Levitt Pavilion Denver, 2648 Eudora St., celebrates summer with special events July 1 and 2.

July 1 is a ticketed VIP event attended by Mayor Michael B. Hancock, and featuring Denver acts Alpha Schoolmarm Orchestra and Ark Life. Guests will dine outside with the mayor and be treated to the first official Sounds of Levitt Concert.

The July 2 event is a free concert open to the public featuring the Levitt National Touring Act, Playing For Change, a Q&A with the band, food trucks and a free drum circle. Both events are from 5 to 8:30 p.m. For more information and to purchase VIP tickets, go to www.levittdenver.org/events.

Levitt Pavilion Denver will provide 50 free concerts a year featuring local, national and international musicians with an emphasis on creative and diverse programming.

The Corner House, the Jefferson Park eatery founded by Seattle Fish Co. “school master” James Iacino and celebrated chef Matt Selby (Vesta Dipping Grill, Steuben’s, Ace), closed Saturday, according to a story in Westword.

Within less than a year of opening, Selby split from the neighborhood eatery for unclear reasons. Selby is now the top toque at Central Bistro in LoHi.

Restaurant consultant and marketing maven Leigh Sullivan, who handles the restaurant’s public relations, became a part-owner, but according to Westword, the investment was too little too late.

The space has been taken over by an unnamed “up-and-coming” chef, who will reopen with a new concept. Check out the whole story at www.blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2014/06/corner_house_closes_in_jefferson_park.php.

Eavesdropping on a DUI clinic participant smoking outside of the clinic in Northglenn:  “I am just two drinks short of being sober.”

Coloradans are familiar with the impressive sports career of Jeremy Bloom, the three-time World Champion, two-time Olympian, 11-time World Cup Gold Medalist and member of the United States Skiing Hall of Fame. And when he wasn’t tearing up the slopes, Bloom was burning up the gridiron as a CU Buff and briefly as an NFL player.

But despite all of Jeremy’s sports accolades, his sister, Molly, was leading a quieter yet more colorful life as the owner/organizer of a high-stakes poker game for the rich and famous, including actors Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and billionaire Guy Laliberté, CEO of Cirque du Soleil.

“Molly ran her exclusive, top-secret, bicoastal poker ring for several years, keeping the ­details secret from even her closest friends and family — but now she’s ­finally showing her hand in her memoir, ‘Molly’s Game,’ out Tuesday,” according to a story in The New York Post.

The Post story says, “Bloom grew up in Loveland, with her dad, a Colorado State University professor, mom and two brothers.

“I had grand ambitions that fell far outside my father’s pragmatism,” she writes. “But I still desperately craved his approval.”

“Months later, Bloom was heading to one of her games when a player texted her that the feds had crashed it looking for her,” ‘The Post’ story says. “Bloom fled to Colorado, where she refused to talk to investigators, which resulted in her assets ­being frozen.

“The former high-roller lived a quiet life in Colorado until two years later, in 2013, when she moved back to LA and shortly after got a knock on her door from the FBI.

“She was charged, along with 30 others, with participating in two Russian-American organized-crime enterprises engaged in gambling and money laundering. (She says she had no idea about her players’ illicit dealings.)

Molly, who was dubbed “the Poker Princess” by news outlets during the trial, avoided prison and was sentenced to one year of probation earlier this year.

“If I had to do it all over, would I choose the same path?” she writes. “My answer is yes, a thousand times yes. I had a grand adventure.”

To read more of the New York Post story, go to www.nypost.com/2014/06/22/inside-the-poker-princess-a-list-house-of-cards/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPFacebook&utm_medium=SocialFlow.

Molly Bloom

The Consulate General of Canada in Denver is planning a series of events, including civic celebrations and a “Mountie on the Move” Facebook and Twitter contest, for the Denver metro area in celebration of Canada Day on July 1.

The event is meant to put a spotlight on Colorado-Canada trade success, an annual trading relationship valued at $6.1 billion.

Among all nations, Canada is Colorado’s largest bilateral trading partner. More than 100,000 Colorado jobs depend on two-way trade with Canada.  There are more than 100 Canadian companies employing more than 10,000 Coloradans.

“Colorado is an important market for two-way trade with Canada,” said Marcy Grossman, Consul General of Canada in Denver. “Our vision is to serve as the central gateway for agriculture, energy, and technology between Canada and Colorado. We want to share with Coloradans the great relationships that already exist, and encourage continued growth of these partnerships.”

Canada Day celebrations will be highlighted on June 27 with a free event in the Plaza of the Denver World Trade Center, 1625 Broadway. The event is open to the public and will include live music, speeches and special visits from Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock and Cherry Hills Village Mayor Doug Tisdale. Members of the public also will have a chance to receive coupons for a free entrée from Colorado-based Smashburger, which is in the process of establishing locations in Canada, as well as a chance to win tickets to the Sarah McLachlan concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on July 2. There will also be a mock hockey game for the public to win small Canadian prizes.

