Home Is Where The Heart Is: One Man’s Journey Back Home

by Jessica Hughes | Nov 22, 2019 | Glendale City News

by Jessica Hughes

It’s been over 50 years since Ed and Connie Thomas first met here in Denver, nearly 47 years since they bought their first and only home together, and 25 years since Connie was diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis.

The first 15 years after the diagnosis Connie seemed to be doing okay, but eventually the disease advanced to the point where she couldn’t work and had to retire. While Ed took care of her in the beginning of her diagnosis, he could no longer handle the responsibility of caring for his wife. He had to make the difficult decision to move his beloved Connie into an assisted living facility, and soon the house became too much for one man. So, he resolved to sell their family home.

A former Denver City Councilman, a police officer of 23 years with the Denver Police Department, and former editor of the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle, Ed Thomas has played an important role in the Denver community. With his decision to move, he soon found himself seeking support from the community that he helped serve and protect for so many years.

Friends of the family, Ashlie Woods and Barbara Betcher, two brokers from the local Denver real estate firm Leonard Leonard & Associates, stepped in to assist Ed with the sale of his home. Woods and Betcher, who have known Ed for over 20 years, told him, “we’ll get you through this and we’re ready to help in any way we can.”

Woods and Betcher were there from the beginning, in 2016 when the decision was made to move Connie into assisted living, for not only the physical process of moving but the emotional process as well.

“They took control of the entire process and did everything that needed to be done. I was a basket case, and they handled everything,” Ed recounts. The decision to sell did not come easily. Ed’s home meant, and still means, everything to him. It’s where he spent his adulthood raising his family, a son and a daughter, and where he welcomed home his three grandchildren. It is the only place he had known for years.

Woods describes the entire process as “a hands-on project, from beginning to end.” First, they needed to clear out the house and downsize Ed’s belongings. Ashlie took the time to walk through with Ed, often a couple times a week, to determine what needed to go and what he could keep.

Next, Woods and Betcher needed to get the house in shape and ready to show. They began with making small repairs including updating the flooring, plaster fixes, and other jobs to ensure the house was in saleable condition. They hired a staging company, while Betcher helped with most of the staging.

Thomas proclaims, “It was absolutely perfect and spotless.” So much so, that the first weekend the house went up for sale, one of the first couples to walk through the door said, “We’ll take it.”

The house went under contract quickly, selling for asking price the first weekend it was on the market.

With the quick sale of his home, Thomas needed to move, and do it soon. When moving day came, Woods was there, stepping in for his daughter, who could not be there to help. Without hesitation, Woods assumed the role and offered her help.

In helping find Thomas a more permanent home, Betcher found the condo Ed resides in now, making sure he didn’t overpay and negotiated the best deal for him.

Woods describes Thomas as a “real trooper throughout this whole process.” With just his son here in Denver, Woods and Betcher assumed the role of family and not just the professionals they are.

Taking the lead throughout the entire process, Woods and Betcher went above and beyond what was required of them, all without taking a commission for three years worth of work.

While life didn’t quite turn out as expected, Thomas feels blessed to have his wife still with him despite this disease. He is grateful for his life and what it has afforded him and is appreciative of the community that gathered around him in a time of need.

Simply put, “You don’t get that lucky in life very often,” Thomas expresses with gratitude.

Thomas says he would not have survived this situation without his children, Betcher, or Woods. And for those who find themselves in a similar situation, Thomas shares this sentiment: “Cherish the love of your family and friends because one day you will need them.”

Strong Family: A family that has stayed together with the help of their community.

Slums Of The Future?

by Luke Schmaltz | Oct 28, 2019 | Glendale City News

The Long-Term Viability Of Fast-Delivery Denver Apartment Buildings

by Luke Schmaltz

Although the official Colorado state bird is the Lark Bunting, it has seemingly been replaced across the greater Denver metro area by the crane. For the past several years, the Mile-High City skyline has become increasingly dotted with these towering industrial effigies — as long-standing, recently demolished structures are replaced with mid-rise odes to blandness. These rapidly erected residential buildings have earned disparaging nicknames from journalists and pedestrian critics alike such as fugly, McUrbanist, fast-casual architecture, contemporary contempt, LoMo (low modern), blandmarks and spongebuild squareparts.

