By all accounts, 24 red balloons tied to buckets outside a local nightclub should signal a party.

But a walk inside the Duke of Windsor, 522 Main St., Friday showed the atmosphere was much more than any old party.

Duke owner Cathy Best loaned out her venue for a good cause, and she and a couple dozen people spent Friday morning turning pool tables into auction blocks, the dance floor into a runway and the overall inside atmosphere into downtown New Orleans for a day.

With beads, crazy hair and fancy dress abreast at the Duke, "Mardi Gras for Julia," went off without a hitch to help Julia Renz, a 3-year-old Windsor girl is in need of a heart transplant, and her family in a trying time.

All the attention didn't go unnoticed by the spry little girl who, unless you

knew she was sick, didn't appear to have a care in the world.

"The big picture," Julia said pointing and loud enough to be heard through a microphone her mother, Rebecca, was speaking into.

In her pink dress and with her loving personality, Julia spent most of the time she was in attendance kissing her mom and acting like any 3-year-old little girl.

At 4 months old, Julia was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy, a condition where the left ventricle becomes enlarged, making it difficult for the heart to pump blood effectively to the body. Julia has been on medications to strengthen her heart muscles, but earlier this year, doctors found damage to Julia's right ventricle and her lungs. A subsequent heart catherization test showed her blood pressure readings high.

Julia was placed on a heart transplant list Jan. 11.

This night was for her.

Best, along with Sherry Mascarenas from Rumors on Main, 612 Main St., and Karin Banghart of Karinza Boutique, 1550 Main St. No. 130, put their heads together and came up with the idea.

"Sherry Mascarenas was the brainchild of the whole idea," Best said. "She just came over here and said, 'I have this great idea, and here we are.'"

But the trio of women met a couple times of week for the past month organizing the evening.

The $30 donation at the door included dinner, a fashion show, a silent auction and live entertainment. In addition, the United Indoor Football League's Colorado Ice players were on hand signing autographs.

The number of people who stepped up with donations and helped was overwhelming, Best said.

Even as the event was starting, donations were still coming in. All totaled, the group collected 22 live auction items and 90 silent auction items. From jewelry, autographed NFL prints and hair services to sporting equipment, tattoo services and HDTVs, if the group of women asked for it, they got it.

"It's amazing," Best said about the generosity of Windsor residents and businesses. "I had one guy from AT&T come in and give me a BlackBerry phone today anonymously. It just goes to show you, whenever there is a need in Windsor, people step up to help. I had complete strangers coming in here to help set up. It's just amazing."

Perhaps the most emotional part of the night, however, came when Julia's mother Rebecca Renz accepted checks from Walgreens and Windsor Cares for $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. Windsor Cares is a local organization set up to help families in need. It was started in June after the Windsor community stepped up to help 14-year-old Trenton Ditus, who was bitten by a rattlesnake.

Trenton's mother, Sherry Ditus, presented the check to the Renz family.

"Windsor Colorado stepped up then, and they've stepped up again," Sherry said to the large crowd that had gathered.

The generosity was almost too overwhelming for Renz, who had to stop several times to collect herself in her tears.

"Go get 'em mom," Renz's 5-year-old son, JJ, said at one point. "You're doing just fine."

Renz and her husband, Jeff, who moved to Windsor in 1999 but are temporarily living in Denver awaiting word on a transplant, called Windsor a great place filled with wonderful people.

"Saying thank you is just not enough," Renz said.

For more information on Julia and updates on her progress visit: www.caringbridge.org/visit/juliarenz._