Veteran Denver ad man Tom Hagan promises to make merry during his 80th birthday celebration today, but under no circumstances will he tweet.
“I don’t know how to tweet, and I have no intention of ever learning,” said Hagan, retired founder of the venerable advertising agency Karsh & Hagan.
Despite the birthday invitation’s promise to witness Hagan’s first tweet, the up-to-140-character social media message is not going to happen.
Long before Twitter and Facebook, Hagan burst into Denver’s ad game in 1972 when a Colorado ski trip wooed him from Detroit.
After he’d made a career in Detroit working on various automaker accounts, Fry-Sills hired him here as the agency’s first creative director. Phil Karsh, Hagan’s future business partner, was the vice president of account services.
Also joining Fry-Sills was an intern named Pocky Marranzino. When a New York agency acquired Fry-Sills, Karsh and Hagan decided to strike out on their own.
How did the partners decide on the order of the names on the door?
“I figured if there was ever a problem, who were they going to call?” Hagan said, laughing. “The first name of the company. It worked out OK.”
They set up shop at Sixth Avenue and Broadway with two other employees and two IBM Selectrics. Hagan retired in 1996, and Karsh followed a couple of years later.
They left the company reins with Marranzino, who sold the agency and then bought it back. These days, the Hagan in the name KarshHagan is Tom’s daughter, Kathy.
Hagan senior said he drops by the office roughly once a month; Karsh visits more often.
“They include us every time they have an 80th birthday party,” Hagan joked.
High five.
The city of Wheat Ridge’s retail buttons are busting with the addition of five businesses on West 38th Avenue.
To celebrate the mini economic boom, Mayor Jerry DiTullio will lead city officials and members of the public on a progressive ribbon cutting, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Master Goldsmith and Designer, 5870 W. 38th Ave.
The party will progress to Reyna’s Styles and Salon, 5455 W. 38th Ave., at 2:30; Posey Girl Floral Design, 7210 W. 38th Ave., at 3:15; Mucilli’s Shoes, 7172 W. 38th Ave., at 3:34; and Dragonfly Coffee and Cafe, 7300 W. 38th Ave., at 4:30.
“These progressive ribbon- cutting ceremonies are a sign that our economy is beginning to turn around, and it really shows that Wheat Ridge is open for business,” DiTullio said. More information: Steve Art, economic development manager, 303-235-2806.
Fritter feat.
Tom Pizzica, host of Food Network’s “Outrageous Food,” took his taste buds to the Tin Star Cafe and Donut Haus in downtown Evergreen recently to test The Glutton, an open-faced apple fritter topped with spicy polish sausage, pulled pork, barbecue sauce, coleslaw and pickled onions with a Tums chaser.
Pizzica’s Evergreen adventure will air at 8 p.m. Friday.
“The fact that we do barbecue and donuts makes us a perfect selection for the show,” said Tin Star chef/owner Andrew Schutt.
EAVESDROPPING
A wife to her husband:
“Are you going to watch the royal wedding with me?”
“Are you going to watch the NFL draft with me?”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Hear her on “Caplis & Silverman” between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
