2007 Ghent Summer Bar Tour

July 28th, 2007

GOOD TIMES were had by all at the 2007 Ghent Summer Bar Tour, our popular semi-annual pub crawl on July 28th down Colley Avenue, 21st Street, and the surrounding locale in the historic midtown Norfolk neighborhood of Ghent. The best news? It was all for a good cause. All proceeds from the event directly benefitted the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Eastern Virginia. In the end, we were able to raise $5,470 for local children! Details on the event are highlighted below including what took place, who participated, and what competitions were held. All pictures we're received have been posted in our online photo gallery. Thanks to everyone for coming out and we'll see you all again at the Winter Bar Tour on February 23rd!

Event Summary

The 2007 Ghent Summer Bar Tour was a successful event yet again, proving once and for all that our thirsty participants will not be quelled by the forces of Mother Nature. Before the event began, promotions and fanfare got the excitement going. Our billboard went up in prime time on the corner of Granby and 21st Street. We ran several advertisements in the local Link daily newspaper. Then we went one step further and secured a radio deal with 100.5 MAX FM to run daily advertisements during the two weeks leading up to the event. Finally, the local press took action on our behalf and printed an elaborate two-page spread on the event in the quarterly Virginian Pilot insert, destinationGhent. With all of this coverage plus friends telling friends telling friends, over 300 participants registered before the event even began!

Radio Advertisement featured on 100.5 MAX FM

Our big day finally came once again with warm expectations that pushed away the cloudy skies. The 2007 Ghent Summer Bar Tour kicked off a little before 4:00 on Saturday, July 28th as registration lines began to form at our tables outside Zio's on Colley Avenue. Our volunteers work vigorously to get all participants their registration bags and wristbands as fast as possible - everyone was ready to go! The registration booth finally closed shortly after 6:00 PM after processing nearly 450 participants - a new summer record! All proceeds from this event again benefitted our charity of choice, the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Eastern Virginia. Of course, they were once again very thankful for our hard work.

Zio's remained busy throughout the night even as participants headed on their way to discover the rest of our highlighted locations. For the first time in our two-year history, the registration booth was forced to move inside due to weather. Despite the falling rain, most participants pressed on, determined to reach all NINE locations within the allotted five-hour period. With the rain came some much-needed cooler temperatures, allowing participants to take a seat outside at many of our stops and enjoy themselves for a quick bit before carrying on. Many participants did indeed make the trek to each and every one of the nine stops on the tour, collecting a punch on their game card at each one. Our traditional Texas Hold 'Em Tournament proved popular (and competitive) again with many of our participants who went bar to bar. Our gracious photographer, , was busy all evening braving the rain and running around to snap photos of everyone enjoying themselves.

2007 Ghent Summer Bar Tour Map

As always, the New Belmont began filling up shortly after 8:00 PM with participants eagerly anticipating our "closing ceremony" being held there. Game cards were taken outside and prizes given to each and every participant that somehow manged to make it to all NINE stops on the tour. Poker hands were assessed and before long it became clear that the Royal Flushes and 5-of-a-Kinds (a hand not possible in the real world, but on the bar tour it prevails) were going to dominate the prizes that night. By the time we finally started our final proceedings, the upstairs bar (and new outdoor patio bar) were packed wall to wall! Congratulations to all of the poker competition and raffle winners we announced at the ceremony - we hope you enjoy your prizes! One lucky participant took home $70 (and many new "friends") as the winner of our 50/50 raffle! Keeping with bar tour tradition, a somewhat sloppy rendition of Happy Birthday was sung by the crowd to all of our celebrating participants in honor of them being one more year beyond 21.

Special thanks went out to all of the Make-A-Wish staff, board members, and volunteers in attendance that night. And an even bigger thanks went out to the 50 bar tour volunteers that helped make this event possible, particularly the 3 key members of our overall event planning committee: Kelli Caras, Jack Martin, and Shawn Fagan. Finally it was time for our fundraising announcement... we raised $5,470! (Total fundraising from all bar tour events has now reached over $30,000!.) All of these proceeds will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Eastern Virginia and directly support children in the local Hampton Roads area, particularly one fantastic wish kid, Maggie, who was sponsored by this event.

Shortly after the event, local news station WAVY TV 10 featured the Ghent Summer Bar Tour on their 11:00 news.

Naturally, with all of the success and popularity generated by our events in general and the winter event in particular, we press on and will continue our semi-annual tradition of drinking for charity with the 2008 Ghent Winter Bar Tour on February 23rd. Be sure to keep your eye on the website for more details as they become available.

