Colorado Restaurant Assn. honors Valente, new Hall of Famers

Nation's Restaurant News, August 28, 1995

DENVER -- The Colorado Restaurant Association recently named Mark Valente the 1995 recipient of the CRA's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award.

Valente, owner of Marc's Restaurant and Catering and Valente's Italian Restaurant in Wheat Ridge, received the award at the association's Grand Banquet earlier this year. A graduate of Regis High School and Santa Clara University, Valente opened Marc's in 1993 and has been a CRA member since 1984. He grew up in the restaurant business under the guidance of his father, Ray Valente Sr., who opened Valente's Italian Restaurant in 1964.

Valente has served on the CRA board since 1988 and has been active on a number of committees. He was elected CRA president for the 1992-93 year and served as chairman from 1993 to 1994. He also was chairman of the CRA Education Fund Board. As a CRA member, Valente has devoted himself to dealing with government-affairs issues and to combating legislation damaging to the hospitality industry.

Valente also has been recognized by the West Chamber of Commerce as the Small Business Person of the Year and as Restaurateur of the Month by Restaurant News of the Rockies. He lives in Wheat Ridge with his wife, Paula.

Awarded annually since 1957, the DSA recognizes association members who have distinguished themselves through their service to the CRA, the foodservice industry and their communities.

The CRA also inducted three new members into its Foodservice Hall of Fame during its Grand Banquet: Frank Bering, owner of The Winery and G.B. Gladstones, Grand Junction; Andy Divine, Ph.D., director of the School of Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Management, University of Denver; and the late Roland "Sonny" Mapelli, former state legislator, restaurateur and senior vice president of ConAgra Red Meat Cos.

Bering, who has been in the restaurant industry in Colorado since 1961, is being recognized for his long and distinguished career in the industry, his dedication to the industry both at the local and state levels, and his commitment to tourism in the Grand Valley and the state of Colorado. Divine is being honored for his lifelong advancement of the industry through his work in education, his government relations efforts on the local and national levels with various foodservice organizations and governing bodies, and his continuing dedication to foodservice as a career choice for his students.

Mapelli, who recently passed away, is being honored for his personal commitment to the industry. He began in his father's meat business, later joining that company with Monfort and then ConAgra. Mapelli's sense of community responsibility led him into politics, and he served on the Denver City Council, the Colorado House of Representatives and State Senate as well as a number of civic and corporate boards.

Established in 1978, the Foodservice Hall of Fame awards permanent recognition to the industry's business and community leaders.

Founded in 1993, the Colorado Restaurant Association is a nonprofit membership trade group representing more than 3,500 restaurants and suppliers throughout Colorado.

Governed by a 51-person board of directors, the association provides a wide variety of benefits and services, including an active government affairs program to promote the interests of restaurateurs and consumers.