Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920

March 11, 2003 FRONTIER NAMED RESTAURANT NEIGHBOR OF THE YEAR UNM community supported Rainoseks for award The Frontier Restaurant has been named Restaurant Neighbor of the Year by the New Mexico Restaurant Association. The award was presented recently to Larry and Dorothy Rainosek at the annual Hospitality Industry Awards. The Rainoseks are the owners of the Frontier Restaurant and Golden Pride Restaurants in Albuquerque. Several individuals and groups from the University of New Mexico community sent letters in strong support of the Rainoseks. Among them, Roger Schluntz, dean, School of Architecture and Planning; Thomas Dodson, former dean, College of Fine Arts; James S. Moy, current dean, College of Fine Arts; Leslie Elgood, president, UNM Foundation; Jada Lucey Martinez, executive director, New Mexico Lobo Club; Michael Emerson, chair, Friends of the UNM Presidential Scholarship Program; and Mary Wolford, development associate, Presidential Scholarship Program. "Larry and Dorothy Rainosek have been incredibly generous and well connected to UNM," said Belinda Vogel, UNM development specialist. The Rainoseks are charter members of the President's Club, a group of high-level donors who directly support initiatives designed to reduce the freshman dropout rate. Additionally, as advocates for the Presidential Scholarship Program, the Rainoseks helped raise more than $53,000 in new scholarships last fall. Mrs. Rainosek is also a member of the UNM Foundation Board of Directors. The College of Fine Arts received support from the Rainoseks in the college's "Yes, We Have No Marimbas" fundraiser a few years ago and in underwriting tickets for a theatre production so the college could provide free tickets to children. "Their most enduring contribution was the renovation of, and addition to the college's Tamarind Institute of Lithography - adding on a beautiful gallery and office space," wrote Dodson. The Rainoseks are tremendous Lobo supporters. The Frontier Restaurant co-sponsored the Lobo Club Tip-Off Dinner in 1999 and the Lobo Legends Dinner last year. They are season ticket holders for football and men's and women's basketball. They have been members of the Lobo Club as cash and gift-in-kind donors for more than 30 years. The School of Architecture and Planning truly does see the Frontier as their Restaurant Neighbor of the Year, wrote Schluntz. The Rainoseks provided scholarships for the last 15 years to planning students and recently expanded to offer three annual $1,000 scholarships, one each in architecture, landscape architecture and planning. As a neighbor, they have supported the new facility for the School of Architecture and Planning. Elgood wrote, "The University of New Mexico has the highest regard for the Rainoseks and considers them ambassadors for the University. Their devotion to and deepest regard for education is surpassed only by their Herculean efforts to make their neighbor, the University of New Mexico, a place of excellence." # # #

The University of New Mexico
Public Affairs Department
Hodgin Hall, 2nd floor
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-5813
Fax: (505) 277-1981