FROM BLACKTIE-COLORADO.COM

MEETUP MATCHES NONPROFITS WITH VOLUNTEERS: Pairing business people with nonprofits that could use their help is the goal of the third annual Boulder County Board Match on Wednesday at Longmont’s Plaza Conference Center, the Longmont Times-Call reports. “For business people, it’s a chance to give back to their community and help out a cause they believe in. For the nonprofits, it’s a way to get assistance in areas where the management and staff of the nonprofit may have no air jordan 9 expertise. Social Venture Partners, a fund of The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, has as its mission building relationships between individuals and nonprofits.”

CU FOUNDATION hires new chief financial officer.

DENVER CENTER THEATRE COMPANY announces a one-night-only reading of “8,” a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8.

CLIMBER DAVE WEST vows 14 14ers in 14 days for charity.

PENNY PARKER’S BLACKTIE ON THE TOWN: Hotmixology TV show headed for new LoDo bar of the same name.

STILL WAITING TO SEE DONATIONS: Colorado shooting victims.

LATEST EVENTS ON BLACKTIE
* Women Who’ve Changed The Heart of the City, at the Brown Palace
* “The Hamptons Come To Denver,” at the Clyfford Still Museum
* “FACES Presents Annual Grapes Against Wrath,” at DU School of Hospitality
* Dani’s Foundation “Hold ‘Em To Help ‘Em Challenge,” at the National Western Arena

CARING FOR COLORADO FOUNDATION awards nearly $3 million statewide.

STEPPING DOWN: Gill Foundation’s Tim Sweeney.

HOT OFF THE PRESSES: The latest Blacktie-Colorado Have You Heard newsletter.

NEW ADVERTISER: Colorado Horsecare Foodbank is promoting its Sept. 29 event “Hay Bales & Horse Tales” on the Blacktie calendar page.

ADVERTISE YOUR EVENT on Blacktie-Colorado for just $150 a week. Email Brett McCann-Lehl at brett@blacktie-llc.com.

SPACE FOUNDATION hosts Halloween fundraiser.

NONPROFIT PUSHING for red light cameras in Colorado.

ALTHOUGH WINDSOR RESIDENTS Jamison and Tammy Bohl didn’t take their suitcases to the Suitcase Party, they should have — for the free trip they won to Catalina Island.

DID YOU KNOW? You can advertise your nonprofit event easily and affordably to 300,000 readers in the 17 Colorado Community Media newspapers from Thornton to Castle Rock? Blacktie offers discounted rates to organizations that have not previously advertised in the CCM publications. These publications include Arvada Press, Castle Rock News-Press, Centennial Citizen, Douglas County News-Press, Englewood Herald, Golden Transcript, Highlands Ranch Herald, Lakewood Sentinel, Littleton Independent, air jordan 10 Lone Tree Voice, Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel, Parker Chronicle, Westminster Window, Westsider and Wheat Ridge Transcript. Call Brett McCann-Lehl or Don Knox at 303-832-2903 for more details!

COMING EVENTS ON BLACKTIE
9/20/2012 – Cancer League of Colorado Annual Membership Luncheon 2012
9/20/2012 – Cherry Creek Business Women’s Network September, 2012 Luncheon
9/20/2012 – Behind the Curtain
9/21/2012 – Denver Press Club Hall of Fame Induction Dinner
9/22/2012 – Foothills Animal Foundation’s 2012 Raise the Woof! Gala
9/22/2012 – Rocky Mountain Childhood Cancer Foundation Chocolate Gala Event – Live Entertainment, Auctions, Dinner

COME SEE PALAZZO VERDI: Have you wanted to visit the new event venue Palazzo Verdi all dressed up? Our featured columnist Penny Parker is having her first Penny Parker Weddings event there at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20. Blacktie is holding open 20 reservations for its valued nonprofit partners. Make your reservation today — this event is free.

DO YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR A FUTURE ISSUE OF BLACKTIE FOR BUSINESS? Send an email to the editor, Don Knox.

Hotmixology Lounge, a new LoDo hang-out from Dave Elger of Cooking Channel fame,  opens Thursday at 2026 Larimer St., adjoining Scruffy Murphy’s.

Elger, who founded Muchote Tequila with his twin brother, Will, will tape his weekly TV show from the new bar where guests will be invited along for the ride during the “tour de booze”.

“Hotmixology Lounge is guaranteed to make your spirits soar with great cocktails poured with premium ingredients the Hotmixology way,” Elger said. “We are bringing the TV show to life and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the mix in LoDo.”

