Mary Louise Starkey

From the Denver Post

By Bill Johnson

She tells the story of last Friday evening with such delight now, reveling at the memory of her chef, formerly of the White House, disgustedly taking a blow torch to his perfectly cooked lamb chops.

Mary Louise Starkey for weeks had worried over her invitation to the five felons, all out on parole, to sit at her long, white linen-covered and elegantly appointed dinner table at Starkey Mansion.

"Am I exposing myself and my school to their past relationships and the gang world?" she fretted.

By the time the ginger pumpkin soup was finished, she felt embarrassed to have worried.

"It was an adventure I would not have missed, an opportunity handed to me to make a difference," she said.

She is founder of Starkey International Institute for Household Management, a Denver school for butlers and chefs. Each year, she hosts 12 nine-course dinners for nonprofit and other charitable groups.

Last Friday, she hosted the Rev. Leon Kelly, executive director of Denver's Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives.

He brought five felons just released from prison, four men and one woman with more than 30 years of prison time combined. They are students in his Flip the Script program aimed at slowing the state's prison recidivism rate.

"It was a unique evening," Kelly said. "We are talking about men who had never worn a suit before."

He purchased all four suits, and one dress.

"I wanted them to experience being served in such an elegant setting," he said, "to see a world, a life they had never imagined."

They had been hard-core criminals, lifelong gang members with long rap sheets.

On this night, they arrived outfitted in tailored black or blue suits, proudly escorting their wives or significant others on one arm.

"I elicited many genuine smiles that night because I was not perceived as the individual I had been in former days," said Lloyd Pate, 31.

None of them understood the pumpkin soup. They had never had it before. The lamb chops were foreign and, to them, undercooked. Not even the chef's torch made them palatable.

"There were finger bowls. These are not people who know anything about finger bowls," Kelly said. "The night for them was a little different."

Each man and woman shared stories around the table over the four hours. Mary Starkey shared hers, how she was convicted of assaulting a student.

"I opened my heart to them," she said. "I told them that if they thought I was playing, I would be happy to show them my own mugshots."

Ten butlers served the table.

"Service is always from behind," Starkey said. "You could say this was problematic for some of the guests, who would spin quickly, just to make sure everything was OK. Kelly tried several times to explain."

The night concluded with coffee, chocolate truffles and dipped strawberries.

All of the stories had been told. The guests made their way to the front door. There, each man was given a gold box filled with truffles.

A long-stemmed red rose was presented to the lone female felon.

"I never went there," Mary Starkey said when asked if she had inquired about their crimes. "It didn't matter. It mattered to me more where they are now."

Bill Johnson writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-2763 or wjohnson@denverpost.com.

Read more: Johnson: Elegance on menu for felons - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/billjohnson/ci_16591179#ixzz156JHBndD