By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Nicole Labriolla was happy to be hanging out Saturday night with a bunch of Santas. Who knows maybe the real one is among them, she said.
Whether the actual jolly old elf made it from the North Pole to downtown Bowling Green for the second Santa Pub Crawl, his spirit was evident.
Labriolla was dancing to “YMCA” at Red Sky Pizza with her friends, and it was all for Toys for Tots, a program sponsored by the U.S. Marine Reserves.
Santa Pub Crawl asks participants to bring an unwrapped toy, dress in some kind of festive garb, and come full of holiday spirit. The scene at Doc’s, the first stop, was profusion of red, green, and glitter accented by the Marines in their dress blues.
Brian Young, who started the event, said the committee’s goal was to increase the number of toys and participants from the inaugural event in 2023. Other committee members were Sean Brennan, Liz Sworden, Kate Kamphuis, and Chris Renne.
By the time, the crawlers wandered into Howard’s about 8 p.m., they were 140 strong. Young noted that when the stroll began at 5 at Doc’s the crowd was already as large as last year’s total, and the parade got bigger as the evening progressed.
As to the number of gifts, organizers were still counting. In addition to the toys brought to the event, gifts were collected in several boxes around town. And some people who couldn’t participate dropped off donations on Young’s porch.
Young is confident the take was more than double what was last year.
While Santa and “elves “Elf” were well represented in the crowd, there were also snow people, characters from “Christmas Story,” “Rudolph,” red and glittery blazers, and sweaters that some may call “ugly” while others would just call festive.
Gretchen Avery was in a clutch of crawlers wearing those multi-colored sweaters. Her sweater, she said, was crocheted for her by her daughter, Emma Avery. From now on this will be her go-to holiday garment.
This was a celebratory weekend for Avery, a Jerome Library employee. On Friday, she graduated from BGSU with her Master’s in Business Administration.
After Doc’s the crawlers crossed the street to Red Sky Pizza.
Lori and Al Strasshofer had come from Peninsula, Ohio, to participate. They were with their close friend Bertie Simcox who used to live near Young. They are eager to support his endeavors, including attending Porch Fest each summer.
The crawl went from Doc’s to Red Sky Pizza, and then to Downtown where the contingent of Marines judged the costumes, before they all found their way to Howard’s where the winners were announced.
After that and thanks to the score of people and businesses who made the crawl possible, the band AmpWagon took the stage dressed for the occasion. Drummer Tony Zmarzly appeared as Cousin Eddie from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”
The “ugly” sweater brigade was honored as best group.
The winners received a collection of swag and gift cards provided by local businesses.
Others honored for their costumes were:
- Scott and Valerie Shuler as Santa and his elf as best couple
- Katie Stygles as the lamp leg from “A Christmas Story,” as best female.
- Nolan Brennan, as Buddy the Elf, won as best male.
- Tom and Robin Gerrow, dressed as snow figures, were runners up as best couple.
- Lauren Kessler, dressed as an elf, was runner up as best female.
- Mike Leek, a carry along Santa runner up as best male.