The historic 1,500-square-foot space holds a custom bar, air jordan 11 chandeliers by Rocky Mountain Barrel Co., lounging areas and a revolving art exhibit curated by Fascination St. Fine Art owner Aaron LaPedis. The menu will focus on artisan snacks that change seasonally using ingredients from local purveyors.

Hours are 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, with extended hours beginning at 11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays featuring a Bloody Mary bar. To see clips of the TV show, go to www.hotmixology.com.

Celebrate Colorado Cafes

Work Options for Women, a welfare to work organization that trains women to become employed in the culinary field, is hosting Celebrate Colorado Cafes from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Cafe Options, 1650 Curtis St.

The free event will feature samples from the growing number of Denver cafes that are helping change the world through food. Attendees can learn more about the organizations and find out how they can get involved.

In addition to Cafe Options, participating restaurants are AspenPointe Cafe in Colorado Springs, Cafe 180, Dirt Coffee (opening in April), Emily’s Coffee, Osage Cafe, Pizza Fusion, SAME Cafe, The Purple Door (opening soon) and the Women’s Bean Project.

To register for the event, go to http://bit.ly/MrVd5L.

Big time

The Big Easy Creole Kitchen, 250 Steele St., held a rockin’ invite-only party Friday where more than 100 hearty partiers munched on traditional New Orleans fab fare from chef/owner George Gastl and taste-tested creative cocktails from bar manager Eric Meyer (y’all need to try his take on a Hurricane).

And for those of us who still mourn the passing of Mel’s Bar and Grill in Cherry Creek North, you might recognize Big Easy general manager Pete Penzenstadler, who famously worked the door at Mel’s for three years.

The Big Easy opens to the public on Tuesday, beginning with a happy hour from 4 to 6, and dinner starting at 5. Closed Mondays. Check out the menu at www.bigeasycreolekitchen.com. Reservations: 303-954-9398. Free parking behind the restaurant and valet service will be offered Friday and Saturday nights.

Kiely’s cause

Susan Kiely, the creator of Women With a Cause Foundation, will be feted during Triumphant Faces, a benefit for the Excelsior Youth Center, on Feb. 22 at the Hyatt Regency Colorado Convention Center.

Women With a Cause Foundation is an eight-year-old organization dedicated to providing a living wage to women in India by teaching them how to sew in order to become employed, move into an apartment and send their children to school.

Kiely, who was raised by a single mother who changed jobs frequently, attended 13 different grade schools. She will share her story at the event. Excelsior Youth Center provides a safe haven for troubled girls.

The great girl group The Pointer Sisters will provide the evening’s entertainment. More information: https://www.blacktie-colorado.com/calendar/event-detail.cfm?id=23605.

Cheeseburger, cheeseburger

It may be National Cheeseburger Day on Tuesday, air jordan 12 but The Palm in the Westin Hotel wants to celebrate all week. Today through Friday, the steak place is offering five different prime steak burgers at lunch for $8.37. Each burger consists of 12 ounces of USDA prime beef (topped with cheese, please) on a toasted sesame brioche bun with a side of hand-cut French fries.

Additionally, during happy hour from 4:30 to 6: 30 p.m., The Palm is offering steak burger sliders served at the bar for $1 each when purchased with a beverage. More information: www.thepalm.com/denver.

Dream home

There’s still time to buy raffle tickets to win a home valued at $470,000 in Castle Rock as a benefit for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Pat Hamill and his team at Oakwood Homes are building and donating the home with 100 percent of funds raised going to St. Jude.

Raffle tickets are $100 apiece, and the purchase deadline is Tuesday. The winner of the dream home will be announced on Thursday. To buy tickets, call 1-800-276-7695 or visit www.dreamhome.org.

Eavesdropping on one woman to another who is moving and looking for alternatives to watching television during a black-out: “We could organize your stuff.”
“But it’s dark.”

Did you hear that I have a new column, “Mile High Life,” in Colorado Community Media’s 17 weekly newspapers circling Denver? Be sure to like my Facebook page! Also, here’s where you go to get my column emailed to you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I’m now the social-media liaison for the Mile High Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association, so read my latest restaurant news there. My email: penny@blacktie-llc.com.

The Three Tomatoes/Denver Film Society 35^th Anniversary Party celebrates the remaining Two Tomatoes – Peggy Beck and Joanne Katz - during a celebration for the catering company and Film Society Saturday at the Denver Film Center at Elizabeth and Colfax.

The event will incorporate the entire Denver FilmCenter – including bars on the patio and a tented lounge, food/film pairings within each theater, cocktails and appetizers in Henderson’s Lounge and the lobby, and fun extras during the course of the evening.

