PARKER: Cady's tour runs on beef, books - and beer

By Penny Parker, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 19, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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For Central City's Little Kingdom Come newspaper publisher Lew Cady, the National Western Stock Show officially started at 12:28 a.m. Wednesday. It was at that moment that Cady took a sip of his first beer.

"The beer will keep us warm," Cady said after his crew escaped the 16-degree cold and gathered inside the Denver Coliseum for the annual "Cady's critters" tour.

"I usually come here during the Boots and Business lunch. But since I'm not doing that this year, I might as well do The Full Monty," said Peter Russell, former Opera Colorado honcho joining Cady for the first year.

The Full Monty Cady-style included two laps around the Coliseum to buy stuff you only see at the stock show, with stops along the way for beer refills.

We filed outside into the bitter cold and past the chuck wagons. Inside the Hall of Education, we split up to find the used bookstore, the Coors Western Art Exhibit, beef jerky and - most importantly - the Cowboy Bar nestled among cows being groomed in their stalls.

One Cady tour rookie showed off his newly acquired cowboy boots. "You don't want your boots too loose," Tony Trampler said. "Or your women," Cady countered.

STOCK SHOW STUFF: There's an endless array of Stock Show souvenirs and tchotchkes to satisfy your inner cowboy:

* Beer bottle night lights. They're split in half with the necks and caps intact.

* Rhinestone everything. "Isn't it amazing that Western wear went bling?" Westword editor Patty Calhoun said. "When did that happen?"

* Horse-print yoga pants and National Western Stock Show hoodies.

* Socks printed with dog breeds from Airedale to Westie. "I didn't know dogs wore socks," Trampler said.

MILE HIGH MUSIC: When promoter Chuck Morris had the kibosh put on his plan for the Mile High Music and Arts Festival in City Park, some thought that was the end. Not so fast.

"All I can say is there will be a festival, the biggest thing we've ever been involved in in Denver," he says. "And it will be in an open space as originally planned."

Tom Petty and Dave Matthews are rumored headliners for the two-day festival in July, "but no acts have been confirmed," Morris says.

SENATOR GRANDDAD: U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar became a first-time grandfather when his daughter, Andrea, gave birth to Mireya Salazar at 4:08 p.m. on Jan. 10. Andrea, 20, is a single mom and a student at Metro State.

"I'm celebrating a new life," the senator told me. "I'm proud of the bravery my daughter has shown, and I'm thankful to God that we have a healthy baby girl."

EAVESDROPPING on a woman looking at cattle at the stock show: "It's not like Internet dating. They all look the same."

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail park erp@RockyMountainNews.com.

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