Bohemian Biergarten honored with inaugural Kevin Mahoney Responsible Retailer Award

Dec. 9—Zdenek Srom and Angelie Timm at Boulder's Bohemian Biergarten are the inaugural recipients of the Kevin Mahoney Responsible Retailer Award.

For Nathan Dewey, director of the Responsible Association of Retailers, it was a way to honor Mahoney, a former member of the Boulder City Council-appointed Beverage Licensing Authority who died in the March 22 shooting at the King Soopers on Table Mesa Drive.

"This is a perfect opportunity to showcase what he did in his life for the community," Dewey said.

Responsible Association of Retailers, known informally as RAR, is a nonprofit with chapters in Boulder, Larimer and Weld counties that strives to reduce youth access to alcohol and cannabis and to ensure a safe environment for those who are of the legal age to consume alcohol and cannabis.

As part of that, the nonprofit assists with TIPs training and certification, offers ID compliance checks and more.

In addition to honoring Mahoney's life and work in the hospitality industry, the award also recognizes the work of area retailers that are a part of the RAR and committed to being a responsible retailer in Boulder, Dewey said.

"As the RAR director, it's always been something that I've kind of wanted to do," Dewey said.

Dewey selected Bohemian Biergarten as the recipient of the inaugural Kevin Mahoney Award for a number of reasons, including how the establishment operates responsibly and is quick to offer its space for RAR events.

"(Srom is) always making sure he has the right tools for responsibility," Dewey said. "He always makes sure his staff is up-to-date and trained."

When accepting the award in a quick ceremony at Bohemian Biergarten on Wednesday afternoon, Srom and Timm expressed gratitude for being named the first recipients of the award.

"I really appreciate being recognized as a small business owner," Srom said.

"The world should know who Kevin Mahoney is," Timm agreed.

Mahoney's work on Boulder's Beverage Licensing Authority was one of the many ways he gave back to the community, Timm added.

While she did not attend in person, Mahoney's wife Ellen echoed the sentiments in a message sent to Boulder's Licensing Manager Mishawn Cook. Cook read the message aloud during the event.

"Please know how much this would have meant to Kevin," she wrote. "After he retired, he wanted to give back to the Boulder community and this position (on the BLA) allowed him to do so."