Colorado has a long history of producing some of the country’s best peaches year after year. To celebrate this year’s peach season, Denver’s Central Bistro, 1691 Central St., is hosting its first Peach and Bourbon Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Guests will be served a five-course meal created by celebrated chef Matt Selby with each course paired with wine or craft bourbon cocktails made with Garrison Brothers Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Special guest Charlie Garrison, co-founder of Garrison Brothers Distillery, will educate guests on whiskey tasting, the art of distilling, the history of whiskey and the story of Garrison Brothers.
Tickets are $75. For reservations and the full menu, go to www.centralbistrobar.com/events/.

Registration is still open for The IMA Foundation’s inaugural Ping Pong on the Plaza outdoor tournament from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 24 outside the IMA Building at 1705 17th St. on the recently completed Wynkoop Plaza.

More than 100 participants will compete including Mayor Michael B. Hancock and Lieutenant Gov. Joe Garcia.

Food, beverage and entertainment are included, and prizes will be awarded throughout the evening.

With a $1,000 contribution to the IMA Foundation, you are entitled to a team of four, which includes two players and two alternates. Non-playing guests are invited to attend the event for a $100 donation per guest. A portion of your contribution is tax deductible.

To be a part of this tournament and compete for the grand prize, you’ll need to:

* Create your team of four people (two players and two coaches/alternates).

* Register for the event at www.imacorp.com/pingpong.

* Practice, practice, practice.

The IMA Foundation supports nonprofit organizations in the areas of advancing youth, health & wellness, economic vitality and arts and culture.

Eavesdropping on a woman talking about an overnight backpacking trip with her boyfriend and his 13-year-old grandson: “The next morning, looking at the ceiling of the tent, I said to (my boyfriend), ‘I either survived a night in the wilderness or this is what the inside of my coffin looks like.'”

Helen Thorpe, journalist, author and estranged wife of Governor John Hickenlooper, has been garnering national press attention since the release of her second book “Soldier Girls” ($28 Scribner), about three Indiana women who join the National Guard and unwittingly find themselves deployed to the real military world of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The book has been lauded by stalwarts including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Christian Science Monitor, but it took Westword editor Patricia Calhoun to ferret out the real publicity coup: “Soldier Girls” earned “Book of the Week” status in a recent People magazine.

High-profile praise, for sure. That, and her recent interview with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s irreverent series “The Daily Show.”

Thorpe, who in the past shunned the spotlight and loathed the title “first lady”, has been holding her own during the book promotion tour. Even the most veteran authors know that book tours equal book sales.

Thorpe spent four years tracking the three women who joined The National Guard for a variety of mostly financial reasons, only to be hit by the whammy of deployment to the front lines of a weird war.

Here’s what The Washington Post book review says, “Journalist Helen Thorpe follows three women, tracking their ups and downs with faithful detail in a brilliant tableau of their overlapping lives…as they do multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and readjust to civilian life.

“‘Soldier Girls’ raises important questions about how men and women serve together and the differences in how they experience war, enabling us to see the subtle challenges female soldiers face — the hardships that don’t make easy headlines.”

This book is the second in what will no doubt become a lengthy resume for Thorpe, the author, since Thorpe the political spouse is not in her future.

To see the Stewart interview, go to http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/20lo0o/helen-thorpe.

Thrillist.com, the national food and drink website with an attitude, ranks each the 50 states by its beer in its newly released compilation “Every State in the USA, Ranked by its Beer.”

How did Colorado’s suds stand up to the competition? We’re No. 3, behind No. 2 California and No. 1 Oregon Here’s what Thrillist said:

“It’s a great time to be drinking beer in America. Not that it was ever, you know, a bad time to be doing that necessarily, but with craft breweries multiplying like rabbits who’ve been drinking beer, you can literally find some serviceable (if not downright tasty) local brews in all 50 states. Which made the process of ranking them all the more difficult, but we were up to the challenge, especially since it meant drinking and thinking about beer for weeks straight.

“Here they are, all 50 states in the Union, ranked according to their beer. A couple notes about our criteria. Quantity and quality are both important, but quality’s a bit more important. If you’re a small state turning out a disproportionate amount of great beer, it did not go unrecognized. We also gave a boost to states who played a historical role in American beer as we know it today.

As for our suds-soaked state (just ask brewery-owner-turned-Governor John Hickenlooper), Thrillist said, “…Oskar Blues started the craft can revolution, and if you haven’t had a GUBNA, change that. Avery has an entire run of bombers called the Dictator Series. New Belgium is distributing with the big boys thanks to an amber ale and a cruiser bike. Crooked Stave is souring things that man previously assumed un-sour-able. Great Divide has proven once and for all that the Yeti exists…And the whole state’s in on it – even the guy who just had a frozen chocolatini with dinner can rattle off 10 upstart breweries you won’t hear of for years. Beer is everywhere. Everywhere is beer.”

Check out all the rankings at www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/every-state-in-the-usa-ranked-by-its-beer. Spoiler alert: Mississippi came in dead last.

Seasons 52, a Florida-based chain touting dishes made with “seasonably inspired ingredients,” recently opened its first Front Range store in the Park Meadows shopping area of Lone Tree.

Seasons 52 is a Darden Restaurant brand (The Capital Grille, Olive Garden, Yard House), which emphasizes lighter fare with nothing on the menu more than 475 calories.

The eatery features a piano bar and a wine list with 52 wines by the glass selected by master sommelier George Miliotes of Darden Restaurants. The place is expected to open early September. More information: www.seasons52.com.

Started as a monthly event in 2010, “Fridays Uncorked” has grown into a weekly wine and music series that continues year-around at Bonacquisiti Wine Company at 4640 Pecos St. in the Sunnyside neighborhood.

The fall series opens Sept. 4 with the Sept. 19 “Uncorked” event featuring the band My Old School – A Tribute to the Music of Steely Dan. My Old School is the culmination of the efforts of 12 professional Denver musicians who feel an affinity to Steely Dan and the music that Walter Becker and Donald Fagen created by applying jazz to pop music.

In addition to the September music line-up, winemaker and namesake Paul Bonacquisiti will be featuring three new wine releases, including a bold spicy Petite Sirah, which last year sold out to wine club members upon release, as well as a Barbera and the [d] Red, a blend of 80 percent Merlot, 10 percent Syrah and 10 percent Zinfandel. The [d]Red is named after the coal camp, Delagua, where Bonacquisti’s father was born. The [d] Red and Barbera releases will be available by the bottle and on tap at the winery in one liter refillable growlers.

Each event runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Admission is free and wine is available to purchase, as is food from a food truck that changes each week. Seating is limited so guests are encouraged to bring a chair. The live music line-up through September includes:

* Sept. 4 – Knight Groove;
* Sept. 12 – Heavy, Timbo and Deb;
* Sept. 19 – My Old School;
* Sept. 26 – The Hip Replacements.

For more information visit www.bonacquistiwine.com.

(Bonacquisiti Wine Company photos)