Colorado Fresh Markets
Bacon And Beer Classic Coming To Denver For 4th Annual Fest
by Mark Smiley
The 4th Annual Bacon and Beer Classic will be held at Broncos Stadium at Mile High on Saturday, May 11, 2019. Attendees will be treated to unlimited bacon dishes prepared by local chefs from 30+ Denver restaurants, 100+ craft beers from regional breweries, music, games, and more on the Broncos’ iconic home turf. There will be two sessions, afternoon (12 p.m. to 4 p.m.) and evening (5 p.m. to 9 p.m.).
This fest has quickly become one of the more popular ones in a sea of beer fests throughout the metropolitan area. One thing that makes this fest unique is the fact that guests are on the field of Mile High Stadium. And, those that purchase a VIP ticket are able to have exclusive access to the visitors’ locker room for a sampling of pork belly and different craft beers.
All attendees will be able to bob for bacon, sample beer in a blind taste test, strut in the bacon beauty pageant, and compete in the Hormel bacon eating contest. Guests also will be able to try their hand at giant Jenga, strike a pose at the photo booth, battle it out on the bungee run, and brand themselves with bacon and beer-inspired tattoos.
As always, tickets are all-inclusive, which means you can sample bacon and beer throughout the stadium without ever taking out your wallet. Choose from three ticket types: General Admission, Power Hour, or VIP. General Admission tickets start at $69, Power Hour tickets start at $89, and VIP tickets start at $119.
VIP and Power Hour ticket holders enter the stadium an hour early through an expedited line. VIPs also enjoy access to an exclusive lounge in the visiting team locker room with a pork belly tasting, limited-edition craft beer, a donut wall, and beer and cheese pairing. All tickets include a commemorative tasting glass and access to the Bacon and Beer Classic mobile app for vendor information, a stadium map, and more.
Visit www.baconandbeerclassic.com for information and to purchase tickets. Chronicle readers can take advantage of an exclusive 15% discount by entering GLENDALE at checkout.
Hey Mama: You’re The Best
Chronicle’s Guide To Showing Your Mom How Much You Appreciate All She Has Done For You
Mum’s the word in May. The English idiom expressed by William Shakespeare in Henry VI reminds us May 12 is Mother’s Day. It’s the special day when you get to celebrate your first best friend and the person you turn to when you need advice.
Mothers are like glue. Even when you can’t see them, they’re still holding the family together. For most women motherhood is a joy — a least some of the time. It is the catalyst that opens new connections as well as new stresses in a woman’s relationships with her partner, siblings and friends.
The idea of honoring mothers with a special day dates from the 19th century; In 1908, Anna Jarvis led a campaign to celebrate Mother’s Day in May. In 1914 a resolution by Congress and a presidential proclamation established the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Here’s Chronicle’s guide for showing your mother, grandmothers, sisters, aunts and friends how special they are:
Afternoon Tea
Let mom relax in style at the Brown Palace’s Traditional Afternoon Tea in the historic hotel’s legendary atrium lobby. You’ll be served tea, scones, pastries and dainty sandwiches, all artfully prepared by the hotel’s culinary staff. More: She’ll enjoy the soothing sounds of a harp or pianist playing classical, jazz and pop standards. Information 303-297-3111.
Or, take her to Mother’s Day afternoon tea at the historic Molly Brown House where she will love the savory sandwiches, sweet treats and specially blended tea, plus a chance to stop in the museum store. Information: 303-832-4092.
Dining With Mom
Mother’s Day only happens once a year so it’s best to make the most of it by bringing the family together at the Monaco Inn Restaurant. A dining experience like no other, specials include Lamb Shank, Lamb Chop & Grilled Shrimp, New York Steak & Fried Shrimp and Grilled Trout all priced under $25. The regular dinner menu is also available for mom and the family. Brunch is being served from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Information: 303-320-1104.
