Could you call it the Denver version of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”?
Sort of. Denver law-firm partners K.C. Veio and Brent Kline are hardly angry young salmon swimming upstream in the U.S. Senate bureaucracy, but they organized a soft “storm” on our nation’s capital this week to celebrate Colorado-based businesses and our state’s public servants.
The partners in Kline Alvarado and Veio invited 100 guests to a party Tuesday at Art and Soul, the new restaurant from former Oprah Winfrey chef Art Smith.
Shockingly, the party was not a fundraiser, political or otherwise.
“It was for Colorado friends and clients who wanted to express their thanks to the many Coloradans who are serving in the federal government,” Veio e-mailed from D.C. “Not a fundraiser — just a hearty thank you to our friends in D.C.”
Invited guests included executives from Qwest, Molson Coors and Wells Fargo, representatives from the Department of Labor and the Department of the Interior, Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, and Reps. Ed Perlmutter, Diana DeGette, Betsy Markey and Mike Coffman.
“Congresswomen Markey and DeGette spoke about the importance of supporting small business in Colorado,” Veio said. “In the words of Congresswoman DeGette regarding the political clout that the Colorado delegation wields in Congress, ‘We’re small, but we’re mighty!’ “
Veio and Kline’s Washington tour, joined by Denver pals James Crane and Keith Montoya of Doc1Solutions and Jim Bershof of Oz Architecture, included a visit to the Oval Office — not to meet President Barack Obama but instead one of his staffers.
“I’m not Norm (Brownstein), after all,” Veio said.
Bear-napping ring?
Along comes another case in what could be a Denver dastardly dirty-deed-doing ring. Just days after I told you about Teddy, the 5-foot stuffed mascot that sat in the front window delighting kids at Centennial children’s clothing boutique Three Blind Mice before being nabbed, another bear-snatching case has been brought to my attention.
Alice Johnson of Appliance Professionals (which also sells nostalgic candy in the front half of the store) at 78 S. Broadway reports that her store’s mascot, Buddy, was swiped from the front window display two days before Thanksgiving.
“He was a baby-shower gift from my late grandmother 25 years ago when I was carrying our son,” Johnson wrote in an e-mail. “We decided to let him be part of the store since he’d been part of the family for such a long time.”
When last seen, the 2 1/2-foot-tall Buddy was dressed in a red T-shirt and denim overalls.
“We haven’t been able to bring ourselves to arrange a window display since the theft,” Johnson said.
Any information leading to the apprehension of the Teddy- or Buddy-nabbing bad guys should be reported to 303-425-1425.
EAVESDROPPING
A woman at the Milwaukee Street Tavern:
“I have got a major problem. My mom is way hotter than I am.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
