Mann, Jean Powers and Frederick Lewis Mann

Jeannie Mann

(1941 - )

Ted Mann

(1941 - 2015)

Jeannie is a native of Denver and a graduate of Vassar College.  She worked for three years at the United Nations in New York City and in sales for Mexicana Airlines when she returned to Denver.

She contributed her marketing skills in the team effort that founded Frontier Airlines as a commercial airline in 1994; it had been a charter airline for 40 years prior to that.  As of this writing, Frontier has 500 flights daily to 80 destinations in the US, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

While working for Mexicana, Jeannie met Ted, who was then selling advertising for KVOD, a classical music station in Denver.  Ted, a native of the Chicago area and a graduate of Cornell College in Iowa, had a career in radio broadcasting.  They married and moved to Evergreen in 1977.

Jeannie's aptitude for business drew her to involvement with the local chambers of commerce, serving on the boards of the Evergreen Area Chamber of Commerce from 1998 - 2003, Conifer Area Chamber from 1999 - 2005, and Platte Canyon Chamber from 1998 - 2001.  She was the first person to be acknowledged as Ambassador of the Year by the Evergreen Chamber (1998).  For two years Jeannie served on the board of Leadership Evergreen (2004-5).

For 12 years Ted owned and operated Mountain Ranch Supply, a feed and tack store in Kittredge.

Ted served on the Evergreen Chamber board for five years (after Jeannie's term), including as its president for one year in the mid-1990s, during which time there was a significant surge in membership.  Ted also served on the board for Art for the Mountain Community in the mid-90s, an organization dedicated to placing high-quality, enduring art in public places in the mountain area.

Ted was a member of the board of the Colorado Philharmonic (now the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge) when it housed the 75-member orchestra (aged 18-26) at the Marshdale Lodge for about 10 weeks each summer.  The orchestra was started in 1960 to provide practical experience for young musicians from all over the country applying for jobs in professional orchestras.  Ted served on the committee in the mid 1980s that analyzed whether the orchestra could afford to stay in Evergreen; the orchestra did move to Keystone in 1987 before settling in Breckenridge.

Jeannie was a board member of the Friends of the Evergreen Library from 1982-90 until the county consolidated the Friends groups throughout the county into one organization.  Ted also served on the Friends board in 1990.  Since 2005 Jeannie has served on the board of the Jefferson County Library Foundation and is currently the Vice President.  The foundation takes credit for the summer reading program as well as the traveling children's library, which visits Head Start centers, helping young children to read in both English and Spanish.

Since 2004, Jeannie has volunteered with the Conifer DECA program, which prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs at the high school level for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management  around the globe.  Both Jeannie and Ted serve as judges of the International Business Plan competition.

In the early 1990s, Ted founded the Intermountain Horse Association, originally a branch of the Jefferson County Horse Council, and served as its leader for several years.  The group, now operating independently, is concerned with large animal evacuations at times such as the 2012 Lower North Fork Fire when 270 large animals were evacuated to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.  Then, and in 2013 when flooding of Bear Creek occurred, Ted served as "second in command" with the Jefferson County Horse Council in overseeing the feeding and accommodations for the animals for 10 days (2012 fire), volunteering from 4-11 hours each day.

Ted is a member of the Arts Alive! committee, which markets to attract larger audiences in support of arts and cultural events held in the Evergreen area.  He also participates in the Pathfinders, a group of 50 or more men who bring in speakers to learn about Evergreen and the surrounding areas.

When the Evergreen Jazz Festival started in 2001, the Manns were enthusiastic attendees who enjoyed the music and part of the committee that met with founder Sterling Nelson afterward to assess how the festival might continue, as it had cost Nelson $30,000 (net out of pocket) to produce the first one. The effort needed to be self-supporting if it were to exist as a viable annual event.

After a year's hiatus, the festival did re-ignite with an enthusiasm that has continued into a second decade, largely because of the leadership and business sense of Ted and Jeannie Mann.

Ted served as the festival's president from 2002 to 2005 and continued on the board until 2010; after complying with term limits, he was re-elected to the board a year later.  He was responsible for securing the organization's first grant from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), which helped it to establish a viable presence in the community.  In addition to playing a leadership role in securing nonprofit status, Ted has sold advertising and worked on numerous aspects of making the festival possible.

Jeannie has served as the producer of the jazz festival since 2003 (its second year), handling multimedia needs, satisfying the liquor license requirements for both Jefferson and Denver counties, putting together the schedule for up to 10 bands over a 3-day period at 6 venues, and coordinating the movement of instruments between venues.  In addition, she books the flights and accommodations for all the musicians who travel from a distance (some internationally), lines up live music for the showcase dance demonstrations, handles contracts for the musicians and venues, coordinates printing of tickets for the various shows, handles equipment rental, arranges for shuttles between venues, coordinates the educational programs, and oversees coordination of up to 100 volunteers.

Together the Manns have worked to diversify ownership of the Evergreen Jazz Festival while integrating a historical component to ensure sustainability.

Together, Ted and Jeannie have worked with the Mountain Area Land Trust to put their acreage in Evergreen under a conservation easement, protecting it from ever being developed.  Over the years, they have taken in rescue dogs from the Evergreen Animal Protective League, traveled around the globe, become Rockies fans, learned to dive, and have enjoyed jazz cruises.

(Click here for Ted Mann obituary for additional information.)