A New Development

In 2015, Denver adopted the International Building Code (IBC) which allows for podium-style mid-rise residential buildings to be primarily constructed of wood rather than concrete and steel. The new code meant that a two-story concrete base known as a “podium” could be vertically succeeded by up to five levels of wood-framed construction. This, in turn, opened the door for a host of money-saving dynamics such as unspecialized labor, cost-effective raw materials and quicker completion timelines.

A Nationwide Trend

This generic approach to residential development is not unique to Denver, rather, it is a trend rearranging the personalities of inner cities from Seattle to Austin and Minneapolis to Charlotte. The rising costs of land, labor and certain building materials has made wood framing the default method of construction — allowing for the creation of a business model with an attractive bottom line even though the product itself is anything but.

Supply And Demand

According to The Denver Post, area developers had 26,916 apartment units under construction at the end of 2018, with a projected minimum of 12,000 units to be built every year for the foreseeable future. This number is dwarfed by projections from Cary Bruteig, owner of Denver’s Apartment Insights, a data reporting company that expects 2019 apartment construction to render upward of 25,700 units in 2019.

The phenomenon of cheaply resourced, quickly erected residential structures gives rise to the issue of longevity. Will these light-frame, wood fortified dwellings with flat window facades and multi-colored exterior panels maintain their appeal at the same price point into the next decade? A surging demand for affordable housing meets that question with a resounding “yes.” Yet, in the event of a recession or if cheap construction proves to fail the test of time, these aesthetic atrocities may prove to be the 21st Century equivalent of 19th century balloon-frame buildings — which were defined as being poorly maintained, substandard housing for the lowest social rung of tenancy just above homeless. Lest history forget, these structures were reduced to ash in tragic events such as the San Francisco Fire of 1851 and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

The Price Of Cost-Effective Construction

While lack of aesthetic appeal and inflated prices brought on by high demand are obvious drawbacks, economically built wood frame construction buildings also carry several subsurface concerns. Structures of this sort are susceptible to moisture being drawn into wall cavities, where it can become trapped and foster wood rot due to humidity and the growth of mold. The latter, in turn, can cause allergic and asthmatic reactions from occupants. Wood framed buildings are also known for attracting termites, having low thermal mass (ability to retain heat), offering poor sound insulation between units, being vulnerable to fire damage and emitting volatile organic and chemical compounds which diminish indoor air quality.

Distractions Abound

In a preemptive strategy to counter this possibility, many developments are attracting top dollar clientele by offering deluxe, high-end amenities. Luxuries such as on-site car washes, dry cleaners, full-range fitness centers, work-from-home office areas, dog runs, complementary weekend brunches and valet trash services aim to disguise the fact that most tenants are living in identical boxes built by unskilled workers laboring at breakneck speed. These overpriced cookie cutter domiciles include few, if any features which discern one unit from another and zero signs of craftsmanship, personalization or style. Many excited tenants, however, are far too distracted by innovative diversions such as goat yoga, Zen gardens, tanning beds, old-school video arcades, bowling alleys and free beer.

High-End On The Rise

An abundance of amenities, perks, on-site attractions, as well as the inimitable allure of being the first tenant in a new apartment, all add to the exorbitant rental prices brought on by a high demand for housing. A new rental in a high-end downtown Denver facility can run pretty high — such as $7,000+ for 1,324 square feet at Union Denver to $15,000 or more per month for a penthouse suite at The Confluence. Of course, not all rates are mouth-droppingly Manhattan-esque, as many units appeal to a more philistine price point such as a studio at The Verve on Delgany for just $1,563 or a studio at the Country Club Towers on Bayaud for a mere $1,855.

A Long-Term Diagnosis

The professional opinion of master carpenter Richard Welker sheds some long-term light on the subject of sustainability. Welker, a longtime Denver resident who recently relocated to Portland, has personally worked on hundreds of wood-frame apartment units. He attests “lumber isn’t what it used to be, but long-term, you can always repair the guts of something that is made of wood. Theoretically, if stringent maintenance protocols are followed, these buildings could last a really long time.” This statement clearly places long-term viability on building owners and managers, and whether they continue to be inhabited long after their new veneer has worn away depends on what, if any, aesthetic taste tenants may have. Plainly put, if people are willing to pay to rent dwellings that are ugly and overpriced, they will continue to dominate the rental marketplace and the skylines of inner city, U.S.A.

The Goodwill Of Neighbors: Fighting Dilapidation In Huntington Estates

by Ashe in America | Sep 23, 2019 | Glendale City News

by Robert Davis

Residents in the Huntington Estates neighborhood are crying foul that two doctors are allowed to allow their property to continue to be in disrepair and neither the neighborhood covenants nor Arapahoe County can stop them.

