Best Gambit 2003 | Walter Gerash's Chessboard | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Gambit

Walter Gerash's Chessboard

A small redstone-and-granite chessboard now stands as a monument to the peaceful co-existence of the old and the new. Attorney Walter Gerash, whose law firm occupies 1439 Court Place -- known in Denver landmark circles as the Curry/Chucovich House -- persuaded workers constructing his twelve-story neighbor, the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building, to spend their spare time and spare stone building the chessboard that now stands in the front yard of the restored two-story Victorian.

Best Gambit

Walter Gerash's Chessboard

A small redstone-and-granite chessboard now stands as a monument to the peaceful co-existence of the old and the new. Attorney Walter Gerash, whose law firm occupies 1439 Court Place -- known in Denver landmark circles as the Curry/Chucovich House -- persuaded workers constructing his twelve-story neighbor, the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building, to spend their spare time and spare stone building the chessboard that now stands in the front yard of the restored two-story Victorian.

Best Freak Show

Skip and Amy

There are a lot of kids on the 16th Street Mall who want your spare change, but few who will hammer 5 1/2-inch nails into their noses to get it. Skip and Amy, two kids from Minneapolis, are the exception. Since they arrived in Denver last July, they've been shocking squeamish yuppies on their lunch breaks with their pointed performance art. Skip learned the trick five years ago from circus performers who'd camped in his back yard. Typically, the nails come out clean -- free of blood, brains and boogers -- but that's not always the case. "I've had more bloody noses than I can count," Skip says. If you catch their act, be sure to leave a buck or two to help pay for the nasal surgery these two may need in the future.

Best Freak Show

Skip and Amy

There are a lot of kids on the 16th Street Mall who want your spare change, but few who will hammer 5 1/2-inch nails into their noses to get it. Skip and Amy, two kids from Minneapolis, are the exception. Since they arrived in Denver last July, they've been shocking squeamish yuppies on their lunch breaks with their pointed performance art. Skip learned the trick five years ago from circus performers who'd camped in his back yard. Typically, the nails come out clean -- free of blood, brains and boogers -- but that's not always the case. "I've had more bloody noses than I can count," Skip says. If you catch their act, be sure to leave a buck or two to help pay for the nasal surgery these two may need in the future.

Best Socialite

Holly Kylberg

If anyone in Denver has had her picture in the paper more often than John Elway, that person has to be Holly Kylberg. It's not just because she has a pretty face (she does), but because of her enormous heart. But this is not a medical story. By all accounts, Holly's Huge Heart is the direct result of her life's goal to make the world a better place for all to thrive. And so Holly is pictured in the society pages every week, raising piles of money for countless good causes, impeccably dressed and never breaking a sweat. Perhaps that's why the camera loves her so. In every photo, Holly actually looks glad to be sharing her good fortune with the more and less fortunate alike. And as long as she's happy, we're happy.

Best Socialite

Holly Kylberg

If anyone in Denver has had her picture in the paper more often than John Elway, that person has to be Holly Kylberg. It's not just because she has a pretty face (she does), but because of her enormous heart. But this is not a medical story. By all accounts, Holly's Huge Heart is the direct result of her life's goal to make the world a better place for all to thrive. And so Holly is pictured in the society pages every week, raising piles of money for countless good causes, impeccably dressed and never breaking a sweat. Perhaps that's why the camera loves her so. In every photo, Holly actually looks glad to be sharing her good fortune with the more and less fortunate alike. And as long as she's happy, we're happy.

Best Anti-Socialite

Koleen Brooks

Koleen Brooks's life this past year was a train wreck -- and as with any gruesome accident scene, you couldn't help but look. And look again. And again. Brooks's over-the-top -- and lift-up-the-top -- attempts to gain sympathy and support during her recall vote as Georgetown mayor, as well as to gain hits for her Web site, shall forever serve as a textbook example of how to alienate friends and distance others. Whether or not Brooks actually tried to arrange a hit on an adversary or faked an attack on herself can now fade into Colorado mountain-town folklore; although she was spared a jail sentence on evidence-tampering and false-reporting charges, Brooks was scolded by a Clear Creek County judge for wasting the court's -- and our -- time. And then, of course, there was her arrest in late March on theft charges. Koleen Brooks provided a valuable service by showing us what happens when the drive for glory spins out of control.

Best Anti-Socialite

Koleen Brooks

Koleen Brooks's life this past year was a train wreck -- and as with any gruesome accident scene, you couldn't help but look. And look again. And again. Brooks's over-the-top -- and lift-up-the-top -- attempts to gain sympathy and support during her recall vote as Georgetown mayor, as well as to gain hits for her Web site, shall forever serve as a textbook example of how to alienate friends and distance others. Whether or not Brooks actually tried to arrange a hit on an adversary or faked an attack on herself can now fade into Colorado mountain-town folklore; although she was spared a jail sentence on evidence-tampering and false-reporting charges, Brooks was scolded by a Clear Creek County judge for wasting the court's -- and our -- time. And then, of course, there was her arrest in late March on theft charges. Koleen Brooks provided a valuable service by showing us what happens when the drive for glory spins out of control.

Best Decision by the Colorado Supreme Court

Jurors Can Ask Questions

In February, the Colorado Supreme Court adopted new rules that allow jurors to submit written questions in both criminal and civil trials. Although the trial court still has jurisdiction over whether those questions are appropriate, the move should help make justice more understandable -- and accessible. Power to the people!

Best Decision by the Colorado Supreme Court

Jurors Can Ask Questions

In February, the Colorado Supreme Court adopted new rules that allow jurors to submit written questions in both criminal and civil trials. Although the trial court still has jurisdiction over whether those questions are appropriate, the move should help make justice more understandable -- and accessible. Power to the people!

Best Of Denver®

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