What do you do when you have a keg of beer left over from an event?
Well, this group of friends decided to give it away for free to whoever was cycling by their house on the Adanac bike route. Seems like the most Canadian thing to do, eh?
Jon Cartwright and Michelle Reid hosted the party at the front of their house on Tuesday, July 23. Photo courtesy of Jon Cartwright
While it started as a way to get rid of 50L of 33 Acres Brewing beer, the event became more about inspiring community connection and inclusion.
Jon Cartwright and Michelle Reid hosted the party at the front of their house on Tuesday, July 23.
Signs went up around Adanac Street offering ‘Free Beer (No strings attached)’ and slowly, but surely, people were enticed and stopped for a bevvy and a quick hello.
“A few of our friends thought it wouldn’t work, they said ‘nobody’s going to stop’ but I was convinced otherwise,” Cartwright said.
“It took about 20 minutes to get the ball rolling. At any given time there were about 20 to 30 people going around.”
He said aside from his four friends who helped kick the neighbourhood shindig off, nobody else knew more than one person, most of time.
“Most people are biking on their own so we poured them a beer and said: ‘hey everybody stop, nobody knows anybody so introduce yourself to somebody.’
“With that you end up with people making new friends.
“It was funny, because before you know it – people who stop by turn into your recruiters and start encouraging other people to join in for a free beer.”
By 9:30 p.m. about 100 people had come by and the keg was empty.
The couple said they were inspired by a friend who once handed out free grilled cheese sandwiches on the Strathcona bike route, and hoped to host more fun events in the future.
“I think simply, doing things for sharing and not expecting anything back but smiles is really the whole ethos of the whole thing,” Reid said.
“There’s a lot of fast activity on the bike route and it was nice to see people slow down, stop, ask questions, say hello and bring a human element to it.”
The duo are also calling on the community to let them know what event they’d like to see happen next – a free pop up espresso bar or a smoothie bar?
You can let them know by messaging them on Instagram - @jon_cartwright or @mixeller.
