Bardog Tavern threw itself a third birthday party in Center Lane (known to Downtowners as Scratchy Alley) yesterday. The day started with a 5K, then at noon it was party time. In case people couldn’t find it, they made this helpful sign.
Inside the alley was a dunk tank, booths selling Fat Tire and PBR, a band playing inside a garage, and John Haley cooking sliders on the grill.
We decided to go inside to get beer, because there was air conditioning and because there were no drink tickets to deal with inside. Enjoying the comfort of A/C, we remained inside all the way through our first beer until we ordered a second one. This turned out to be a huge mistake. While we were inside, two of the servers at the Flying Saucer, Whitney 2 and Stacey, got in the dunk tank. We missed it. DAMMIT!
More dunk tank pics:
Each ball cost $1 for the dunk tank, and a lot of balls were thrown, raising hundreds for St. Jude. At the back of the alley, even more money was being raised with a raffle. Here are some of the prizes that were raffled off:
One of the most sought-after prizes in the drawing was this beach cruiser bike:
Meanwhile, plenty of people were partying inside the bar too. I made frequent trips inside to get beer, although after missing Whitney 2 and Stacey I was careful to never spend more than 10 minutes inside. I’ve got to give props to Amanda “Panda” Parks, who was bartending. Despite the total chaos of the party, she seemed to have a sixth sense for when I had an empty beer cup. Meanwhile, Brittany Bloom, who cut her hair for St. Jude last year, was on the bar with a bullhorn raising donations. Here’s a pic of Buddha and Chris at the bar. Have we had a few Fireball shots gentlemen?
I went back outside and ran into former Sleep Out Louie’s bartender Scotty the Body. He had on a BBQ Fest-themed T-shirt.
At 5:00 it was time for the meatball eating contest. Nine people entered, and each of them were brought 40 of Aldo’s Grandma’s balls. Aldo got on the bullhorn and announced the rules.
“When a contestant gets up and leaves the table, spectators are not to eat his leftover meatballs,” Aldo announced. Hey I wonder why THAT rule was added this year??? As it turned out, that rule was unnecessary: The Nuh-Uh Girl was in New Orleans this weekend.
The rules were different this year. No time limit, eat as many meatballs as you can. Contestants were eliminated when they either gave up or threw up, last man still eating wins.
By the 15-minute mark, contestants were starting to slow down, and the first few began to throw in the towel.
At the 23-minute mark, we had a winner.
Then it was time to move to the front of the alley for the last event of the day. It involved my landlord, Jay Hollingsworth, seen below with the ponytail.
If $2,000 was raised for St. Jude, Jay agreed to cut the ponytail off. By 5:30 we were still about $600 short. Brittany and Brooke got on the megaphone and encouraged last-minute donations. 100s and 20s stared pouring in.
As much as I love Bardog, I have to claim that a little false advertising occurred. “If we get $100 Brooke will take her shirt off,” announced Brittany on the bullhorn. Needless to say, $100 made its way to the collection bucket very quickly. So did Brooke take her shirt off? No, we got this instead:
“I’ll give $100 if he puts it back on!” yelled someone in the crowd. A few minutes later, the $2,000 goal was reached, and the tail came off.
A stylist was on hand to help Jay trim up:
Inside the tavern a little while later: Jay’s new ‘do.
I have to admit that my photos don’t adequately cover a HUGE part of the party and fundraising for St. Jude: The Breakway Running/Bardog 5K. At 9 AM several hundred runners gathered outside Bardog and went on a three-mile run, each runner’s entry fee going to St. Jude. I didn’t get there until 12, after they had already handed out the awards, so I didn’t get many photos of the runners. Their connection to Bardog started about two years ago, when a small group started calling themselves the Salty Dogs began meeting at the tavern. Every Monday they go on a run, then relax afterward with beer in Bardog’s Underdog Room. The group has grown to the point that they’re partnering with area businesses and sponsoring 5K events. If you run and want to meet people, the Salty Dogs are a great way to do it. Join them Mondays at 7 at Bardog.
I haven’t heard a final dollar number raised for St. Jude, but all signs indicated that they far exceeded last year. Thanks to Aldo and everyone at Bardog for a fantastic party, and for giving us such a wonderful place to hang out for the past three years.
I took so many photos that I had to break them apart into two photo albums on Facebook.
- Part 1: Alley party and the dunk tank (145 pics)
- Part 2: Meatball eating contest and Jay gets a haircut (115 pics)
Last day of vacation. Going to relax for a while, eat lunch and then get an early start on Pint Nite. If anything comes up I’ll do a lunchtime news post before I go out.