Mother’s Day brunches are happening all over the city. A top choice is the Dom Perignon champagne brunch at Ellyngton’s in the Brown Palace downtown known for its carving stations and seafood selections. Information: 303-297-3111. Or, dazzle your mom this year at Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge on Curtis St. with live jazz performed by the Julie Monley Quartet from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Mother’s Day. Information: 303-839-5100. Other choices are the Tavern Lowry (303-366-0007) serving a brunch buffet from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and the Del Frisco’s Grill (303-320-8529) in Cherry Creek.
Flowers
Present mom with a fragrant bouquet of freshly cut, elegantly arranged flowers. Choose from these top floral shops that can help you find the perfect arrangement for mom:
Bloom — Upscale florist offering chic floral arrangements plus accessories for mom on 3rd Ave. at University Blvd. Information: 720-941-2862.
Bouquets — Located in lower downtown, it was named one of America’s top 10 florists by Bon Appetit Magazine. Information: 303-333-5500.
Flower Power — A cozy, unfussy Wash Park neighborhood florist offering a sizable selection of flowers. Information: 303-777-6266.
Perfect Petal — Creative Highlands florist providing custom arrangements plus a boutique section with gifts for mom. Information: 303-480-0966.
Theater
Treat mom to an afternoon of exhilarating musical theatre with Sweat or Wicked at the Denver Performing Arts Complex or indulge her love for classical music during a performance of Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique at Boettcher Concert Hall also in the DCPA. Information: 303-893-4100.
Or for a hilarious comedy both you and mom will enjoy, get tickets to Noel Coward’s silly, rebellious 1925 comedy Hay Fever. It opens Mother’s Day weekend and plays at the John Hand Theater in Lowry each weekend through June 8, Fri.-Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Information: 303-455-7108.
One Man Play Storms Denver’s Masonic Temples
‘DaVinci & Michelangelo Battle Of The Titans’ Celebrates Both Men AND Their Times
by Charles C. Bonniwell
2019 is the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo DaVinci which is being noted in Italy and around the world. Denver Museum of Nature and Science started on March 1 as a much heralded sensory experience celebrating DaVinci’s “500 Years of Genius.” But another event is starting to gather equal notoriety, that being a one man play starring Mark Rodgers titled DaVinci & Michelangelo — Battle of the Titans which will be held consecutively at two Masonic Temples in Denver, following an opening night of May 2 at the Mayan Theater on Broadway.
DaVinci’s and Michelangelo’s lives overlapped in 16th and 17th Renaissance Italy with DaVinci being 25 years the senior of the two men. Mark Rodgers’ play compares and contrasts the genius of each man whose lives changed the world, and whose influence is still a vibrant force today. Audio visual wizard Matt Boggs created for Rodgers’ play three screens of high/tech, high definition laser images that are intended to explode before the viewing audience.
Boggs explained, “I wanted to provide a one-of-a-kind, non-stop, multi-media event featuring movies, videos, 3-D; animations, and images of DaVinci’s and Michelangelo’s inventions, machines, sketches, codices, paintings and sculptures.”
“It is a shamanic experience . . . not to be missed,” exclaimed Anthony Arguello. He goes on to note, “It will change your life.” Venture capitalist and the show’s producer Fritz Voelker stated, “People will be amazed. The show is designed to overwhelm your senses while enlightening anyone who comes about the lives of these two extraordinary men.”
An additional element to the play is that it will be held on May 3-5 at the landmark Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (14th and Grant), and then May 9-12 at the Park Hill Masonic Temple Theater at 4819 Montview Boulevard. Both men were, according to some, Masons and incorporated Masonic symbolism throughout their work. Rodgers explores often missed Masonic mysteries contained in the works of both men.
“The performance is so unique, and I am sure most theater patrons have never seen anything like it,” states Rodgers. Voelker noted that “you get to see and experience Renaissance Italy through these two men while being surrounded by the images of the art, sculpture and machines that the men created thanks to visual genius of Matthew Boggs.”
A version of the play debuted at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Paul Ann Water exclaimed, “I left [the performance] with only one word … WOW!” Riley Redpath agreed, “Mark Rodgers is a tour de force.”
The show runs two hours with a 15-minute intermission. Tickets are $35 general admission and for students with a valid I.D. admission is $20. For tickets and information go to www.discoverdavinci.com or call 720-504-9408.