Many sponsors of the event have donated air jordan 13 their time and services to transform the Denver Film Center into the supper club it was meant to be. Following food and cocktails, guests will dance to the wee hours to celebrate 35 years of excellence from two Denver institutions.

Tickets are $250 per couple or $135 per person and can be purchased at www.DenverFilm.org.  All net proceeds will benefit the Denver Film Society.

Get ready to mangia!

Denver Restaurant Week(s), the most bang for the buck you can have in a local eatery, is set next year for Feb. 23 through March 8. The event, where a couple can dine from a multi-course menu for $52.80 (singles for $26.40), features some of the metro-area’s finest dining spots with real meal deals.

Registration for next year’s participation for restaurants begins this November, and restaurants and menus will be posted on the www.denverrestaurantweek.com website early next year.

This year’s Denver Restaurant Week was a huge success by setting a new record of 339 participating eateries – the most in any restaurant week in the nation, according to organizer Visit Denver.

Based on surveys, a record 404,400 meals were served during DRW 2012, up 12 percent over the total meals served in 2011.

All pro

James C. Hamilton, a founding member of The BOSS Society, has teamed up with longtime pal and business partner two-time Super champ Rod Smith, former wide receiver of The Denver Broncos, to launch a wealth tour that will stop in Denver from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday at 3525 S. Tamarac Drive, Suite 140.

Attendees will hear personal testimonies from Hamilton and Smith and learn more about their journeys to success. For tickets information, call 1-888-348-2201 or visit www.winningopp.biz.

Changing spaces

Embassy Suites Denver – Downtown/Convention Center has hired Ed Blair, former GM of The Oxford Hotel in Denver, as the new general manager.

Denver-based Sage Hospitality, co-owner of The Oxford, announced last month that it had acquired the management contract for the 403-room convention center hotel, and it hired Blair to take over leadership of the property.

Blair is a member of Denver’s Road Home, the commission to end homelessness in Denver by 2015, and a member of the Business Advisory Council for Denver’s Road to Work.

Taking Blair’s place at the Oxford is Afsi Bird as GM for the historic 80-room hotel. Bird joins The Oxford from Hotel Terra Jackson Hole.

And in further hotel news, Beaver Creek’s The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa has hired Timothy H. Wolfe as general manager.

Wolfe has been a member of the Colorado Tourism Office Board of Directors since 2009 and recently began serving as CTO’s chairman.

His other claims to fame include running 20 Boston marathons and adopting a girl from China, then starting a nonprofit to help other families going through the experience.

Eat, drink, be local

Whole Foods Market Denver and Denver Beer Co. are throwing the first annual “Eat Drink Be” local event from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Denver Beer Co., 1695 Platte St., Denver.

Attendees who bring a canned foot item will air jordan 14 receive $1 off their first beer. Brew samples from 20 Colorado companies, live music and more will be offered.

Aff food donations will go to Metro CareRing, Denver’s oldest and largest food pantry. For more information, go to www.metrocarering.org.

The seen

Travel Channel host Andrew Zimmern seen wandering around Denver this week on his gastronomical quest for his show Bizarre Foods. He ate (God knows what) at El Taco de Mexico at 714 Santa Fe Drive. He told eaterdenver.com that Denver has an “obsession with testicles,” which is a reference to Rocky  Mountain Oysters.

Read more at: http://denver.eater.com/archives/2012/09/12/zimmern-testicle-connoisseur-seeks-the-best-rocky-mountain-oysters.php.

Eavesdropping on a woman to her boyfriend at Mail It! Pack It! Ship It! in Cherry Creek North after he brought her a coffee because he was out the night before at Shotgun Willie’s: “So, it’s a guilt coffee?”

Did you hear that I have a new column, “Mile High Life,” in Colorado Community Media’s 17 weekly newspapers circling Denver? Be sure to like my Facebook page! Also, here’s where you go to get my column emailed to you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I’m now the social-media liaison for the Mile High Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association, so read my latest restaurant news there. My email: penny@blacktie-llc.com.

In case you missed Denver Food and Wine (say what?) last week, here’s a recap (along with a slideshow) on the incredible line-up of events that I attended.

On Sept. 6, The Mad Butcher of Panzano Dario Cecchini gave a butchering demo on a half hog in the lobby of The Hotel Monaco prior to a multicourse dinner prepared by Denver’s Panzano chef Elise Wiggins.

Guests were treated to an array of appetizers with Colorado air jordan 1 femmes ingredients such as Palisade peaches and Rocky Ford cantaloupe, gnocchi with fried egg and house made smoked guanciale, a Rocky Ford cantaloupe salad with a hibiscus gastrique, pork shoulder with speck and smoked mozzarella over grilled corn and a brandy-soaked Colorado cherry tart layered with dark chocolate and creme fraiche gelato.