Thanks once more to all of our great volunteers, particularly those on the planning committee, that helped make this event such a success. We really couldn't do it without you.

Any pictures we currently have from this event have been posted in our photo gallery. Special thanks to our photographer for taking so many great pictures of this event! If you have additional pictures from the event that you would like us to post so that your friends who didn't make it out can see just how much fun they missed, please send them as attachments to and we will post them as soon as possible. Thanks!

Have your own thoughts or comments on the 2007 Ghent Summer Bar Tour? Submit a review and let us know what you liked about this tour and/or what you think we could improve at the next one.

Sponsor Bars & Businesses

THANK YOU to all of the NINE bars and restaurants that agreed to be a part of the fun and festivities at the 2007 Ghent Summer Bar Tour. Thanks go out as well to all of our gracious business and media sponsors.

Special Thanks

Special thanks as well to those businesses who were so kind to make donations of products and/or services in support of this charity event:

The Ten Top 748 Shirley Ave	Conte's Bikes 314 W 21st St	Mystic Mermaid 308 W 21st St
Walgreens 810 W 21st St	Papa John's 2001 Colley Ave	Pizza Hut 500 W 21st St
Hi-Ho Silver 316 W 21st St	Therapeutic Body Kneads 811 Brandon Ave	Harris Teeter 1300 Colonial Ave
	Things Remembered 701 Lynnhaven Pkwy (Virginia Beach)

Fun & Games

We held several competitions during this tour for those that seek adventures beyond simple "wining and dining". Below are details on these games. Prizes were awarded for competition winners, some small ones along the way and other larger ones at our "closing ceremony" held shortly after 9:00 PM at The New Belmont.

Texax Hold 'Em Tournament - Back by popular demand! Collect playing cards from SEVEN or more bar tour locations and have one of the five best poker hands (or one worst poker hand) to win great prizes! Volunteers at each location you visit will let you pick ONE playing card from a shuffled deck and will then punch your poker game card accordingly. Put your name and contact information on the back of your game card and drop it off at the end location. Competition winners will be announced at the "closing ceremony" and prizes awarded (attendance not required - prizes will be mailed if necessary). One special location will allow you to pick TWO cards - but you have to find out which one!
Bar Tour Bingo - Visit all participating locations on the bar tour and receive a prize! Volunteers at each location will punch your Bar Tour Bingo card indicating you visited that stop. Prizes can be picked up at the end location starting at 8:00 PM until supplies run out.
50/50 Cash Raffle - Win back your bar tab! The winner takes home half of the money from ticket sales (the other half goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation). Raffle tickets will be sold at the registration booth as well as at the "closing ceremony". Bring your tickets with you to the "closing ceremony" at the end location where the winner will be announced and cash prize awarded (attendance not required - prize check will be mailed if necessary).
Prize Raffle - Win cool prizes! All participants are automatically entered to win non-cash raffle prizes. Stop by the end location after 8:00 PM and check the signs posted outside to see if the number on your wristband matches the ones we randomly pulled from the raffle box.

Congratulations to all of our competition and raffle winners! We hope you enjoy your prizes and come back for more fun and games at our next tour.

Supported Organization

All proceeds from this event will go directly to the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Eastern Virginia. This local Make-A-Wish chapter serves all of Hampton Roads, the Peninsula, Williamsburg, Emporia, Franklin, York, James City, Sussex, Isle of Wight, Surry, Greensville & Southampton counties and the Eastern Shore. The mission of the Make-A-Wish Foundation® is to grant wishes to children between the ages of 2½ and 18 who have life threatening medical conditions. The organization provides a bright moment of hope, strength, and joy for a child in what can sometimes be a dark routine of treatments, doctors and hospital visits. Many thanks to the Make-A-Wish staff for their support in planning this event as well as previous events.

The proceeds from the 2007 Summer Bar Tour made a wish come true for Maggie, age 5. Maggie's wish is to return to Ukraine where she was born and visit the people who took care of her in the orphanage before she was adopted by her mother in America. She was one of the two wish kids featured alongside Bar Tour Coordinator Scott Guirlinger in the WAVY-TV My Hampton Roads segment that aired on February 22, 2007. Thank you all for your part in Sharing the Power of a Wish! Pictures from Maggie's wish will be posted to her album in our online photo gallery once the wish has been completed.