By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, and, of course, Rudolph.
How about all the denizens of the Island of Misfit Toys, not to mention Ralphie from “A Christmas Story,” and Jack Skellington from “A Nightmare Before Christmas?”
Well, you might see them all at the inaugural Bowling Green Santa Pub Crawl Saturday, Dec. 9 from 5 p.m. on.
Brian Young, who brought Porchfest to town, is behind this new holiday celebratory benefit.
He had organized a Santa Crawl for nine years in Dayton, after experiencing it in Denver. There are thousands of similar events throughout the country, he said.
As in Dayton, the BG Santa Pub Crawl will benefit U.S. Marines’ Toys for Tots campaign. Young hooked up with the Toys for Tots in Dayton to help with the logistics.
Each crawl participant must bring a new toy, unwrapped, valued at about $20, or the equivalent in cash. And they must come dressed for the occasion – a Santa hat is the bare minimum.
Young said in Dayton they had a whole cast of characters on the streets, a veritable panoply of pop culture Christmas.
Of course, that event had grown from 18 people to a 1,000. More an invasion, he conceded than a crawl.
There will be prizes for the best male, female, couple, and group costumes.
The first stop at 5 p.m. is Red Sky Pizza and Pints, 110 N. Main St., in downtown BG.
Tim Concannon will be on hand to entertain.
Young said he’s checked all the other events, and “ I couldn’t find one that had live music at the stations.”
Guitarist Mike Bryce will be at the next stop at 6 p.m., Doc’s Big City Saloon, 145 N. Main St.
Toys will be collected at these two venues. A contingent of Marines in full dress uniform will be on hand at the third stop, at 7 p.m. at Uptown-Downtown, 162 N. Main St. The Marines will judge the costume contest.
The crawl ends at Howard’s Club H, 210 N. Main St where the Scottish Miles will perform. Young said the band is preparing a special set including holiday tunes.
Young said the idea to bring the Santa Crawl to BG after he hosted a Christmas party for Toys for Tots in his garage. Scottish Mile performed. But he could only fit 40 people in. “So, we decided to take it on the road!”
He enlisted Liz Sworden and Sean Brennan to help organize the event.
He approached SSgt. Rodolfo Alarcon, the regional coordinator for Toy for Tots, and he was on board. His staff was enthusiastic and all wanted to participate.
Young’s hoping to enlist 100 crawlers to make the one block trek for a good cause, and possibly the start of a new local holiday tradition.
