JEWISHcolorado, (formerly known as Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado) recently announced that three community members will receive awards at the 2014 annual meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 27 at Infinity Park Event Center in Glendale.

This year’s award recipients are:

• Seth Wong – Ruth & Warren Toltz Young Leadership Award;
• Cintra Pollack – Charlotte B. Tucker Young Leadership Award;
• Lisa Engbar – Volunteer of the Year Award.

These award recipients have demonstrated a commitment to JEWISHcolorado and the broader Jewish community, as well as the ability to bring constituents together for committees, programs and events in an effort to make a lasting difference.

This year’s annual meeting will also recognize Nancy Gart and Ruth Malman, outgoing board co-chairs, and Amy Toltz-Miller, outgoing development chair and incoming board chair. Gart, Malman and Toltz-Miller have served as the volunteer leadership of JEWISHcolorado for the past three years.

“The entire community is invited to join us in recognizing these individuals as well as JEWISHcolorado’s outgoing and incoming leadership,” said Doug Seserman, JEWISHcolorado president and CEO. “In their own unique way, all of our honorees have made significant contributions to our community.  They serve as excellent leadership role models for the rest of us.”

In addition to the presentation of awards, the 2014 annual meeting will take a look back at the organization’s first year operating as JEWISHcolorado, the impact it has made, and its plan for the future. 

Founded in 1946, JEWISHcolorado is the umbrella community organization inspired by the collective responsibility to build and sustain Jewish life in Colorado, Israel and around the world.  Its mission is to secure, steward, and share philanthropic and human resources in support of vibrant Jewish life and to mobilize the community in times of need.

For more information, visit www.JEWISHcolorado.org.

The American Chamber of Commerce executives have selected Richard C. D. “Dick” Fleming, former CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, to receive the 2014 John Parr Award, recognizing a lifetime of outstanding individual leadership in advancing regional stewardship of metropolitan areas.

The Parr Award will be formally presented on Wednesday at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives’ centennial convention in Cincinnati.

The John Parr Award was established in 2008 by the Alliance for Regional Stewardship to recognize individuals who have dedicated their professional and personal lives, as well as social and political capital, to advancing regional stewardship.

The award commemorates the legacy of the late Parr (1948-2007), former chief executive of the National Civic League, co-founder of ARS and one of America’s foremost advisers in the areas of collaborative government, public/private partnerships and regional governance.

“Frankly, I think of no one in our profession who has done more and been more committed to regionalism than Dick Fleming,” said J. Mac Holladay, CEO of Market Street Services. “I know John Parr would be glad to see his old neighbor Dick receive this prestigious award.”

For more than 30 years, Fleming has been a civic entrepreneur engaged in private sector and public initiatives to revitalize center cities and metropolitan communities in Atlanta, Denver and St. Louis.

“There couldn’t be a more fitting recipient of the John Parr Award than Dick Fleming,” said Neal Pierce, editor-in-chief of “Citiscope” and former nationally syndicated urban affairs columnist for the Washington Post.  “John and Dick were long-time, close collaborators on critical innovations for the future of the Denver metropolitan region.  They collaborated even on joint nationwide civic projects after Dick left his post as Chamber of Commerce executive director in Denver to serve long years with distinction in the same role in St. Louis.  In different ways – governmental, civic and personal – these two men worked wonders for the public good.”

During Fleming’s time in Denver, he was instrumental in the revitalization of downtown, the development of the 16th Street Mall, Denver International Airport and the recruitment of major league baseball.

In 1994, he was recruited to St. Louis as president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, where he led a staff of 50 and built an annual operating budget and reserve of more than $11 million. He stepped down from the Chamber in January 2012 and became Chairman of Community Development Ventures, Inc., a St. Louis-based economic and community development strategy firm.

Eavesdropping on a man at a high school reunion: “Where did the last 40 years go? Some people looked virtually the same. For the rest of us … my eyesight is so bad I was able to make us look the way we did in 1974. I’m happy with that.”

Get crackin’. The Palm in the Westin Denver Downtown Hotel, 16th Street Mall and Lawrence, is upgrading its lobster for two dinner tonight only.

The summer lobster dinner for two includes a five-pound Nova Scotia lobster, split and served with melted butter and fresh lemon, a choice of two starters and a family-style side for $99 for two.

And don’t forget the free valet parking with validation, a rare find in downtown Denver.

Reservations: www.thepalm.com or by calling 303-825-7256.

Littleton couple Kristen Moeller, David Cottrell and their two dogs were already living in a 1,200-square-foot tight space when their home burned to the ground, a casualty of the Lower North Fork Fire.

Everything was gone save the dogs and some wedding pictures Moeller snagged before evacuating. As they rebuilt their lives after such a tremendous loss, they opted to rebuild their dwelling – this time a 500-square-foot tiny home, less than half the size of their former house.

Either by choice or by circumstance, there’s a growing number of homeowners joining the tiny house movement, as featured in the series “Tiny Home Nation,” on A&E’s sibling network FYI. TV hosts John Weisbarth and Zack Giffin travel across America to document miniature houses and their full-size inhabitants.

The episode about the Littleton couple, “Rocky Mountain Mansion,” airs at 8 p.m. MDT on Aug. 13 on FYI.

