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 | Editorials
The inaugural Grandoozy music festival had a reported attendance of 55,000 over the extended weekend.
The inaugural Grandoozy Music Festival was held over the extended weekend of September 14-16, 2018, at the Overland Golf Course off of Santa Fe Drive in southwest Denver. Why at Overland Park Golf Course? At first it would seem a strange choice. With virtually no on-site parking the golf course site is stuck between the extremely busy Santa Fe Drive on one side and a raft of homes on the other. The lack of on-site parking necessitated free shuttles from far away parking lots with the vain hope people would hike in from the nearest, not so convenient light rail station.
As part of the June 2017 presentation for City Council approval of the event on public land a bullet point was the that the organizer, Superfly Productions, negotiate with RTD to include public transportation as part of the $270 event ticket. But Superfly Productions apparently was uninterested in paying anyone for anything. RTD offered additional cars for the extended weekend and requested from Superfly $72,000 to cover the additional service, security and personal costs and when Superfly said no RTD dropped it down to $33,000. But the production company was still uninterested, and no additional service was added for the event for public convenience.
Stevie Wonder performed during the final night of the 2018 Grandoozy music festival.
The RTD kerfuffle was emblematic of why Superfly was at Overland Park Golf Course in the first place and not at the many different existing concert venues in the area such as Fiddler’s Green, Mile High Stadium or Red Rocks. Superfly had come to Denver to take every last penny it could beg, borrow or steal from the community. The existing venues cost real money while Overland Park Golf Course is on public land and could be obtained for a fraction of the cost. The City and County of Denver under Michael Hancock is trying to get rid of, or alternatively monetize, every possible inch of open space under its control.
Superfly could get everything it wanted for a relative song from the mayor’s office and the always compliant Denver City Council. In turn, the production company brought in a hodgepodge lineup which was far skimpier than almost any other marque event it holds. Headliners being Stevie Wonder, Kendrick Lamar and Florence + the Machine, all of which have performed in Denver before. The gaps were filled with numerous local acts Superfly could get to perform at the Festival on the cheap.
The Denver golf community and the Overland Park neighborhood vociferously opposed the event which has partially destroyed the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi. But as one insider noted: “Those groups are composed of old white people who the city is hoping to drive out as fast as possible. No one is going to pay any attention to them.” She was right. The City Council blew right past them with hardly an acknowledgment at the June 17 meeting.
So how was the three-day festival? Depends on who you ask. For the neighbors and the golfers it was a disaster, but that was expected from them. For many festival concertgoers the event was okay, but lacked the big names they had expected. They are hoping in future years Superfly will spend the money it takes to bring them better lineups. Don’t count on it.
But for Superfly Productions, Stevie Wonder’s greatest hit “Isn’t She Lovely,” best summed up the event. They made a killing. Good crowds at top dollar prices and very low overhead. Nineteenth century con man Soapy Smith found that Denver was a perfect place to pull off his many scams with a rube seeming to be waiting on every street corner. In Michael Hancock’s Denver not much has changed. If you are unscrupulous enough and have access to the powers that be in Denver government, there are fortunes to be made in the Queen City on the Plains.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 24, 2018 | General Featured
(BPT) – Dreaming of an Italian vacation? You can experience the country’s stunning, ancient and romantic regions without even leaving home. The wines of Italy embody the heart and soul of the country itself, being a part of the land, the air and the water of the regions in which they’re grown.
Letting the vineyards be your guide, you’ll travel from the Tuscan coast to the Adriatic’s long, sandy beaches, to the black and rich slopes of an active volcano. You’ll marvel at Sicily’s crystal blue waters and be awed by Campania’s storied past. You can even learn about some dedicated winemakers along the way.
Invite your friends for a backyard wine tasting on a balmy evening, open up these Italian whites, and enjoy their not-commonly-known varieties accompanied by light, Italian fare. Buon viaggio!
Ca’Marcanda Vistamare: The playful name of this wine, which means “sea view,” was inspired by the Tyrrhenian sea breeze, the sun and the cheerful, lighthearted outlook of the Tuscan coast. Coastal innkeepers would use “vistamare” to entice hotel guests, even if their rooms only offered a limited view of the Mediterranean. The vineyards used for Vistamare actually enjoy a panoramic view of the Tuscan horizon, and their grapes are gently touched by the salt air and brilliant colors of the Tuscan sea.
