by Mark Smiley | Oct 2, 2018 | General Featured
Well-Established Retirement Community Brings Contemporary New Look To Southeast Denver
by Julie Hayden
Best Meals In Town: The Dining Room at Springbrooke Retirement Community has a brand new decor but the same great dining experience Springbrooke is known for.
Springbrooke Retirement Community, southeast Denver’s well-established retirement community, that’s who!
The multi-million-dollar renovation speaks volumes, as the community’s local owners, Michael Opatowski and Stephen Elken, believe their residents deserve the very best. In addition to quality health care, restaurant style dining, a full calendar of activities and a magnitude of other amenities that their residents enjoy, they know that re-investing in their building is very important. “We’re always striving to be the leader in the senior housing industry, and when I’m in Springbrooke weekly and talk with our residents and hear how happy they are then I know we have done our job,” says owner Michael Opatowski.
Springbrooke Retirement Community is conveniently located in central Denver near Leetsdale and Monaco.
The 142-unit community offers a lifestyle for everyone, including In
Multi-Million Dollar Renovation: Residents and family members at Springbrooke Retirement Community give rave reviews to the all-new look in the main Living Area.
dependent Living, Assisted Living and the newly remodeled Memory Care unit. Springbrooke also offers outpatient Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Physical Therapy onsite.
Residents rave the “facelift” is gorgeous. Each apartment boasts brand new cabinets and lighting and features new granite counter tops and carpet. You notice the new décor as soon as you walk in the door, as the Entry, Living Room and Bistro are also newly remodeled. The Library, Dining Rooms, Fitness Center and Serene Courtyard also have a wonderful new look.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the excellent dining experience. Opatowski and Elken have owned Springbrooke Retirement Community for almost 10 years and their amazing chef, along with other upper level management and staff members have been part of the Springbrooke community from the beginning.
Relaxing And Restful Serene Courtyard: In addition to spectacular mountain views from apartment balconies, Springbrooke Retirement Community offers a beautiful courtyard for all to enjoy.
The delicious meals are just one thing that sets Springbrooke Retirement Community apart.
Residents and family members truly appreciate that Springbrooke is locally owned and operated. The building offers spectacular mountain views and there are balconies off every apartment.
Opatowski adds, “Longevity of our staff is also an anomaly and differentiates us. Our Executive Director, LPN, Activities Director and Culinary Chef have been with us since we opened the doors 10 years ago.”
The owners invite all to stop by Springbrooke Retirement Community. “Sit in on a lecture, have a cup of coffee in our Bistro, enjoy a lunch and spend a quiet moment in our Serene Courtyard. We’re proud of our ‘facelift’ and happy to show it off.”
by Mark Smiley | Oct 2, 2018 | Travel
Pizza Truck: Allegra’s Pizza now operates out of their pizza truck at Odyssey School of Denver at 21st and Monaco and Long Table Brewhouse at 29th and Fairfax. Pickup orders can be placed by calling 303-333-4442 or online at allegraspizza.com.
by Mark Smiley
For the last 10 years, residents of Park Hill and outlying neighborhoods enjoyed ordering pizzas from Allegra’s Pizza which was situated within Oneida Park at 23rd and Oneida in Park Hill. Rick Firmine and Todd Snyder, the current landlords purchased the strip in January 2017 and have been planning new development ever since.
The new development includes a 7,000 square foot outdoor courtyard for kids to play and adults to hang out. Included in this new development will be Little Man Ice Cream and a second location for the popular Virginia Vale restaurant Esters Neighborhood Pub. Paul Sullivan, owner of Esters, indicates that after taking possession this July of the 5,000 square foot property, the former home of a liquor and convenience store, he hopes to open by the end of the year.
When Allegra’s Pizza’s lease was up in April 2018, Firmine and Snyder wanted them to move across the street. Tony Uva, owner of Allegra’s Pizza, wanted to stay in Oneida Park but rather than moving across the street which Uva says was an expensive proposition, Uva suggested taking the vacant store next door to the pizzeria and creating a bistro.
That didn’t fit with the plans so Uva decided to take his show on the road, literally. Allegra’s Pizza closed its doors in Oneida Park on March 30, 2018, and reopened on May 18, 2018, operating out of the pizza truck they have owned the last couple of years. “Essentially what it is, is a kitchen on wheels,” said Uva. They have a permanent location in the parking lot of Odyssey School of Denver at 21st and Monaco where Uva was once a reading volunteer.
