Denver Zoo, in partnership with Children’s Colorado, unveiled its new mascot Sunday at the Zoo’s first Teddy Bear Care Fair.

Elbert, a 6-foot-tall 300-pound bear, debuted by pulling a wagon full of plush versions of himself at the Zoo’s Explore the Shore Play Area, presented by Children’s Colorado. After his introduction, families were invited to take stuffed animals around the Zoo for “medical procedures.”

“We are so excited to mark another important milestone in our longstanding partnership with the Denver Zoo,” said Jena Hausmann, chief operating officer, Children’s Colorado. “We look forward to the joy Elbert will bring our patients through regular visits each month.”

Elbert, named after the highest mountain in Colorado, doesn’t belong to an official species, but was born in the Rocky Mountains. He’s known for his soft brown fur, bright smile and heart-shaped patch of fur on his chest. With favorite foods of fish, fruits and vegetables and hobbies such as dancing, hiking and skiing, Elbert loves to promote healthy eating, kid safety, caring for animals and an active lifestyle.

This was the first Teddy Bear Care Fair  hosted at Denver Zoo. Together with Children’s Colorado, Zoo staff handed out plush mascots to the first 1,000 kids and certificates of health at check-in to all children who visited the Explore the Shore Play Area. Children and families were able to walk around the zoo to different stations all day so volunteers and staff could provide X-rays, bear limb casting and other medical procedures to stuffed animals.

“Denver Zoo is proud to have Children’s Colorado as a sponsor of our Explore the Shore Play Area, and as a partner for several community programs,” said Denver Zoo President and CEO Shannon Block. Our partnership is such a natural fit and our new mascot will enable us to continue to provide for children from the region.”

(Denver Zoo photo)

Are you ready for some faux football?

The eight Tavern restaurants throughout the metro area are rolling out the annual Fantasy Football Draft Party promotion beginning Friday at all locations. At $120 per party for unlimited draft beer, the Draft Party provides a discount deal for groups planning their NFL draft picks.

Draft parties at each neighborhood Tavern will receive unlimited draft beer for a two-hour period for up to 12 people at $120 per party.   The promotion is valid from Friday through Sept. 4 (not valid Fridays after 4 p.m.) and reservations must be made in advance.  Space is based on availability.  Free high-speed Wi-Fi is available at all locations.

Tavern owner Frank Schultz said, “This is our sixth year to offer our draft party special. Some of our regulars even started calling us in the spring to make sure we were doing it again. Although we’re fortunate to have a lot of guests who already consider us their football headquarters, we hope to encourage new groups to think of us when choosing a place to watch their favorite teams.  This special is an opportunity to bring people in who have never been to a Tavern.”

For Fantasy Football Draft Party reservations at any neighborhood Tavern location (Uptown, Downtown, Lowry, Tech Center, Wash Park or Littleton), call 303-226-1555.  Additionally, as the football season begins, guests will be able to enjoy the Tavern’s football food specials: one dollar pizza rolls, one-dollar boneless buffalo wings, $1.50 classic sliders.  These football food specials will be offered beginning with preseason games from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday and Thursday.

For more information, visit www.tavernhg.com.

Jon Rizzi, Colorado AvidGolfer magazine’s founding editor, recently tied the proverbial knot with Jo Anne Grant Harada, a yoga instructor and employee at Youth in Action, a student exchange program to and from Japan.

Rizzi, a mid-handicap golfer and prolific writer for the magazine, is one of the nicest journalists I’ve ever had the privilege of calling my friend.

Marriage couldn’t happen to a sweeter couple. Congratulations to both of you.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, in town last week stumping for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez, milling among “the people” at Sam’s No. 3 diner in downtown Denver.

Christie and Beauprez reportedly ordered the Bash Hickenlooper Burger off the menu (just kidding).

Eavesdropping on two women: “I used to think Steve Winwood was cute but then he got all wrinkled and old.”

“They all do.”

“Not Mick Jagger.”

If you work, live or play in LoDo, you’ve dealt with the noise and flying cranes squawking around the Denver Union Station redevelopment near 17th and Wynkoop.

Now, it’s time to celebrate the newest jewel in Denver’s development crown. The official Denver Union Station Grand Opening Celebration will be feted with a street festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Presented by FirstBank, this free community celebration will feature food trucks, vendors, family activities and live music. Rachel and the Kings will take the stage at 10:45 a.m., followed by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers at 12:30 p.m. and The Railbenders at 2 p.m.