Heather Gardens Hosts HOA Town Hall
Capacity Crowd Demands More Transparency
by Ruthy Wexler
The reason a group of residents pleaded with legislators to hold an HOA Town Hall early in April was that one of the few regulatory measures the Colorado legislature has applied to HOAs (Home Owner Associations) is that the property managers (community association managers, or CAMS) hired to run them must be licensed, and that licensing law, sunsetting July 19, 2019, was up for discussion and vote mid-April. State senators Nancy Todd and Rhonda Fields and state representatives Mike Weissman and Janet Buckner not only agreed to hold the HOA Town Hall on April 6, 2019, but assembled a panel of experts for the event. Well over 100 residents attended, writing their questions down on the 3×5 cards provided by the four legislators, who assured the standing-room-only crowd that the cards would be kept and studied. “The result,” said Weissman, “would be a document we will all share widely.”
Capacity Crowd: Over 100 HOA homeowners showed up for the April 6 HOA Town Hall at Heather Gardens. Most of their requests focused on: 1) more disclosure and transparency for costs such as home sale transfer fees; 2) a way to settle disputes between homeowners and their HOAs that does not involve going to court; and 3) legislative support for the above. Many expressed disbelief that solutions to these problems could be so difficult.
The panelists — attorneys Suzanne Leff and Brian Matise; Jefferey Riester, from the state HOA office; realtor Jim Smith and homeowner advocate Stan Hrincevich — barely made a dent in the pile of cards, most of which voiced concern about, as a longtime Denver realtor put it, “moral and ethical transgressions” by the very entities supposedly there to support homeowners. When one homeowner complained that her management company refused to give her the financial records she’d requested — and Leff, a partner at Winzenburg, Leff, Purvis & Payne, assured the woman she has a “perfect right under the law to those records” and suggested something the woman had already done (put the request in writing) the audience groaned in unison.
‘I know, I know,” empathized Leff. “But I urge you to use those avenues … when communities work well it is wonderful. I want communities to work!”
If a partner in a law firm that “practices community association law on a daily basis” wants HOA communities to work — if legislators, as they asserted, want HOAs to work better for homeowners — and if homeowners desperately want their communities to work — then what is the problem?
Up To You
One step in the direction of making HOA communities work better was the establishment, in 2011, of the Colorado HOA Information & Resource Center, under the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). This office was originally conceived as an ombudsman, or advocate for homeowners. Now, explained Riester, Director of Legislative Affairs for that office, “we provide information, tell homeowners what rights they have under the law, accept complaints and compile those complaints in a report that goes to the General Assembly.”
“When we file a complaint with your office, it doesn’t go anywhere,” said an older gentleman.
“At this time,” Riester said, “there are no bills that would increase the teeth of this office to enforce complaints.”
“Short of filing suit, where can homeowners go?” asked the gentleman.
“We don’t provide legal advice,” Reister said. “Just: these are the facts, now it’s up to you to do what you have to do.
“Our department is currently up for sunset review,” he added. “So please, if you think the office should have more teeth, give input.”
Hrincevich, who founded Colorado HOA Forum five years ago to “improve HOA governance through legislative reform,” took the mic.
“Here is what you’re not being told,” he began.
Bunk
“When the HOA office was created, the law provided for that office to investigate complaints,” Hrincevich said. “Right before the law was complete, that was taken out.
“Then in 2013 the CO legislature directed a study of HOAs in Colorado. The [resultant] study recommended that the HOA Office install out of court dispute resolution process for homeowners.”
“You have to be very careful with alternate dispute resolution,” interjected Matise, whose practice at BurgSimpson includes general counsel for homeowner associations. “It would be expensive.”
“That is bunk,” Hrincevich said. “It’s bunk to say it would cost money or be too hard. All the groundwork has been laid. Don’t need a committee. Don’t need any further studies. We keep riding politicians to do what the 2013 study recommended. But they ignore us.”
