Audio By Carbonatix
Summer block parties all require some crucial ingredients: good food, fun games, rockin’ tunes, delicious beverages and, of course, friendly neighbors. But the difference between most block parties and the one taking place in the 1700 block of Vine Street today is that the Vine Street Pub is one of those helpful neighbors.
“When we first moved here, there were so many community groups, and there would be like fifty people at each of our meetings, and they were all talking about crime and cleaning up the community,” says Paul Nashak, one of the partners in the Mountain Sun group, which owns Vine Street Pub. “But things have changed. What they need now is community-building activities rather than community-protection activities.”
The party runs from 1 to 9 p.m. on the block, which will be closed down to cars, and includes the Brewer’s Olympics at 1 p.m.; a visit by City Councilman Albus Brooks, who will honor the late Carla Madison at 4:15 p.m.; a set of live bluegrass from Yonder Mountain String Band’s Dave Johnston and Leftover Salmon’s Drew Emmitt at 5 p.m.; and a debate featuring ten local comedians at 6 p.m. (The music returns at 7:15 p.m.)
The highlight, however, will probably be the Olympics, in which teams from ten Colorado breweries will compete in challenging tasks like a tricycle relay race, blindfolded grain-bag stacking and a wet-yeast ball toss.
Support local news on #GivingNewsDay
Today is #GivingTuesday. We in the news business like to think of it as #GivingNewsDay. We’re aiming to raise $50,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to this community. If you value our work, we hope you’ll consider making a contribution to our newsroom today.
Vine Street Pub is located at 1700 Vine Street. Admission to the party is free; proceeds from food and drink sales will go to support the non-profit Cancer Support Community Colorado. For more information, call 303-388-2337 or go to www.mountainsunpub.com/calendar.htm.
Sat., Sept. 17, 1-9 p.m., 2011