The gallop into gluttony continued the next morning with breakfast at the new SpringHill Suites on the Metro State campus where National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation chairman Xavier Teixido spoke to the gathering about the importance of ProStart, the high school program that introduces young people into the hospitality industry and provides scholarships for higher education.

We segued into an afternoon of a dueling culinary demo from reality TV chefs Kelly Liken (Iron Chef America) and Jenna Johansen (Around the World in 80 Plates) who duked it out in the new Metro State Hospitality Learning Center kitchen. (Liken won by a micro green with her cold peach soup and home cured lamb bacon bits.)

Next up was the Riedel glass seminar where the sold-out event proved that size matters when it comes to drinking different wine with the correct glass.

Friday night SpringHill Suites rocked with Restaurants Rock featuring local lovable band Opie Gone Bad and boffo bites from Lon Symensa from ChoLon, Little Man Ice Cream, Whole Foods and various master mixologists.

The weekend’s denouement was the Grand Tasting on Saturday where more than 40 restaurants provided fine fare along with 600 wines and spirits from Southern Wine and Spirits.

The Brown Palace Hotel kicked it up a notch this year in the VIP tent where chefs served a seafood bar, Caesar salad station, beef carving table, cheese and salumi displays and a dessert table worthy of Willy Wonka. The two main tents yielded masterful noshes along with many fine wines, and the Viking stage let local chefs Wiggins and Daniel Asher of Root Down and Linger show their culinary prowess in cooking demos. And chef Cecchini demonstrated his butchering skills.

All in all, a good time was had. Stay tuned for next year’s event by following www.denverfoodandwine.com.

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Waygu and wine

The Capital Grille on Larimer Square is air jordan 3 femmes offering a Waygu burger and a glass of high-end wine for $25 for a limited time. The burger, cooked to temperature with a fried egg on top, can be paired with either a glass of Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon or a glass of Belle Glos Las Alturas Pinot Noir.

Enjoy the dandy duo at the bar only with no reservations required through Nov. 11.

Twitter talk

Matthew Perry, former Friends star who happens to have a new series Go On! debuting on NBC tweeted this on Sunday: “At Sports Authority Field in Denver. So excited to see Peyton Manning’s debut live! NBC may or may not show me during the game:)”

Let’s break it down: NBC broadcast the Sunday night game; Perry is starring in a new NBC sitcom. Of course the cameras caught him!

Eavesdropping on  Facebook post about a woman talking to a high school classmate at a University of Missouri alumni bar: “You didn’t go to Missouri, whatcha doin’ here?”
“Oh, I’m dating a cougar.”
“Actually we’re the Tigers.”
“No, no she’s a cougar,” (he says as he points to his 45-year-old girlfriend).

Did you hear that I have a new column, “Mile High Life,” in Colorado Community Media’s 17 weekly newspapers circling Denver? Be sure to like my Facebook page! Also, here’s where you go to get my column emailed to you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I’m now the social-media liaison for the Mile High Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association, so read my latest restaurant news there. My email: penny@blacktie-llc.com.

St. Anthony Health Foundation, along with AEG Live and 97.3 KBCO, are bringing singing sensations Sheryl Crow and Amos Lee to perform for Flight For Life Colorado’s 40th anniversary and KBCO’s 35th anniversary on Oct. 6 at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield.

Funds will go toward a new helicopter for Flight For Life with enhanced high-altitude capabilities. Tickets: 866-461-6556 or at www.tickethorse.com

In addition to the rockin’ concert, AEG Live, air jordan 4 femmes St. Anthony Health Foundation and KBCO are hosting Rocky Mountain Ransom on Wednesday where local notables will be delivered to a nearby mountaintop with a cell phone and asked to raise $100,000 each for Flight For Life before they can be rescued from the mountain.

Personalities include KBCO DJ Bret Saunders, AEG Live president and CEO Chuck Morris, Denver restaurateur Frank Schultz, president and founding partner of Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck Steve Farber (really? I think Steve is more country club than rugged country), founding partner of Springer and Steinberg Harvey Steinberg, president and CEO of Sage Hospitality Walter Isenberg, CEO of Downtown Denver Partnership Tami Door and medical director of St. Anthony Breast Center Raymond Mencini.

With that high-powered crowd out of pocket for a while, Denver could come to its demise.

