By Trish Gerken, DMI Executive Director
Kick St. Patrick’s Day weekend off on Saturday, March 14 with the 10th Annual St. Patrick’s Pub Crawl. A “toasting the town” tradition for the Milford community, this year’s Pub Crawl will feature downtown business hosting beverage tastings from local breweries, wineries and distilleries as well as family designated driver locations offering non-alcoholic beverages and snacks. The downtown merchant host portion of the event is from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm as DMI continues their commitment to highlighting Downtown Milford. Each business will feature a sampling of a unique drink or food and celebrate the holiday with a twist that reflects their specific business. The entire City of Milford keeps the Pub Crawl going throughout the night with entertainment and specials at downtown and uptown bars and restaurants. Check the map at bit.ly/20DMIPubCrawl to plan your route.
The event encourages participants to walk through Downtown Milford wearing official Pub Crawl race bibs. The bibs are one size fits all, friendlier to the environment, available at all Host Merchants and the bottom tear off tag can be entered to win prizes.
The bibs will be available for purchase beginning February 19 at Blooming Boutique, Delaware Branding Company, Dolce Bakery & Coffee Shop, It’s About Time Clock Repair, Lady Maggie’s Boutique, Lifecycle, Loft Realty, Milford Antiques & Friends, Mispillion Art League, My Sister’s Fault, Nancy’s Café, and Red Bandana in Downtown Milford. The week of the Crawl, attendees can buy race bibs at bars/restaurants after 5:00 pm. Bibs numbered 1-100 are $15, 101+ are $20. Bibs purchased March 11-14 are $25. Designated Driver bibs are also available for purchase. DD Bibs purchased before March 11 are $10 and then pricing goes to $15.
“Milford Small Businesses once again welcome everyone to the 10th Annual Pub Crawl,” said Peggy Reilly, DMI President and Pub Crawl co-chair. “We are excited to be able to host this wonderful event that brings out all our friends in Delaware to help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Milford. We hope everyone north and south of Milford will come join this great event!”
“The money raised through our generous Pub Crawl sponsors, hosts, and vendors also helps us fund DMI’s economic development activities in support of downtown,” Sara Pletcher, Pub Crawl co-chair said. “The Pub Crawl brings many to Downtown Milford each year, with the opportunity to see the City’s beautiful and historic merchant district. Even if they don’t shop the night of the Crawl, people get a great sense of the community and hopefully will come back and visit again.”
Continue the weekend on Sunday, March 15 with the second annual Irish Music and Dance concert. This event will be held at the Milford Senior Center (111 Park Avenue) in Downtown Milford and will feature the band Seven Rings, McAleer School of Dance, bagpipe player Russell Johnson, and a special guest appearance from Joel the Leprechaun.
Seven Rings, a Delaware band, specializes in Irish and British Isles Music, but also play classic rock, blue grass, and country. The band consisting of Pete Casey, Mike Connolly, Tracey Connolly, and Jeff Kowalski can be found playing up and down Delaware. The name Seven Rings, according to the band, comes from a relatively unknown method of identifying the background of a person drinking a pint of Guinness at a bar. The story goes, by counting the number of rings left around a finished glass of Guinness, you can tell what nationality they are. 5 to 7 Rings means the person is Irish, while 15-20 rings means American.
The McAleer School of Irish Dance was founded 50 years ago by Alice McAleer who sought to enrich the community by passing on her knowledge of Irish dance and culture.
Tickets are general admission $15 and available in advance at Irish Rose (42 N Walnut St.) and online bit.ly/20DMIConcert. There will be no tickets available for sale at the door. Children 12 and under accompanied by an adult are free. This concert is being sponsored by Irish Rose.
Volunteers are needed! To volunteer, visit https://signup.com/go/VgrTYHw to sign up. For more information on either event, contact DMI at 302-839-1180 or visit our Facebook page www.facebook.com/downtownmilfordinc