Profit Center
The discussion touched on various subjects like street jurisdiction (HOAs or city?) and disabled parking spots (how to get one), to which the panel had various, legalese-laden answers, but when the subject of Transfer Fees arose, there was no ambiguity. Panelists and residents agreed that the fees management companies charge for an HOA home sale were excessive and unjustified. Jim Smith, who has penned several Denver Post columns about “predatory transfer fees” said, “It’s nothing but a profit center for these companies.”
“When I was about to close,” said former HOA homeowner Nancy Markow, “I needed a status letter (showing dues currency) which I printed out myself. But they charged $150, then charged for that letter to go through something called Association Online, then through a company called Homeline for an additional….”
In the end, Markow paid almost $1,000 in transfer fees.
Depending On Legislation
The discussion kept circling back to the CAM Licensing law. The four legislators said they were in favor of continuing licensing. Buck Bailey, a property manager, thought the current way CAMs have been licensed wasn’t working. Weissman said, “CAM is a profession that can control your property and your money.
“That’s why we want HB 1212 to pass,” said Weissman.
A realtor observed how much responsibility lies on the shoulders of the HOA board, who have to negotiate contracts with the management company, a “problem,” she said, because these volunteer homeowners “do not know how to read a contract or have any idea of contract vocabulary.”
“These boards are running roughshod over homeowners,” said Teri Chavez.
“Board members do just what they want … because they can,” expostulated Candice Compton.
Panelists, acknowledging the ultimate power of HOA boards, advised a “can’t lick ’em, join ’em” approach.
“Become more engaged,” said Matise.
“If you don’t like what’s going on,” said Weissman, “get on the board and change it up.”
Homeowner Judy McGree Carrington protested. “You are looking at this from a privileged perspective,” she said. “The neighborhood I’m in is filled with working class people. They don’t have time to attend HOA meetings. They’re coming in from work, making dinner. When they do go, they’re shouted down.
“This is why,” emphasized Carrington, “we are depending on legislation. Because you can’t legislate morality. But you can legislate behavior.”
Challenge
“Before we leave,” said Hrincevich, “I would like each of the legislators to say they’ll support a bill for out of court dispute resolution. Without that, you can forget all about your governing documents, your state law, because there is simply no enforcement.”
Weissman finally broke the silence. “I am not willing to take away anyone’s right to go to court.”
Weissman was assured court would always be an option.
Buckner said, “I don’t know what the final bill will look like so I really can’t say.”
Fields said, “I don’t think I understand the subject enough to give you an answer,” Todd finally said, “[Homeowners] have to be protected. We’ll figure out something,” and the room burst into applause.
“This is my 15th year as a legislator,” exclaimed Todd, who is retiring, “and I just hope …, I never hear the word HOA again!”
Mystery
“HOAs are supposed to run on democracy,” said Teri Chavez, “but homeowners develop apathy because it doesn’t work out that way.”
“The rampant abuse of HOA boards and management companies will not end anytime soon if we are to depend on legislation,” said the realtor.
The legislators, on the other hand, voiced approval of what Fields called “a rich, thoughtful and constructive town hall.”
“I was shocked and disappointed that the legislators wouldn’t commit to anything being asked of them, however reasonable,” said Smith.
Hrincevich called the event “ornamental,” adding, “Legislators know these issues. Why they don’t do anything … is a mystery. “
Many have said that the reason legislators do not respond to homeowners’ needs is the presence of a powerful national lobby, the Community Association Institute (CAI), which represents the interests of management companies and HOA attorneys and other vendors benefiting from the HOA industry. (CAI’s membership is only 2% homeowners.)
One week after the HOA Town Hall, Hrincevich viewed a letter national CAI sent to its Colorado membership: that read in part, “We need you to email or call members of the Finance Committee and let them know you support HB 1212.” The letter explained how the bill had been “preamended” and “is the version we support.” The letter promised, “Bonus points if you can testify!”
“All our recommended changes were ignored,” Hrincevich said, “resulting in an ineffective licensing program. But CAI and special interests were able to preamend this bill. In other words, the industry that is to be regulated has successfully influenced the sponsors of this bill to include their interests. Is this the way government is supposed to work for the people?”