“When I was approached by St Anthony’s to help with the 40^th Anniversary of Flight For Life, I jumped at it,” said event organizer Morris. “They were unaware that my wife, Becky, was in a head-on crash in 1979, in Evergreen and was saved by the quick response of their first helicopter. She had a broken neck and other injuries which with the quick action and a long stay at St. Anthony’s she recovered. Helping organize the Rocky Mountain Ransom as well as the concert with Sheryl Crow and Amos Lee was the least Becky and I could do to pay back this unreal organization that has meant so much for not only the Morris Family but for the countless lives of so many Coloradans.”

Day of Giving

Bill Ficke, who served as Doug Moe’s assistant coach at the Nuggets, is holding the 2012 Day of Giving Tuesday at his Big Bill’s New York Pizza in Centennial, when visitors to his restaurant will be asked to contribute to the JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation in lieu of receiving a check for their meal.

After Bill’s wife, JoAnn, died from cancer in 2007, Bill formed the foundation that honors her, contributions from the Day of Giving go to the foundation, and the totals involved in the check presentations to Colorado-based cancer organizations have grown every year.

In December 2011, Foundation President Dan Ficke — Bill and JoAnn’s son who now is the assistant coordinator of basketball operations at Wake Forest — presented gifts totaling $120,000. The contributions included: $50,000 to the Rocky Mountain Bone Marrow Transplant Patience Assistance Fund that helps patients undergoing cancer treatment and their families; $30,000 to the Cancer League of Colorado to help local researchers working on lymphoma research; $30,000 to Rocky Mountain Cancer Assistance, which helped patients undergoing cancer treatment and their families, and $10,000 to Colorado Ovarian Cancer Alliance to help raise awareness and patient assistance.

Big Bill’s is at 8243 South Holly in Centennial, at the intersection of County Line Road and Holly, next to the McDonald’s. For more information, go to www.jbfcf.org.

Sage adds another eatery

The Westin Westminster recently opened Kachina Southwestern Grill, air jordan 4.5 femmes inside the old O’s space. The restaurant is the latest venture by Sage Restaurant Group, a Denver-based company that also owns and operates The Corner Office and Second Home in Denver.

Kachina Southwestern Grill is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as for brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. Reservations and more information: 303-410-5000 or at www.kachinagrill.com.

Fly to fashion

Flight to Luxury Fashion Show, brought to you by Mariel women’s boutique in Cherry Creek North, promises to be the party of the year with a meet-and-greet by renowned fashion designer Sue Wong from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday at the Signature Flight Support Hangar Centennial Airport, 8001 S. InterPort Blvd., Englewood.

To purchase tickets to the event that will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver, go to www.flighttoluxury.com.

It’s Reggae, mon

Nuggets Coach George Karl and the Cancer Care Initiative are presenting the Original Wailers this Thursday at Infinity Park in Glendale.

Doors open at 5 p.m., music starts at 6.30 and the Wailers take the stage around 8.

The folks at Efficient Tickets have two tickets to give away, so the first person to e-mail me at penny@blacktie-llc.com gets them. Don’t delay!

Laugh for a cause

Join in raising money for one of the victims of the Aurora theater tragedy, Caleb Medley, who is one of Comedy Works’ new talent comics and part of its comedy family.

The event featuring Saturday Night Alive alum and movie star Rob Schneider starts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Comedy Works in the Landmark Village. Funds raised will help Medley with his medical bills and the medical bills of his wife, who had their first baby while he’s been recovering from his injuries.

For tickets; call 720-274-6800 or go to www.comedyworks.com.

The seen

Dandy Denver real estate agent Ken Mendelsberg having his picture snapped with NBC football commentators Bob Costas and Al Michaels staying at The Four Seasons and hanging out at EDGE Restaurant & Bar on Saturday before Sunday’s Broncos-Steelers game.

Caption: Bob Costas, Ken Mendelsberg.

Another EDGE-y tidbit

EDGE Restaurant & Bar in The Four Seasons Hotel Denver is offering a new twice-daily happy hour. Every day, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and from 11 p.m. to close, EDGE will offer a separate happy hour menu with $5 house red and white wines, $5 prosecco, and Coors Light Draft for $3. A selection of half-price appetizers also is featured.

More information: http://www.edgerestaurantdenver.com/menus/happy_hour/.

Eavesdropping on a man talking about getting a speeding ticket: “How do they expect me to pay attention to the speed limit when I’m answering my e-mails?”

Did you hear that I have a new column, “Mile High Life,” in Colorado Community Media’s 17 weekly newspapers circling Denver? Be sure to like my Facebook page! Also, here’s where you go to get my column emailed to you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I’m now the social-media liaison for the Mile High Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association, so read my latest restaurant news there. My email: penny@blacktie-llc.com.