Junior League honors two at Paint the Town Red Gala

Review-Journal society columnist Dorothy Huffey and Mary Cashman and her family were honored March 16 during the Paint the Town Red Gala in the Champagne Room of Paris Las Vegas. About 450 guests attended the benefit for the Junior League of Las Vegas.

The women’s organization, started as the Service League of Las Vegas in 1946, has donated about $2 million to the community and thousands of volunteer hours (12,184 hours last year alone).

Huffey received the Lifetime Community Achievement Award. She joined the Junior League in 1972 and remains an active member of both Junior League Sustainers and Las Vegas Assistance League. In 1992, Huffey was voted Sustainer of the Year by Junior League, the same year she was a recipient of University of Nevada, Reno’s President’s Medal. She was the 2007 president of the Junior League Sustainers. In 2009, she was honored with the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ President’s Award for Outstanding Community Service.

The Cashman family has contributed to the community in many ways since James “Big Jim” Cashman arrived in unincorporated Las Vegas in 1904. He grew into a successful businessman who wore many hats: ferry operator, auto dealer, event planner and county commissioner. In 1931, he founded Cashman Equipment Co., which supported construction at Hoover Dam. The city’s baseball stadium bears the family name.

Big Jim’s wife, Mary, joined the Junior League in the late 1940s and was also a member of the local and state Catholic Welfare Board and chairwoman of its state board. More recently, she was a founding donor of The Smith Center for the Performing Arts.

In keeping with the evening’s theme, red and black dress dominated.

The silent auction included dozens of items such as VIP tickets to the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational and Kate Spade china settings for eight.

Guests included Neil and Kara Huffey, Sandee and Tito Tiberti, Sandy and Jelindo Tiberti, Eileen Hayes, Rosita Kanes, Susan Maddox, Nancy and Robert Gasho-Fromm , Thalia Dondero, Jan Allen, Linda Givens, Gustav and Denise Mauler, Karen and Morgan Cashman, Barbara Lee and Bruce Woollen, Betsy Rhodes, Rick and Jeri Crawford, Bob and Irais Kolesar, Irwin Kishner and his daughter, Judge Joanna Kishner, Jeanne Greenawalt, Mary and Terry Muratore, John and Dalisa Cooper, Michelle Eckmann, Kimberly and Brian Boschee, Cheryl and Bert Purdue, Lou and Fred Schwager, Jeff and Judy Harris, Dedee Nave and Sindy Baca .

Additional guests included Brad Margison, David Pulliam, Susan Houston, Kris and Rob Sheridan with daughter Olivia, 7, Persia Golden, Linda Baxter, Sandra and Louis Iannone, Dee and Ken Ladd, Robyne and Randolph Townsend, Melissa and Clark Warren, Polly and Bob List, Jewel Brooks, Nancy Houssels, Gayle Anderson, Melinda and Bob Brown, Carole and Norman Terry, Jan and Owen Nitz, Carolyn Sparks, Jenn Kratchowill, Janet and Andy Blumen, John and Jeanne Kilduff, Mikey and Jim Bilbray, Maria and Ted Quirk, Ken and Yvonne Gragson, Francine Pulliam, Cathy Bittenger, Libby Berke, Shakeh Ghoukasian, Sally McKinney, Barbara Barron, John O’Reilly, Bob Coffin and Mary Hausch, Bob Fisher, and Donna and Gail Andress.