Vistamare is fresh and light on the palate, with notes of bergamot, pear and nectarine. Then it shifts toward a more mineral and spicy character, with notes of flint, rosemary and saffron. The wine gets riper in the finish with hints of mango.
Terlato Vineyards Colli Orientali del Friuli Friulano: Travel to Northern Italy’s Friuli region, where mountains overlook the Adriatic Sea, its coastline dotted with lagoons and long sandy beaches. Friulano is the predominant wine here because of the ideal growing conditions for this indigenous varietal. This Friulano comes from very old vines located on Estate vineyards at 1,050 feet above sea level, with cool nights and warm days, ideal for producing wines with excellent acidity and elegance.
Attention to detail gives the wine floral aromas with distinct pear and almond notes, and a creamy, full-bodied texture.
Anselmi San Vincenzo: Grown in the Monteforte area within the Veneto region of Northern Italy, San Vincenzo vines are planted on 110 acres of volcanic tuff and limestone. Veneto is encircled by Lake Garda, the Dolomite Mountains and the Adriatic Sea. Imagine floating down the Grand Canal in Venice, and seeing Juliet’s balcony in Verona before finding a cafe where you can sip this delicious wine of the region.
San Vincenzo is medium bodied and fruit forward, with a clean, dry finish and scents of minerals, lemon, lime and melon.
Alta Mora Etna Bianco: Travel south to Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, where these grapes are grown and harvested on the slopes of the active volcano, Mount Etna. The soil is black, fertile and dynamic, and the name Alta Mora translates to “tall, black,” representing the great heights of the vineyards on the mountain and the dark, black volcanic soil.
This wine is a slight nod to Sauvignon Blanc in style. It’s fresh and fruity, with great minerality, and a classic match for seafood dishes. It’s easy to imagine sipping it while gazing out onto the Mediterranean’s crystal blue waters.
Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina: This vineyard is in Sorbo Serpico, a tiny village in Campania’s Irpinia region, near Mount Vesuvius. The area, with its numerous castles and fortresses, has ancient roots, and has been a transit land between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas. Named after the method of vine cultivation in Sannio at the end of the Roman Era called Falangs (“poles”), this Falanghina is ideal as an aperitif. It can also accompany various types of appetizers, plates of simple fish and vegetables as well as fresh cheeses.
Floral notes like white blossoms and delicate apple and pear float through the air as you sip this medium intensity wine, which is crisp with hints of spice, light almond and a slightly bitter orange peel character.
Let these wines bring the beauty of Italy to your table tonight. Cincin!
by Mark Smiley | Aug 24, 2018 | Glendale City News
Glendale Team Will Be Bigger And Better Starting This Fall
by John Arthur
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
Glendale Raptors Head Coach David Williams, right, answers questions in a post match interview with Nate Kreckman, left, up in the VIP Raptors Club after a Major League Rugby victory at Infinity Park. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
Following a statistically impressive but ultimately disappointing conclusion to their inaugural Major League Rugby debut season, the Glendale Raptors have all hands on deck for 2019. As an exhibition schedule and official preseason loom ever nearer, Raptors Head Coach David Williams explains how hard his side is working to make sure the MLR Championship Shield comes to Glendale next year.
After a short July break, the Raptors are back to regular season training levels. With a focus on what Williams puts simply as “building bigger, better, more powerful bodies,” the squad is hitting the gym five days a week. Off-season preparation is focused on individual development, skills improvement, and patterns. With a reasonable timeframe to get into shape before league play starts, the Raptors should be able to integrate new talent onto the squad and prepare the players being called up to the USA Eagles side for the national team’s four-game November tour.
Long characterized by veteran players, the Raptors are not short on opportunities to recruit new talent. Infinity Park hosted a camp for the Collegiate All-Americans in mid-August, an event that saw nearly one hundred of the best college-level rugby players in the country come to compete. Split divisionally, East and West, the group was pared to the top selections, later playing against the Raptors MLR side. Glendale Head Coach Williams explains that the camp is a recruitment tool: “It doesn’t just give us a shot at early pre-season play, it also allows our coaching staff and the rest of the MLR coaches a chance to see the next generation of talent in action.” Outside of U.S. potentials, international signings within the league point to the talent that MLR is attracting, and add further value and legitimacy to American professional rugby.