The official Denver Union Station opening ceremony will be held at noon by the Union Station Alliance partners.

The public is invited to tour the $54 million revitalization of Denver Union Station, which is now home to The Crawford Hotel and a custom-crafted group of 13 Colorado restaurants and retailers.

To help manage the large crowds that are expected, tickets will be issued for building access between noon and 8 p.m., based on demand. Free tickets will be available at the street festival until 3 p.m. Time stamped tickets are available at www.altitudetickets.com/mobile/event/denver-union-station-grand-opening-celebration/2148 for a$1 processing free, which also guarantees your chosen time of entry.

Event sponsors include FirstBank, Schomp Automotive, AOR Inc., Coors Brewing Co., Republic National Distributing Co., Pepsi, CBS4, DaVita, University of Colorado Health, University of Colorado at Denver, SunShare and Uber.

For more information, visit http://unionstationindenver.com/grandopening/.

(Ellen Jaskol photos )

New and additional works of art have been added to the Chihuly glass art exhibition on display through Nov. 30 at The Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York St.

Several more groupings of garden glass have been added to the installation in the O’Fallon Perennial Walk. Also, more Cattails and newly created Floats were added to the Saffron Tower installation in the Ellipse Garden.

Following artist Dale Chihuly’s visit to the Gardens for the exhibition opening, the artist – as he likes to do – decided to make a few modifications to make the exhibition even better.

Hours for viewing the Chihuly exhibition are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (last entry at 8 p.m.) through Sept. 28. Hours Sept. 29 through Nov. 30 are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

For advance tickets, go to www.botanicgardens.org.

Dale Chihuly, “Saffron Tower”, 2008 with “Cattails” and “Niijima Floats”, 2014. Denver Botanic Gardens

Sean Kenyon bartender extraordinaire at Williams & Graham was named American Bartender of the Year at the Spirited Awards Saturday in the Sheraton Hotel New Orleans.

Kenyon was among four finalists along with Jeff Bell (PDT, New York), Marcovaldo Dionysos (Smuggler’s Cove, San Francisco), and Bobby Heugel (Anvil Bar & Refuge, Houston). The Spirited Awards are held each year during Tales of the Cocktail, the world’s premier cocktail festival, bringing together the international spirits community for five days of what’s now, what’s new and what’s next in bartending.

“I am still stunned by the whole thing,” Kenyon told Eater Denver. “I didn’t think I was going to win. Someone from a secondary market doesn’t have as much of a chance to win as much as people from the coasts and with the guys from New York and San Francisco in the running, I just didn’t expect to win.”

According to Eater Denver, Robert Simonson, author and journalist for the “New York Times” tweeted this after Kenyon’s win:

“Jul 19 #spiritedawards win for @SeanKenyon likely to be biggest thing yet to happen to Denver cocktail scene, attention-wise. #totc”

Local libation authorities will be serving up their inventive cocktails at TheBigWonderful, Denver’s first food incubator market, at 5 p.m. today and from 11 a.m. to dusk on Saturday at Sustainability Park, 26th and Lawrence.

Stuart Jensen, a local talent behind the bar at Green Russell and recent award winner of ShakeStir’s Denver Flash Cocktail Competition, has brought on board a team of stellar bartenders including Sean Kenyon—recent winner of “Best American Bartender” at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans as well as Christina Andrews, Chad Michael George and Sam Johnson, all of Williams & Graham;  Brian Smith, formerly of the Squeaky Bean;  and Nick Lowe, formerly of Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, DC.

They will be featuring a variety of locally sourced and freshly made cocktails each week.  Jensen and Josh Sampson, the founder of TheBigWonderful, met while Jensen was bartending at Green Russell and Sampson was sipping a cocktail at the bar. They struck up a conversation about Denver’s ever-growing food scene and what it was missing compared to other great food cities around the country. From this conversation, was born the concept of TheBigWonderful and a homegrown partnership.

“Josh and I hit it off right away because we both knew that Denver needed more events like this,” Jensen said. “After coming up with the idea of TheBigWonderful, he came back and told me about what he had in store, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it.”

In addition to concocting a menu of rotating cocktails each week, Jensen will also be working to secure local beverage vendors for the market. Thus far, confirmed participants include the Breckenridge Distillery, Peach Street Distillers, Great Divide Brewery and Oskar Blues Brewery.

For more information, go to www.thebigwonderful.com.