Have you noticed that it’s really difficult to make yourself try something you’ve never done before? I find this is especially true with our business. It’s stressful to throw an event knowing that there are at least 100 things that can go wrong. Plus not knowing whether anyone will see the value and show up for the event. I guess that’s the adventure of it.
Becky and I are always looking for ways to have Pack & Paddle contribute to and be a part of this great community. That’s why
we were excited when we heard about a great event that friends in Tennessee hosted at their shop. The idea was to host a Pint Night with beer, food, shopping and music and have it benefit a local charity. These events have been a real hit in Knoxville. We’re hoping that this type of an event will be as popular right here in Lafayette.
As they say – it takes a village to raise a child. So we decided that we needed to pull our village together to raise this child of an event. First off, our friends at Smartwool have donated the money for the Pint glasses and also have 200 pairs of their amazing socks. Next, we decided to work with our long time friend Claude Martin at Acadiana Cares as a charity. Every year, Acadiana Cares purchases Christmas gifts for child clients and the children of the adult clients living with HIV that they work with. What a great cause for all of us to wrap our 
arms around! I wanted to combine the food truck phenomenon that’s happening in Lafayette, and Freetown Fries (Thanks Marla!) has agreed to be at the event and donate 10% of their sales to Acadiana Cares. We’re currently working on finding live music for the event. So far, Emily Neustrom has agreed to play for the event – but we’re still looking for another band. If you have an idea – please email me! Our last piece of the puzzle that we’re working on is to find a source for the beer. We have some leads – but if you have ideas – again, please email me. ****UPDATE!**** LA31 / Bayou Teche Brewing has come on board as the beer sponsor for this event! We want to thank Dorsey and LA31 for keeping it local and helping out a great cause!
As you can see – this is a work in progress. An adventure if you will, since we made the decision that the event is a go without
having everything figured out. The last piece of the puzzle that we need to come together is YOU! We hope you’ll join us at 6pm on Tuesday December 13th. You can donate to a good cause, enjoy some great beer (or lemonade!), get some free Smartwool socks, eat some great food, shop P&P with 10% going to Acadiana Cares, listen to some fun music and probably see lots of friends from our community. Also – we need you to spread the word! If you could pass along this link to friends via Facebook or email – that would be extremely helpful: https://packpaddle.com/2011/pint-night-acadiana-c-a-r-e-s/