Asked about signings to look for in the off-season, Williams, who is notoriously tight-lipped about both players he’s courting and game day strategy, was reluctant to divulge specifics, but said with a laugh that more than half of his job as Raptors Head Coach is recruitment. “I’m looking all the time. Seeing which players are off contract, speaking to agents, keeping connections around the world. We are always building our squad to be bigger and better for next year. A lot of players contact us. This is an environment where they can improve and prosper and they understand that.”
Camps and relationships are an important aspect of making sure Williams is able to continue to attract fresh faces, but Glendale has another leg up on most of the competition: the Raptors Academy. A European-style feeder system for young players to mature for professional or divisional play, the Academy has already produced one impressive MLR player: the Raptors’ break out player Mika Kruse. Entering professional play at 19 years of age, Kruse was a regular on highlight reels throughout the inaugural season. Williams has nothing but praise for the young player: “He is definitely someone fans need to look for next year. He is a rising star in U.S. Rugby without a shadow of a doubt. How he plays, how he prepares, how he trains, his skills: it’s awesome. Simple as that. He’s only going to grow.” Asked about the evolving Academy programming, Williams is reflective: “It’s an interesting proposition,” he said. “The Academy is a long-term solution for supplying the Raptors with ongoing talent. We always want to build a bigger player base. The Academy does that and provides an opportunity for players to train professionally and develop their game. We’re one of the few clubs that have an Academy program and is developing these younger players.”
Outside of developing new players, the Raptors are, of course, training their exceptionally talented existing squad. Back on a regular season training regimen, the team is exploring nutrition and mental conditioning in addition to their rigorous physical preparation. With a full time mental skills coach, and continued education on nutrition, Glendale is building what promises to be a 2019 powerhouse. Williams says that education is key to making his team the best next season: “The boys do a huge amount of work in the gym and on the pitch, but there’s more to the game. The more education on prep and recovery we have, the better players we have at the end of the day.”
Glendale remains an MLR favorite going into 2019. Rugby-specific facilities and top-tier talent set the team apart from the crowd, but the Raptors have something to prove in their second professional season. Statistics won’t cut it this year for Williams, or for the rest of the squad: they want to bring home the big win. Though the inaugural season is just behind them, preparations are underway for the team to leave their stamp on Major League Rugby, beginning with fall exhibitions. As Williams succinctly puts it: “The standard has to improve year on year. That will happen in 2019.”
19 year-old Mika Kruse of the Glendale Raptors evades a Utah Warrior tackler
as he makes his mark on the inaugural season of Major League Rugby.
Photos by Seth McConnell
by Mark Smiley | Aug 24, 2018 | Travel
Leading Light: Civic leader Chuck Warren, who led many of Colorado’s leading cultural institutions from the Denver Zoo to the Park People, passed away on July 29, 2018.
by Mark Smiley
Widely respected and beloved by many, civic leader Chuck Warren died at age 92 on Sunday, July 29, at his home in Denver. Memorial services were held at Saint John’s Cathedral on Washington Street where Warren had been a parishioner for most of his adult life. Eulogist Bill Houston remarked that Warren was known for his extraordinary ability to “make and retain” friends as the packed nave at the cathedral for the service demonstrated.
Warren grew up in Fort Collins, and after serving in the Navy during World War II returned to Colorado to earn a degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado and later a master’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Denver. He was a stock broker for Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith for 20 years and after the death of his father in 1978 he took over as president of Moody Warren Company, a company started by his grandfather who homesteaded farms in Colorado starting in 1966.
Having made his fortune at a relatively early age, Warren retired and spent the rest of his life giving back to Denver and Colorado. He served as the president and/or board member of an extraordinary number of civic organizations including, but not limited to, the Denver Zoo, the Denver Foundation, Children’s Hospital, the Park People and the Colorado Wildlife Heritage Foundation.
He is best remembered as Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District from 1985 to 1988, and setting up the passage of the multi-county sales tax supporting many key institutions throughout metropolitan Denver.
A talented musician, he played drums with groups from his early teens to the end of his life. An enthusiastic member of the University Club, he was Club president and a prolific songwriter, performer and leader of the University Club Band. He played the drums at the Twelfth Night Show for an extraordinary 64 continuous years.
Veteran: Chuck Warren served in the Navy during World War II.
He was also a highly active member of the Denver Country Club for virtually his entire adult life. He helped longtime friend Bill Wilbur with the publication of the award-winning The History of The Denver Country Club (1888-2006).
