Glory Weisberg, the tiny woman who wields a big pen when writing about the movers, shakers and philanthropists in and around Greenwood Village for The Villager newspaper, abruptly retired. Here are her answers and observations in a Q&A:

Me: How long did you work there?

Glory: 30 years

Me: How did you get that job?

G: I hired a career counselor to help me sort out what I wanted to do for the second half of my life. After a battery of interest tests she told me to “Go write.” But I replied, “It doesn’t pay very well.”  But she said I should do what I love to do, which is to write. So I opened the Yellow Pages and found a listing for The Villager, a match made in heaven as I wanted to stay out of downtown Denver to avoid air quality problems due to my lifelong asthma.

I covered city council meetings, school board meetings and wrote front page stories. Then Bob Sweeney named my column, GloryUs Goings On and it took off from there. This past year I attended, photographed and reported on 80 events!

Me: What did you like most/least about it?

G: Most: the writing and getting to know so many gracious philanthropic people. I gained a lot of respect for this community, Penny, living out here with our subscribers. FYI, I never liked the title of Society Editor. It has a snobbish connotation so unlike what I did. My definition of “society” includes everyone who participates in their community. We are all members of society.

What I liked the least: the often seven days a week every week on the job, including most Sundays spent writing up and editing my photos, the week’s luncheons and dinners, weekly Charity Calendar, the long hours dealing with email, snail mail, phone calls, etc., those 12-hour days that swallowed up my private life. In all those years I never missed a single deadline.

Me: What was your mission/point of view with the column?

G: Giving nonprofits a voice, drawing in more supporters for them with their mission statements and the way they are devoted to their causes.

Me: Why retire now?

G: I’m 73 and realized that being on my feet for at least 90 minutes, photographing honorees and committee chairs and members during reception/silent auction hours, then having dinner with up to 1,400 people in cold ballrooms, then listening to the nonprofit event program for another several hours was getting harder for me and for (husband) Dave as well. Then I was always on deadline to write up the event, download my photos and annotate each the following day and the whole scope of the job got to be too much for me. Emails were another several hours a day. Let us not forget postal mail that comes (and will continue coming for many months) also requires time.

This was initially supposed to be a part-time position. I would have loved it going back to that l but at this age, it’s time to move on.

Me: What will you do with your “spare” time?

G: Dr. Frank Sargent asked me to join his Englewood Rotary group last October, I did and I just love this group. I am also looking forward to hanging out at Greenwood Health Club during Bronco games, having more time for our own nonprofit interests such as Cancer League of Colorado and Families First and helping where we can be of use to the community. We have seven grandchildren here and in San Diego and we will now have more time to spend with them.

Me: What would you like to say to your loyal readers?

G: I will miss covering your fundraisers, spotlighting those whose dedicated efforts raise millions of dollars each year, providing for the community what taxes alone can’t and yet need. “You light up my life,” as Debbie Boone sang, and I am staying right here in the heart of Arapahoe County.

And as Bob Hope sang, “Thanks for the Memories.”

The Downtown Denver Business Improvement District has added a pop-up dog park and children’s play area in Skyline Park. One block of the park on Arapahoe and 17th streets in downtown Denver has been temporarily transformed to bring additional family- and dog-friendly amenities to downtown residents, visitors and employees including outdoor furniture, play equipment and an enclosed dog area.

“Creating an appealing outdoor environment where people are encouraged to gather, relax and play is critical to attract and retain residents, employees and visitors downtown, and contributes to an economically vital center city,” said John Desmond, executive director of the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District. “We must continually innovate in both temporary and permanent ways to make the parks and public spaces throughout our urban core accessible and inviting.”

The temporary installation also aligns with planning efforts for The Outdoor Downtown, a collaborative effort between Denver Parks and Recreation and the Downtown Denver Partnership to create an innovative, 20-year master plan for Downtown’s outdoor spaces.

“Our goal for The Outdoor Downtown is to imagine and build a new and sustainable future for downtown parks and public spaces,” said Mark Bernstein, downtown area planner for Denver Parks and Recreation. “These additions to Skyline Park are an excellent example of the potential of these spaces to foster a premier, livable outdoor downtown.”

The pop-up activities in Skyline Park join seasonal activities including Skyline Park games, featuring a nine-hole miniature golf course, located between 16^th and 17^th streets. Skyline Park games and the pop-up park are open daily, weather permitting. The pop-up park will be open through mid-September, and will also feature free fitness programs from Form Fitness and “A Color Party” on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m. in collaboration with RedLine and artist Bruce Price. For more information about events and activities in Skyline Park, visit www.downtowndenver.com.

Honor Society Handcrafted Eatery, a hybrid restaurant where customers order Chipotle-style at the counter then have the food delivered to their table, has officially opened its doors to the public at 1900 16th St.

Operating hours for this week only are 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. through Saturday, closed Sunday. Beginning Monday, Honor Society will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For more information, go to www.eatwithhonor.com.