“All of us are tired of looking at the dilapidated and unoccupied house,” Dick Pond, the treasurer of the neighborhood Home Owners Association, told the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle in an email. “The HOA and a few neighbors have tried to contact the Brauns about it, but we keep getting the same answer, that they’ll be selling it soon.”

The owners, Tom and Carol Braun, left their house on East Evans Way 15 years ago after purchasing a bigger home on the other side of the neighborhood. Now, their old house sits on a plot of dead grass and overgrown shrubs. Bits of glass from the windows litter the yard.

Pond and other members of the HOA leadership team have tried to contact the Brauns on numerous occasions about the property. They’ve also sent letters to their new residence warning the Brauns that if they hold on to the property too long they might miss out on the wave of rising home values in the area.

“Values in the city and our local area are on the rise and several families in the neighborhood are trying to sell or will be soon,” one letter dated April 28, 2013 reads. “This could again be a lovely home, if only it were occupied and maintained. However, many solar panels are missing or broken, gutters are falling off or missing, and the front yard is dirt and weeds.”

The Brauns did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this story.

Power Of Association

State laws generally give HOAs vast powers to control the aesthetics of their neighborhood. Each county adopts their own laws regarding the powers of these associations as well.

However, those laws are only enforceable if the HOA is registered with the state. HOAs that make more than $5,000 per year are required to register with both the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) and the Director of Real Estate (DRE). Those making less than $5,000 annually only register with the DRE and are not held to the same standards of reporting.

Huntington Estates’ HOA is informal, as resident Paul Hanley describes it. While this structure may benefit homeowners in that there are no monthly HOA dues to pay, it also makes it difficult to take decisive action against the Brauns.

“The covenant governing the neighborhood was written back in the 1960s, and it’s weak compared to today’s standards,” Hanley said. “But, this is what happens when you don’t live in a municipality. You may pay less in taxes, but you get less government in return.”

Residents have contacted Arapahoe County about the Brauns’ house many times, but the County’s answer is never simple. Since Huntington Estates is located in unincorporated Arapahoe County, local ordinances don’t carry much weight. Instead, the county relies on the principles of fairness to adjudicate disputes among neighbors.

“They’ve basically told us that because the farmers and ranchers nearby can allow barns and other structures on their property to dilapidate, then so can homeowners in Huntington Estates,” Hanley said.

Hanley also admitted that some residents had discussed attempting to strengthen Huntington Estate’s covenants, but doing so requires a unanimous vote among homeowners.

“It would really just be more trouble than it’s worth,” Hanley said.

Living Trust

According to Arapahoe County property tax records, the Brauns’ house is currently owned by a living trust in Carol’s name. Typically, wealthy homeowners put property into living trusts if they plan on passing it on after death.

Some residents worry that there may be a financial incentive for the Brauns to let their property dilapidate, and that this incentive could negatively affect their home values.

“Many neighbors have expressed concern about your disregard for the condition of the abandoned house and about the market values of their own properties as a result,” the HOA letter reads. “In addition, the community is concerned about any potential health or environmental impact as a result of the continued declining condition and lack of care for the property.”

Colorado is one of 38 states that doesn’t charge an estate tax. Even so homeowners can still be charged a federal estate tax after their death. Under prime circumstances, married couples can protect up to $22.28 million under the federal exemption guidelines. A single homeowner can protect an estate valuing up to $11.18 million, according to the IRS.

By allowing their home to dilapidate, the Brauns could avoid paying estate taxes all together. They currently own two homes, one of which was purchased for just under $600,000 while the median home value of the neighborhood is close to a half-million. Factor in a few savvy investments and they could be leaving behind a nice nest egg with no tax burden.

However, the majority of the neighbors just want the problem to go away. They’re tired of seeing the home slowly crumble while homes that are near it have had a tough time staying full.

“This is really a case of buyer beware,” Hanley said. “We’re basically subject to the goodwill of our neighbors on this one.”

City Council Appoints Lobbyist To Citizen Oversight Board

by Ashe in America | Aug 23, 2019 | Glendale City News

by Robert Davis

The line between the City of Denver and its lobbying community got much thinner after Roger Sherman, a managing partner at CRL Associates, was appointed to the Citizen Oversight Board (COB) by a 9-3 vote by City Council.

Denverite first reported that Sherman, who worked behind the scenes on the sale of the Park Hill Golf Club and the NO on 300 campaign, was Council’s first choice for the appointment.