According to the “Tiny House Nation” website, www.fyi.tv/shows/tiny-house-nation, “Renovation experts and hosts, Weisbarth and Giffin, travel across America to show off ingenious small spaces and the inventive people who live in them, as well as help new families design and construct their own mini-dream home in a space no larger than 500 square feet. From a micro-apartment in New York City to a caboose car turned home in Montana to a micro-sized mobile home for road tripping – this is a series that celebrates the exploding movement of tiny homes. From pricey to budget friendly, ‘Tiny House Nation’ is not a typical design show, but one that proves size doesn’t always matter – it’s creativity that counts.”

“The tiny-house movement is sort of an underground movement that more and more people are looking at as a viable option,” Weisbarth told The Denver Post. “That’s kind of what (the show) is about. It’s about discovering families that decided they want to make this move, but they’re not really sure how.”

Lowest prices for tiny homes hover around $20,000, depending on the construction and labor cost, while customized homes with upgrades can run upwards of $50,000.

Moeller pitched the couple’s downsizing decision to “Tiny House Nation,” which chose to film the story. 

Read the rest of The Post’s story at www.denverpost.com/homegarden/ci_26260615/littleton-colorado-home-star-fyis-tiny-house-nation.

Twelve, the Ballpark neighborhood restaurant that much-lauded chef-owner Jeff Osaka opened in November 2008, will serve its last supper on Aug. 23 in the 2233 Larimer location.

Osaka said he plans to reopen in a new space that allows more seating than the tiny eatery now accommodates.

“I opened Twelve on the same day that Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, and I’m closing Twelve on my fiftieth birthday, so I guess you could say that I’m a man who marks milestones,” said Osaka, whose own mark on the Denver dining scene has resulted in a swell of accolades, including a 2014 James Beard semifinalist nomination for Best Chef Southwest.

Osaka, who opened Twelve when the Ballpark area was still in its infancy, rose to culinary prominence with his seasonally intensive, peak-produce menus that changed on the first day of each month, an endeavor that resulted in 70 menus and more than 1,000 different dishes.

As the popularity of those menus grew, so, too, did the crowds, and Osaka has finally outgrown his diminutive space that seats 40 in the restaurant and 10 at the bar.

“I’m looking at a variety of different spaces, and my goal is to resurrect Twelve in the future, but at the moment, there’s no concrete timeline,” said Osaka, who will devote the majority of his time in the coming months to Osaka Ramen, his Japanese ramen noodle shop that will open this winter at 2611 Walnut St.

“At Twelve, it will be business as usual for the next three weeks until we close, and I’m urging everyone to come in and celebrate,” Osaka said. “When I moved to Denver from Los Angeles, my intention was to be an integral part of a food scene that had amazing potential, and this restaurant has helped me build so many relationships and friendships. I really hope that I see a lot of familiar faces in the next three weeks.”

For reservations through Aug. 23, call 303-293-0287 or go to www.opentable.com.

After Twelve closes, the space will become Butcher’s Bistro, a retail butcher shop and restaurant helmed by Scott Bauer, the regional manager of Snooze, and Tyson Holzheimer, the regional chef at Snooze. Butcher’s Bistro plans to open in October, serving lunch, happy hour and dinner from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Lady Gaga turned Denver’s mile high altitude and its legalized pot into a gag when she stopped midway through singing “Dope” at the Pepsi Center Wednesday.

According to www.heyreverb.com, Gaga coughed, made the joke and continued on with her show.

“…Throughout the night she seemed off, sluggish, and now we know why,” heyreverb wrote. “After the show Lady Gaga tweeted a picture of herself in an oxygen mask, saying ‘Altitude Sickness is no Joke!'”

Read the post at http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2014/08/07/lady-gaga-hospitalized-getting-altitude-sickness-denver/93113/.

Rockmount Ranch Wear, the third-generation Denver-based company that invented snap-front shirts, was asked to produce the official Purple Heart shirt for the Purple Heart Convention in Denver this week.

“This marks the latest special project we are proud to be part of including special shirts for the Medal of Honor and both Republican and Democratic National Conventions,” said Steve Weil, Rockmount president and owner.

The Purple Heart Medal was established by Gen. George Washington in 1782 and is awarded to service members wounded or killed in combat.

(Rockmount Ranch Wear photo)

Boulder-based Boxcar Coffee Roasters, a small operation with locations in Boulder and Denver, caught the attention of www.businessinsider.com, which voted the fledgling beanery the best coffee shop in Colorado.

Here’s what the website said: “Forget Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. Every state has its beloved local haunt where you can grab a cup of Joe or a foamy masterpiece of latte art and unwind. We found the best coffee shop in every state by looking at expert reviews and local recommendations.”

About Colorado’s contender, www.businessinsider.com said, “Boxcar Coffee Roasters roasts small batches in a vintage German roasting machine, churning up the good stuff that goes into its popular cold-brew coffee.”

Boxcar Coffee Roasters stores are located at 1825B Pearl St. in Boulder and inside The Source at 3350 Brighton Blvd.

Read the entire best coffee shops list at: www.businessinsider.com/best-coffee-shops-in-the-us-2014-7?op=1#ixzz39jyYEaTW.