you had to go on a very, very strict diet. Now you can basically sit down to just about any meal and adjust your insulin as needed.”

When her son, now a Conifer High School senior, was diagnosed with diabetes, Jochim took him to the Barbara Davis Center.

“The attitude was so different than it was for me,” she says. “Diabetes is still dangerous, but it’s not the frightening thing it used to be. You no longer have to live your life for your diabetes.”

To learn more about Jewels for Hope, visit www.jewelsforhope.org. To make reservations for Jewels and Jeans in Evergreen, call Regina at 303-628-5103.