by Rodger Hara – – –

That brilliant Mayoman, Scotty J, proprietor of The Celtic Broker in Denver’s Merchandise Mart, has moved into larger quarters there, his second move in 5 years. After starting in a 200 square foot space that he outgrew after 3 years, he went into a slightly larger space that seemed to shrink after 2 years so he’s now into a spacious 1,400 square foot room hard by the large atrium room in the Mart.

While it is more room than he had before, with the bar, back bar and merchandise, it has the feel of the small, friendly local you’ll find in small towns across Ireland with a sense of comfortable welcome where you can find groceries in front and a pint in the rear.

An inspection of his new space revealed the presence of asbestos in the floor that had to be removed or encapsulated, so he chose the latter course. While working on the encapsulation, he planned on mixing a bit of Galway White Strand sand and flakes of real gold and silver leaf along with some emerald green glitter into the epoxy. In one of those serendipitous moments that sometime happens, the can exploded and he wound up with much more glitter than planned and a floor that catches and holds the eye like walking on emerald ice in sunshine.

Considering that he sells gemstones, gold and silver jewelry along with shirts benefitting the foundations that support fallen police and firemen, the way the floor turned out is marvelous indeed. The picture above shows Scotty making a “glitter-angel” on his floor with assistance from his 6-month old (Shorty) Staffordshire Terrier, Sullivan (a sniffer dog in training).

To celebrate his move and honor the friends and customers he’s made over the years and to give back to them and the community, he is hosting his annual Christmas event on December 13th from 9 AM to 5 PM. The theme this year is “Let the Music Play”. There will be fine food, live music and step dancing with free-will donations for the food and drink with all proceeds going to support the dancers at the Bennett School of Irish Dance. For more information and to RSVP, go to http://www.celticbroker.com/contactus.html.