Two uniformed officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or “Mounties”, will also be in Denver on June 27 and 30 as part of a “Mountie on the Move” event. The Mounties will be visiting a variety of Denver-area locations, including the free Plaza event, and the public is encouraged to take photos with members of Canadian law enforcement for the chance to win further prizes.

Additional event information and prizes will be available via social media; @CanCGDenver on Twitter, and Facebook.com/CanadaDayCO. Information will also be posted using the hashtag #CanadaDayCO.

Events and activities are being supported through partnerships with 3^rd Ave. Studios, the Canada Colorado Association, CH2MHill, Colorado Rapids, Denver Film Society, Lockheed Martin, Molson-Coors, Smashburger and Suncor.

Ted’s Montana Grill is joining its fans to pay tribute to the ingredients, meals and hospitality that define the Great American West.  During June and July, the restaurants are celebrating a Great American Summer with an online photo contest, signature burgers and a campaign to elect bison as the national mammal at www.votebison.org.

“Bison are a true American icon that once thundered across our Great Plains,” said George W. McKerrow, who, along with media mogul Ted Turner co-founded Ted’s Montana Grill and pioneered the effort to preserve our country’s bison herds.  “This summer, we are celebrating authentic American dining by shining a spotlight on all the ways local mavericks enjoy our beef and bison burgers.”

Now through July 14, entries and nominations for the “Bite Your Bison” photo contest may be submitted on the Ted’s Montana Grill Facebook page, or via Instagram photos and tweets with the hashtag #BiteYourBison.  Photo entries  also will be accepted at bigskyspirit@tedsmontanagrill.com. Three fans with the most votes will enter the finals, where a restaurant voting panel will choose the grand prize winner of a Big Green Egg barbecue.

Beginning with the first Ted’s Montana Grill opening in 2002, Turner and McKerrow pioneered the effort to preserve the American bison by returning it to America’s table and creating a demand that would provide incentive for ranchers to actively grow their herds. Ted’s Montana Grill is not only the first national restaurant company to feature bison on its menu, but it offers more bison menu items at its 45 restaurants nationwide than any other restaurant in the world. 

There are three Ted’s Montana Grills in the metro area: Larimer Square, Westminster and Lakewood.

The Deck @101 is a new Independence Eve Balcony Party starting at 7 p.m. July 3 at The Denver Post Building, 101 W. Colfax.

The festivities will include catered food, beer and wine and a bird’s-eye view of the fireworks display over the Civic Center. Tickets are $75 and available at www.civiccenterconservancy.org.

Volunteers are needed for The Greenway Foundation’s new signature event, the South Platte RiverFest, on June 28 and 29 at Confluence Park, 2250 15th St., in downtown Denver.  This two-day event will feature stand-up paddle boarding lessons and demos, a variety of water and river activities, live music, food and drink.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. June 28; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 29.

Volunteers will run a waiver tent, assist with the RiverArt competition and SUP races or fill a variety of other needs. Volunteers will be “paid” in festival drink tickets. Sign up at www.formstack.com/forms/HobNobEvents-riverfest_events_volunteer_application_form.

More information on RiverFest at www.greenwayfoundation.org/riverfest.

Dale Chihuly, the “it man” in the world of art glass, clearly prefers to let his stupendous pieces of spectacular art speak for themselves rather than pontificating on his work.

During a five-minute media meet-and-greet last week, Chihuly politely posed for pictures in front of the Monet Garden Pool at the Denver Botanic Gardens where an installation of the artist’s genius dots the grounds. The exhibition runs through Nov. 30.

He answered a couple of questions while cameras, notebooks and tape recorders pressed in. This man of few words lets his art do the talking, and it has a lot to say.

The exhibit, which features installations (some designed specifically for the Denver Botanic Gardens) at 14 sites is a don’t miss opportunity to bask in colorful beauty. Now that I’ve seen the show during the day, a nighttime return is on my short list.

This is the Rocky Mountain Region’s first major outdoor exhibition of artwork by the celebrated American artist. Chihuly’s sculptures – ranging in size and form – add bold colors and dramatic beauty to the Gardens’ 24-acre urban oasis.

Chihuly is credited with revolutionizing the Studio Glass movement and elevating the perception of the glass medium from the realm of craft to fine art. He is renowned for ambitious architectural installations around the world, in historic cities, museums and gardens.

While I was oohing and aahing over the Saffron Tower & Cattails in the Elipse Garden, a 30-foot-tall creation made of 312 hand-formed yellow neon tubes, the artist, decked by “handlers”, rode up to the site in a golf cart.

I asked him what he was thinking as he gazed at the Saffron Tower. “It has a lot of power, especially at night,” Chihuly said.

Well said. For more information and to buy tickets, go to www.botanicgardens.org/exhibits/outdoor/chihuly/about.

(Denver Botanic Gardens photos)