Are you ever moved by those commercials that begin with 'for less than the price of a cup of coffee, you can help with (insert child in third world country, suffering from (malnutrition, unsafe water, poor schooling, flies in their mouth')).
Have you ever thought to yourself, gee, I wonder if there are people here, closer to me I could help, and wouldn't it be nice if I could help someone I know, maybe even from my graduating class?
Friends now you can. Wouldn't it be even better if that cup of coffee was a pint of beer? And what if you actually got to drink that beer too. Friends now you can enjoy that beer and know you are helping one of your fellow classmates. That's right, with every pint of Widmer Hefeweizen, Drop Top, Broken Halo, or Drifter you guzzle down, you are keeping me employed, locally, right here in Portland, Oregon. Doesn't it make you feel good, not only in your belly, but knowing you are helping to put a roof over my head, clean water flowing through my faucets, and flies out of my mouth.
Some of you may be thinking, my religion doesn't allow me to drink, or even, I am a recovering alcoholic, what I can I do to help Travis? Hey, it doesn't matter if you actually drink the beer, just buy it. Buy lots of it. Use it for slug bait, water your garden with it, send it to third world countries to feed the malnourished. In fact, I am writing a scientific paper right now which shows how well Widmer Hefeweizen cleans oil off of seabirds. Buy it and send it to Louisiana, Alabama and other places drowning in BP oil.
With that being said, who planned the 20th anniversary the same weekend as the Oregon Brewers Festival? I haven't missed the Fest since 92, and that's only because I didn't have a fake id. Its my yearly chance to drink beer on the Portland water front with 80,000 other people and work on my tan, and now, I get to do it as my job. Sorta. As much fun as I had with you 10 years ago, you will have to count me out this time. Perhaps we will cross paths again at the 30th, if my liver holds out.
If you are ever in the big city looking for a beer, or would like a tour of the brewery, drop me a line and you can tell me what I missed.