His daughter Robin Warren Buckalew noted at the memorial service her father’s almost infatiguable energy and good humor. Hoping to slow him down just a little she bought him a hammock for the backyard which had to be returned as he refused to ever relax in it.
Chuck Bonniwell, publisher of the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle, who wrote the history of the Denver Country Club stated, “Chuck Warren was an extraordinary human being who made everything he did and participated in literally fun. One would go through the most exhausting and contentious negotiations over the printing and publication of the book with third parties and at the end he would laugh and say, ‘Boy, wasn’t that one great donnybrook! Hey, who do we have to take on next?’” Bonniwell went on to note, “Everyone who ever knew Chuck will greatly miss him. The world he inhabited is a little less joyful with his passing. I wish we could have cloned Chuck and his wonderful spirit.”
by Mark Smiley | Aug 24, 2018 | Editorials
In 2002 Denver went to great lengths and time to compile Blueprint Denver to guide future growth in Denver. It envisioned “areas of change” and “areas of stability.” In areas of change rezoning for more density and height would be envisioned while in areas of stability, like many of the city’s highly prized neighborhoods, rezoning would not be permitted for other than single family homes. It also envisioned high-density around the many new light rail stations where, because of that public transportation, residents would not need a car, at least in theory.
The problem was Denver’s crooked high-density developers had not yet bought their very own mayor in 2002. Developers do not want to put high-density upscale apartments and condominiums in lousy neighborhoods that were considered areas of change. Nor did they want the expensive units they were building by the light rail stations which were not the fav of people who could afford to buy the upscale units … The developers could make a great deal more money by exploiting and raping the traditional highly prized areas including Country Club, Crestmoor, Virginia Vale, Cherry Creek North, etc.
In 2011 the high-density developers like Pat Hamill found the extraordinarily horny and intellectually vapid Michael Hancock and installed him in City Hall as the 45th Mayor of the City and County of Denver.
But when developers got rezoning they wanted in violation of Blueprint Denver through the Orwellian named Denver Community Planning and Development headed by the clinically obese rancher Brad Buchanan as Executive Director and the obsequious City Council they were subject to lawsuits. And sued they were over Crestmoor Park, Cherry Creek North, Hentzell Park, Denver Highlands, etc. etc. None of the lawsuits were successful because you can’t as a practical matter sue City Hall on development matters even if you have a valid claim for some unwritten rule of Denver municipal politics.
The problem was the well-grounded suits took time and money out of the developers’ pockets and who knows, one of these days the citizens might find an honest District Court judge in the City and County who would rule in their favor.
What to do? Well, change Blueprint Denver to squash any legal basis stopping high-density developers from doing whatever they want to do in wide-open Denver.
Well, of course, you can’t tell the sucker citizens that is what you are doing so you pretend you went out and sought public input from thousands of citizens or as Sarah Showalter, Citywide Planning Supervisor noted, numerous think tank meetings, 
21 task force meetings, 25 street team events, eight community workshops, and over 8,500 contacted.
What did all these people indicate they wanted? Well, of course, their neighborhoods destroyed with high-density development while making driving in Denver the equivalent to transporting down the rings of Hell in Dante’s Inferno.
When politicians and city bureaucrats in Denver say they consulted thousands and thousands of people, they mean they are going to do whatever developers like Pat Hamill and his cronies at Colorado Concern tell them to do.
On August 28 at City Park Pavilion at 5:30 p.m. your betters will share with you the details of what they are going to do to you, your family and your city. The slogan for Denveright is “Your Voice. Our Future.” Rest assured your voice is irrelevant to the politicians and planners in Denver.
We could tell you all the awful things they are planning to do to you under the wonderful sounding rubrics like “affordable housing” and “pedestrian friendly transportation,” but why bother? You won’t be able to do anything about it anyway.
As the early Greek historian Thucydides stated: “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”
The high-density developers and the politicians they own are the “strong” in the City and County of Denver while the citizens of the city like you are the “weak.” We have watched the suffering of our neighborhoods ever since Hancock became mayor and the suffering will continue for the foreseeable future and get much, much worse under Denveright.
As you can’t do anything about it, just sit back and accept it. Be as happy as you can and pretend “your voice” in fact matters at all in determining “our future.” As it turns out ignorance is in fact bliss in today’s City and County of Denver.
Pat Hamill
Mayor Michael Hancock
