City worker running for Empress

By day, Anthony Aragon is a mild-mannered city worker toiling inside the office of Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

But when work is done, he unleashes his alter-ego and glues on lashes as the beautiful bawdy Lushus La’Rell, Aragon’s drag queen alter ego.

On Sunday, Lushus and his legal husband David Westman (who’s drag persona is Nuclia Waste), hosted a brunch to announce that Lushus was running for Empress 40 of the Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire.

On April 13, voters can go to Cheeseman Park to vote by showing a Colorado drivers’ license.

Coronation 40: A Mile High Affair, the Making of a Monarchy, will take place April 19 at the Renaissance Denver Hotel, 3801 Quebec. (More info at www.denvercourt.org).

“Most every city has an Imperial Court,” Aragon said about the national organization that raises money for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgendered ) community. “I want to use my community connections of the Imperial Court and the money they raise year in and year out. ”

Westman said about his spouse (they were married in Connecticut), “It’s amazing how much Anthony is connected to the city and nonprofits. We are all lucky people that Anthony is a part of Denver.”

Christmas cheer

Every year since I can remember, Edie and Mort Marks, staunch Republicans and tireless hosts with the most, open their Englewood home and throw a Christmas party for clients and friends.

“Congressman Mike Coffman has attended for 30 years, back to our old house in Heritage Place,” Edie told me. “We have lived in this house 28 years…and we fit into it very well all but one night per year when it is filled with 250 of our closest friends.”

The hearty party on Saturday included fab food catered by The Pines at Genesee, and the valet was provided by RPM. But the merriment was bittersweet for Edie who lost her great friend and active Denver philanthropist Linda Goto .

“When my bartenders arrived, they asked where I put the champagne bottle I always have on hand for my dear friend, Linda Goto,” Edie said. “I had to tell them that we had lost dear Linda to cancer just two weeks before.”

Edie is the 2013 Chair of the Cancer League Ball and Chair of the Corporate Committee, so in lieu of gifts, she asked for donations to Cancer League of Colorado.

Edie will also be raising money for Cancer League during a Shop for the Soul event with wine and cheese from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Swoozie’s, Sixth Avenue and Fillmore. Shoppers will get a great discount on gifts, and a portion of proceeds will go to the charity. No RSVP required.

Tweet up and drink up

Foodie and Twitter guru Sarah Gore is bringing her Pied Piper band of faithful followers to her monthly #twEATDrink to 1515 Restaurant , beginning at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at 1515 Market St. The gang gathers monthly in a restaurant where they network and tweet about the place and the food.

The restaurant’s happy hour consists of a $5 Bar Menu, which includes: Pork Sliders, Kobe Beef Slider, Honey Mussels, Chicken Wings and Philly Cheesesteaks.

Drinks during happy hour are $5 for draft beer, house wines and a selection of cocktails.

Gore was named of Westword’s 2012 Denver #WebAwards winners for “Best Eater on Twitter”.

The newspaper said, “Foodnik-around-town Sarah Gore has that tweet thing down to a super-savvy science, keystroking 140 characters multiple times a day. With 20,406 tweets to her name, she’s a restaurant cheerleader, a chef’s dream customer, a consumer advocate of manners and etiquette, an in-the-know, and a go-to source for insider gossip. Even better, she almost always posts a food-porn photo (or two) to go with her words. And while tweeting isn’t her day job, she always manages to find the time to re-tweet the restaurant world’s most salient stories, and she’s not shy about dispensing kudos to her growing legion of followers.