“We looked at other locations along Colfax and elsewhere and rent for 1,200 square foot of space was going for $5,000 a month,” said Uva. “We are paying the Denver Public Schools $25 per hour.”
New Plans: Oneida Park, former home of Allegra’s Pizza, is preparing for major renovations including a 7,000 square foot park set to open in 2018.
Tony and his wife Christine remain optimistic that the existing customer base will remain. The truck has the capacity to bake twelve 16” pizzas at any given time, and their two employees (down from 11) will keep the pies baking. Allegra’s Neapolitan Pizza operates the truck on Thursdays at Long Table Brewhouse at 2895 Fairfax Street in Park Hill and Fridays at Odyssey School. They open at 5 p.m. on both nights and at both locations.
Due to the confined area of the kitchen in the truck, Allegra’s will only be able to fill pickup orders. Orders can be placed by calling 303-333-4442 or online at allegraspizza.com.
by Mark Smiley | Oct 2, 2018 | Feature Story Bottom Left
by Ed Mate, Executive Director of the Colorado Golf Association
Serena Williams’ latest display at the U.S. Open was… (blank). You tell me. As I watched this bizarre finish to a grand slam tennis final unfold, I know several adjectives came to mind. Rather than defending or criticizing her behavior in this forum, I would rather look at what this incident says about today’s athletes and the broader attitude toward referees in our culture. And as executive director of the Colorado Golf Association and a student of the rules of golf, I am interested in looking at how the uniqueness of the rules of golf are more and more at odds with our “modern” attitude toward sport and specifically toward the enforcement of rules.
For the past several weeks the Colorado Golf Association has been releasing a series of videos highlighting the upcoming changes to the rules of golf that will take effect on January 1, 2019. The rules of golf have been completely rewritten in the past six years and the much-anticipated 2019 rule book has been released. This project was the most far-reaching and ambitious rules project ever undertaken at one time by the United States Golf Association and Scotland’s Royal and Ancient in the many years the two organizations have co-authored the rules. The moniker that has been attached to this project has been “Rules Modernization.”
The term “modernization” was not the first choice to label this top-to-bottom rewrite of golf’s ancient code. The term emerged during the process as a reaction to the first choice of “simplification.” As the project unfolded it became very clear that the end result would not produce a “simple” rule book. The game of golf is played on the most varied and complex “court/field / arena” in all of sport. No two golf courses are the same, all circumnavigate hundreds of acres and are cut through forests, deserts, sand dunes and any other natural topographical features that lend themselves to chasing a white ball. As a result, the rules have to accommodate for infinite nuance and eventualities that can come into play when a ball is turned loose and allowed/required (unless you are Phil Mickelson — see 
2018 U.S. Open — but that is another story) to come to rest with only the forces of nature and fate determining its final resting place. So, since simple was not possible, the term modern was chosen — and it stuck.
Personally, I think “modern” is the perfect word to describe the new rule book, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think. For most, the first meaning that comes to mind for the word “modern” is “in step with the times,” “relevant to today’s world,” “up-to-date.” Unless you are a stick-in-the-mud “modern” is good … right? When you look at the changes to the 2019 rules of golf you will find a kinder and gentler game of golf. Many one-stroke penalties have been eliminated in the name of “fairness” and “equity.” This is most certainly a “modern” concept. The word “unfair” has come to mean “anything that happens to me that I don’t like.” I have had many conversations over the past two decades with my two children who have certainly grown up with this notion. Taking responsibility for your actions and accepting the results of tough situations is as en vogue today as churning your own butter. Call me a curmudgeon, but there is a lot to be learned from accepting what life hands us with dignity and resiliency. Despite the softening of this concept in the 2019 rules of golf, I believe the game continues to test us in this manner better than any other sport. The simple fact that in golf we have to allow a ball to come to rest without intervening (see helicopter parents) is a great metaphor for life. And most importantly, golf is the one sport where you call penalties on yourself. There is no referee looking over your shoulder to throw a flag or blow a whistle.
Which brings us back to Serena. If you listen to her tirade (I am sorry that is what it was) the one word she used over and over was “unfair.” Was it? Was it “unfair” that an umpire enforced a rule based on his observations from the chair, a job he was doing to make sure the skill of the players determined the winner? Based on the reaction of the N.Y. fans, it seemed clear to me that most of us “modern” folk are on Serena’s side. Oh well, I’ll leave it there — I have some butter to churn.
Ed Mate served on the USGA Rules of Golf Committee for the past three years as a member of the committee who helped develop the updated and revised rules of golf that will become effective on January 1, 2019.