“We have 700,000 people who live in Denver, and another 300,000 people come to Denver every business day — totaling one million people,” newly elected District 10 Councilman Chris Hinds told the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle in an emailed statement. “It is difficult to believe that the “one in a million” choice from City Council is the managing partner of the largest lobbying firm for the city.”

Members of COB are first nominated by the Mayor and then confirmed by City Council. Sherman’s appointment came just two days after Mayor Michael Hancock won re-election.

According to records from the Denver Elections Division, CRL made generous campaign contributions during the 2019 municipal elections. In total, CRL contributed nearly $4,000 to Mayor Michael Hancock’s re-election campaign, while doling out contributions to City Council candidates as well.

Sherman personally donated $250 to District 2 representative Kevin Flynn, and the firm’s Chief Strategy Officer Kim Kucera donated the same amount to Albus Brooks’ campaign against Candi CdeBaca in District 9. Councilwoman Robin Kniech received $2,000 from CRL’s founding partner Maria Garcia Berry in December 2018 and received the same amount again in February 2019 from the firm itself.

During the City Council meeting, Kniech underscored Sherman’s qualification, experience, and “strong voice” for police accountability as her reasons for supporting his nomination.

“[Sherman] not only has experience working with COB, but also has a track record of coming to City Council and advocating for stronger oversight of the police department,” Kniech said. “So, for those who have said they’re afraid this appointment might be too favorable to the Mayor’s Office, there is simply no evidence of that.”

COB assesses the effectiveness of the Monitor’s Office and has the authority to appoint people to the Office of the Independent Monitor, which oversees the police department. Even so, COB neither advises the mayor’s office nor oversees any functions of the police department. It is simply a screening body, according to Kniech.

Three of the newly elected Council members voted against the appointment, including Hinds, CdeBaca, and Amanda Sawyer (District 5).

CdeBaca attempted to have Sherman’s appointment delayed until August 5 in order to allow time for a public hearing. Other members were less concerned with hearing public comments, citing an adopted resolution from earlier in 2019 introduced by Councilmembers Kniech, Paul Lopez, and Paul Kashmann, which “strengthened the purview of COB”, according to Kashmann. The resolution increased the number of board members from seven to nine.

“I don’t think this is an issue or question of qualifications,” CdeBaca said. “I think this is an issue of consolidated power. Sherman is a well-known member of CRL and has recently led the opposition to [Initiative] 300, where there have been numerous police violations. Now, we’re selecting someone to nominate people and oversee that entity.”

CdeBaca cited a recent Colorado Public Radio article that details the close relationship between Denver’s Big 3 lobbying firms and the city government. In total, the Big 3 have done over $1 billion in city work in Hancock’s previous two terms as mayor and have acted as a revolving door linking the Mayor’s office and the lobbying community.

“With the contacts that Mr. Sherman has, I am doubtful that he would be nominating or screening the appropriate people for this role,” CdeBaca said. “We should be nominating people with direct connections to the community who demanded this role and this board.”

Funeral Services Held For Joan Birkland One Of Colorado’s Greatest Female Athletes

by Mark Smiley | Jul 26, 2019 | Glendale City News

by Charles Bonniwell

Funeral services were held for Joan Packard Birkland who passed away on June 15, 2019. She was described as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) female athletes in the history of the State of Colorado. She was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, Colorado Women’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. The Joan Birkland Pavilion at the Gates Tennis Center in Denver, headquarters of USTA Colorado, is named in her honor.

She was born on August 17, 1928, in Denver to well-known surgeon Dr. George Packard and his wife. She was one of three sisters. With no organized sports for girls she played baseball, football, basketball and tennis with other children (mostly boys) at City Park near her home. After graduating from East High School she went on to the University of Colorado in Boulder where she met Ormand Birkland Jr., whom she married in 1948. The marriage lasted over 50 years until his death in 1999.

The marriage, by all accounts, was a happy one, notwithstanding (or perhaps because of) the fact Ormand was every bit as mediocre in sports as she was outstanding. She took up golf as it was the one sport he played and she was soon regularly beating him. She joined an AAU basketball team (the Denver Viners) while at the University of Colorado where she played with tennis great Phyllis Lockwood. They became an almost unbeatable women’s tennis doubles team in Colorado. She competed on the Denver Vipers team for eight years, becoming honorable mention All-American in the sport of basketball.