The USA Pro Cycling Challenge will speed through Wheat Ridge on Sunday, leading to the closure of several roads between 2 and 3 p.m. The following roads will be impacted by the event:

• Youngfield Street at West 32^nd Avenue
• West 32^nd Avenue from Youngfield Street to Kipling Street
• Kipling Street from West 32^nd Avenue to West 26^th Avenue
• West 26^th Avenue from Kipling Street to Wadsworth Boulevard
• Wadsworth Boulevard from West 26^th Avenue to West 32^nd Avenue
• West 32^nd Avenue from Wadsworth Boulevard to Sheridan Boulevard
• Sheridan Boulevard from West 32^nd Avenue to West 29^th Avenue

The closure of these roads is expected to last for a half hour. The only access permitted during this timeframe will be for race personnel and emergency vehicles. Police department personnel and volunteers will be posted at all streets and alleys along the race route to keep traffic off these roads.

The route through Wheat Ridge is part of the Challenge’s final stage, which takes racers from a four-mile climb up Lookout Mountain to downtown Denver for a blazing fast circuit around City Park and the state Capitol. The City is encouraging residents to cheer the racers on as they travel through Wheat Ridge.

For more information regarding the race, visit the city website at www.ciwheatridge.co.us or contact Patrol Operators Commander Mark Cooney at 303-235-2931.

Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers is launching the Mellow Mushroom Bake Bus Brewery Tour, which will be traveling through Colorado Sept. 5-12. The fully loaded mobile pizza kitchen will be bringing the groovy Mellow Mushroom experience, complete with hot pizza slices to enjoy with ice-cold local brews, to various Colorado breweries including stops at New Belgium’s Tour de Fat in both Fort Collins and Denver.

Cruising across the country since 2011, the Mellow Mushroom Bake Bus is a one-of-a-kind pizza-making kitchen on wheels.  Featuring giant windows for pizza lovers to catch the stone baked pizza process, the bus is truly a mobile pizza party, blasting cool tunes while serving hot pies. The bus will be making stops at multiple breweries around the Denver metro area including Ratio Beerworks, Grist Brewing and Elk Mountain Brewing. Also on the brewery tour are two stops at New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat festivals.

Stops on the Mellow Mushroom Bake Bus Tour include:

* Tour de Fat, Fort Collins (VIP booth) – Sept. 5

* Ratio Beerworks, downtown Denver – 4 to 9 p.m. Sept. 9

* Grist Brewing Company, Highlands Ranch – 4 to 9 p.m. Sept. 10

* Elk Mountain Brewing, Parker – 4 to 9 p.m. Sept. 11

* Tour de Fat, Denver – noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 12

“Colorado is the perfect state for our Bake Bus Brewery Tour,” said Annica Kreider, VP of Brand Development. “We are excited to bring our passion for deliciously unparalleled pizza and craft beer on the road, especially to a place that shares our love for local brews. ”

For more information regarding the tour, stay tuned to Mellow Mushroom Colorado’s Facebook pages.

Eavesdropping on Facebook: “I am playing golf this morning. Hide the children and cars.”

Located in Denver’s Uptown Neighborhood, Randolph’s Restaurant & Bar is launching a dog-friendly happy hour on its expansive tree-lined patio. The restaurant invites dog owners to bring their furry friends with them to enjoy a “Paw-tio” Happy Hour, offered daily from 4 to 7 p.m. The menu features $4 draft beers, $6 house wines, $6.50 Absolut Vodka cocktails and $6 appetizers including truffle fries, hot wings, crab cakes, fish and chips – and more – for humans, along with one complimentary dog cupcake for each furry companion from Denver-based Biscotti Hound.

Randolph’s Restaurant & Bar features a seasonally changing menu that highlights locally sourced ingredients with a focus on Colorado game and meats. Complementing the food selection is an extensive cocktail and wine list, for which the restaurant received Wine Spectator’s “Award of Excellence.”

For more information, go to www.randolphsdenver.com/.

The Melt, a rapidly growing fast casual restaurant chain based in San Francisco, is moving into Colorado, marking its first expansion outside of the restaurant’s home state of California.

The chain’s first of five planned Colorado locations opened this week at Park Meadows mall with four other Metro Denver locations set to open before the end of the year.

The Melt’s chef-inspired menu features 100 percent all-natural, wholesome and fresh ingredients to create an expansive offering of comfort food favorites such as: premium burgers, grilled cheese, fries, mac ‘n’ cheese and homemade soups, along with wine and a selection of locally brewed Colorado beers. The Melt has emerged as a leader in the fast casual restaurant space, recently earning honors as one of FastCasual.com’s Top 50 Brands of 2015.

Along with the Park Meadows location, The Melt plans to open four additional Metro Denver locations this year, including:

• 16th and Champa – 821 16th St. (September 2015)
• Village at the Peaks – 1232 S. Hover St., Longmont, (fourth quarter 2015)
• Southwest Plaza – 8501 W. Bowles Ave., Littleton, (fourth quarter 2015)
• Foothills Mall – 215 E. Foothills Parkway, Fort Collins, (fourth quarter 2015)

“Since The Melt opened its first restaurant in San Francisco, we’ve been focused on fulfilling our founding mission of providing better food for our kids, creating jobs and delivering happiness to each and every guest,” said Jonathan Kaplan, founder and CEO of The Melt.

The Melt chose Colorado as its first market outside of California because the state is at the forefront of the better-for-you food movement, a movement The Melt has supported since its founding.

“Expansion into Colorado is a first and exciting step in The Melt’s long-term plans for continued growth,” Kaplan said. We’re excited to become a part of the Colorado community and look forward to welcoming Colorado guests to our restaurants.”

For more information, go to www.themelt.com/round_up.