Make new friends, but keep the old in downtown La Porte on May 9, during the Second Annual Maple City Pub Crawl.
Thaddeus Cutler, downtown coordinator for the City of La Porte, says that the event is a great way to mingle and meet new people who come to socialize and experience dining and drinks downtown.
“This event is similar to a community happy hour. Within our downtown, we have seven locations that participate in the Maple City Pub Crawl including bars, restaurants, and taverns and we encourage people to come out, walk around the town and you will see a lot of people from the community and meet new people. It’s a great chance to mix and mingle while traveling to these locations,” says Cutler.
The participating businesses range in offerings and styles, Cutler says.
“We have Dick’s Bar, Ogle’s Inn, Smutzer’s Club Tavern, and Twisted K-8, which is a downtown La Porte brewery and they will do a fun beer feature. We will also have a new place this year called Etropal, which is La Porte spelled backwards since the building they are in was named the Etropal Theatre. They will offer a craft beer and wine special along with a food special and they have a wonderful chef there. A La Porte staple is Trattoria Enzo and they have a food special, appetizer, and a special cocktail. Lucky Bar will do a mixed-drink special and a specialty beer,” he says.
The event came about after organizers wanted to reach a different segment of the population.
Cutler explains, “We have always participated in the Dyngus Day events and that is typically a wild and crazy event throughout the city, but the concept of the pub crawl came about to get people in some of these restaurants and taverns who may have forgotten about them and reintroduce them to these places. It’s a very different crowd.”
One of the contests that will coincide with the pub crawl will be a selfie contest, says Cutler.
“We have a very large statue next to our courthouse of a Potawatomi Indian and it is a symbol of peace, to signify the end of war, so we are running a promotion where the best selfie with the Potawatomi Indian wins four tickets to the South Bend Cubs at Four Winds Field. Just email the selfie to [email protected] and the winner will be notified May 12,” he says.
Cutler says to put on your walking shoes and head downtown and he stresses, “It’s all within a two block radius and so the locations are all very walkable. Every location is easy to get to. Last year the weather was beautiful and it was a very nice evening.”
Participants must be 21 or over, all alcoholic beverages must be consumed within the boundaries of the individual participating establishments, and guests are asked to behave and drink responsibly.
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Heather Augustyn is a freelance writer.
Second Annual Maple City Pub Crawl
Downtown La Porte at Eight Locations
5-8 p.m. May 9
Free admission
Locations: Dick’s Bar, 912 Lincolnway; Lucky Bar, 1004 Lincolnway; Etropal, 710 Lincolnway; Ogle’s Inn, 603 Michigan Ave.; Trattoria Enzo, 601 Michigan Ave.; Smutzer’s Club Tavern, 608 Monroe; Twisted K-8, 610 Monroe
Information: facebook.com/DowntownLaPorte