The Birklands joined the Denver Country Club (DCC) in 1953 and she began to concentrate her athletic endeavors on golf and tennis. She described her activities at the time as: “A typical day for me would be to hit and shag balls, take a lesson from a DCC golf pro, play nine or eighteen holes with Dorothy Major at Willis Case or meet Phyllis Lockwood and play tennis with her in Boulder, and then we would shoot a few hoops at CU.”

Later in her career she generously gave her time and talents to children with handicaps, including teaching golf at an amputee program at Children’s Hospital, bowling with children with cerebral palsy and coaching basketball for asthmatic kids.

She was also active with many women’s and sporting organizations including the United States Golf Association. Birkland co-founded Sportswomen of Colorado and served as that organization’s executive director for 40 years.

In 1957 she took on the number one female player in the world Althea Gibson at the Colorado Open which, at the time, attracted many of the world’s greatest tennis players. To the shock of the press and the gallery Birkland began beating the world’s number one player. A reporter for The Denver Post called in to his paper to hold the afternoon press as he might be reporting “one of the greatest sporting upsets in the history of Colorado.” In the end, however Gibson prevailed 8-6, 6-4.

By the 1960s she excelled at the highest levels at both golf and tennis simultaneously, an athletic feat that is almost unheard of in the annals of Colorado sports. She won the Denver amateur tennis title in 1960, 1962 and 1966 and the Colorado state tennis title in 1960, 1962 and 1966. She garnered six singles and 15 doubles titles in Colorado and Intermountain tennis tournaments.

On a friend’s dare Birkland in 1962 competed in and won both the state tennis and golf championships in the same summer and repeated this feat again in 1966. She was awarded the Robert Russell Prize for Colorado Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1962.

She took the state women’s golf title seven times. At the Denver Country Club she won 30 straight Ladies Country Club Championships from 1955 to 1984. Many of the victories were anything but easy sometimes winning at the 18th hole or in sudden death in the match play format. She attempted to retire from the competition several times but her competitors, some of whom were themselves state golf champions, would hear nothing of it. As one of her competitors said: “As far as I was concerned, no Joanie — no tournament.”

Even in her 90s Birkland could regularly be found on the golf range at the Denver Country Club working on her swing while interacting with golfers around her and trying to pick up tips to improve her game. Fellow inductee to the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, Gary Potter, stated: “She was amazing. She cheerfully accepted the fact that the ravages of time severely restricted her playing abilities, but she simply wanted to be the best she could be with whatever limitations God had provided that day. She happily picked up whatever tips or advice you may provide and incorporated them into her play if they made sense to her. She was an extraordinary and truly wonderful human being.”

While she never had any children herself Birkland is survived by an extended family including her sister Evelyn McLagan, her brother-in-law Neil McLagan, nephew Hugh Birkland and nieces and nephews, Tracy Tempest, George Tempest, Scott McLagan, Tom McLagan and Ken McLagan and their families.

Denver BBQ Fest Attracts Thousands Of BBQ Fans To Broncos Stadium

by Mark Smiley | Jun 21, 2019 | Glendale City News

Pitmasters From Around The Country Showcase Their Award-Winning BBQ

by Mark Smiley and Richard Colaizzi

The Second Annual Denver BBQ Festival was held over Father’s Day weekend at Broncos Stadium at Mile High. Pitmasters from around the country were on hand to smoke meat and serve their barbecue to thousands of attendees in search of good barbecue. “The energy that’s going on at this event is twice as good as it was last year,” said John David Wheeler, Pitmaster for Memphis Barbecue Co. “Denver is starving for great barbecue. They’re wanting it. Hopefully we can bring it to them.”

The event featured not only award-winning barbecue but also live music throughout the three-day fest. And, Tito’s Vodka sponsored the VIP Lounge and a dog lounge. The VIP experience cost $85 and also allowed for unlimited barbecue tastings for a two-and-a-half-hour period.

Pitmasters from six states lined up and cooked meat from the time they arrived until the time they pulled out. The three-day festival featured a total of over 19,000 pounds of meat and almost 3,000 pounds of sides. “You have to cook volume here,” said Craig Verhage, The BBQ Ninja. “You have to feed the people, feed the masses. If anything here, each team is helping each other. If somebody needs something we get it to them. We all have the same goal here and that is to cook as much as we possibly can and sell as much as we possibly can and make everybody that comes through the gate happy.”

This fraternity of pitmasters is evident with how much respect they have for each other and how much they like each other. “We do these events all over the world, said Mike Johnson, owner of Sugarfire Smokehouse in St. Louis, MO. “I’m in South America and Europe all the time. I’m in Australia a few times a year for events. I tell everyone this is one of my favorite events. It’s classy and the food is great. It has the most talent of any event I have ever done. I’m not bragging about myself. These are all my heroes. Salt Lick and The Shed, Memphis Barbecue Co. and Peg Leg are awesome. Ubon’s. They’re all really good friends of ours. They have great food.”

It’s not just the love of great food that they share. They also have friendships that have hatched as a direct result of doing the festivals together for so many years. “I’ve been overseas with all these guys,” said Johnson. “We spend tons of time. We’ve been together for birthdays and funerals. We do a lot of stuff together.”

“He’s a genius (Mike Johnson),” said Wheeler. “What a talent. If you’re out here on this block right now, you can do it and the people of Denver don’t know what a treat it is to have these guys. I wish we could do this everywhere and let people share our passion with barbecue.”

This passion for barbecue and the desire to give back to the community is what sparked Wheeler to start Operation BBQ Relief. “Operation BBQ Relief started about eight years ago when a group of guys just like us got together after a tornado in Joplin, Missouri, destroyed the whole town,” said Wheeler. “They wanted to do something so everybody who had meat in their freezers or refrigerators took their meat out and started cooking. 117,000 meals later and three and a half weeks, they were done.”

That was the birth of Operation BBQ Relief and since then, they are 45,000 meals away from serving three million meals. “We do what we can to help people out and when people walk up, they walk up like a deer in the headlights asking why we are doing this,” said Wheeler. “My answer is I would hope you would do the same for me.” Wheeler and a team of 300-500 volunteers set up five smokers that can hold 1,000 pounds of meat each. That allows them to feed between 25,000 and 50,000 people. “Being around people who give their time to volunteer to help other people are the kind of guys I want to hang out with,” said Wheeler.

Wheeler is a full-time home builder and full-time pitmaster and jokes: “It wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” As far as Memphis Barbecue Co., they served their ribs and baked beans at the festival and the fast-moving line always had guests waiting for some of the best ribs in the country.

Wheeler’s friend Mike Emerson, Pitmaster for Pappy’s Smokehouse in St. Louis, also served ribs and some guests commented that it was the best they have ever had. What started as Emerson, his business partner John Matthews, and three employees, has now grown into a 50-plus person operation based in St. Louis. “We actually sat in a bar one day and drew Pappy’s on a bar napkin and 11 years later, here we are,” said Emerson.

Emerson, who is a seventh generation Missourian grew up loving the outdoors and cooking outdoors. It has always been a part of his life. Now, Pappy’s runs their smokers 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. “We run six smokers that will do about 500 pounds on each smoker,” said Emerson. “We can go as high as five to six thousand pounds per day. Most days we’ll do about three to four thousand pounds.” It is estimated that his son cooks 400 slabs of ribs per day to total one million since opening.

“We hit St. Louis at a good time, said Emerson. “We’re the only city that’s got a rib named after it. We do know a little bit about barbecue. I always tell everybody first the neighborhood embraced us and then the city embraced us and then America embraced us. Now we actually have people from all over the world that make trips to Pappy’s so we’ve been very fortunate. It’s been a great ride.”

That ride has brought them to Denver the last two years with a nice partnership with the City of Denver and the Denver Broncos. “To make one of these really successful, you’ve got to have the city buy in with what the people here are trying to do,” said Verhage. “Between the city and the Broncos and what we are trying to accomplish here, everybody’s on the same page, you don’t have somebody that is causing any friction to not make this a huge successful event.” “I moved West of here (Maui) and this is one of the few places I’ll come back to the mainland to come visit,” said Emerson. “You guys are wonderful.”

For more information about Denver BBQ Fest, visit www.denverbbqfest.com. Operation BBQ Relief is located at www.operationbbqrelief.org; Pappy’s Smokehouse at www.pappyssmokehouse.com; Sugarfire Smokehouse at www.sugarfiresmokehouse.com; Memphis Barbecue Co. at www.memphisbbqco.com; and follow The BBQ Ninja on Twitter @The_BBQ_Ninja. If you crave barbecue from one of the vendors from the Festival, Sugarfire has a location in Westminster, and GQue BBQ has locations in Lone Tree and Westminster. For the rest, visit them online to purchase sauces and rubs or wait until next year for the Third Annual Denver BBQ Festival.