A group of Carroll County bars have raised over $10,000 for a dozen local fire departments. The first annual Carroll County Bar Crawl was held on Saturday, April 10 and organized by owners and staff from 4R’s Tavern in Roselle, Kerp’s Tavern in Carroll, Whiskey Run in Maple River, Grit in Willey, Red’s Place in Breda, Kerp’s Tavern in Carroll and Southside Lounge in Dedham. According to 4R’s co-owner, Russ Riesenberg, the group started planning for the event following a conversation about ideas to get people and businesses back to normal life as the pandemic waned.
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It took around a month of planning to get everything lined up, and people were clamoring to participate, especially after it was decided money raised would benefit local departments. Riesenberg says more than 350 tickets for the event were sold.
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The funds were then divided evenly and presented to the county’s 12 fire departments to be used at their discretion. Nearly all of the firefighters in the area are volunteers, and organizers thought this was a great way to show support for everything they do. Originally, the Carroll County Bar Crawl was going to be a one-time thing, but Riesenberg says it was so popular they have decided to host another one next spring.
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He adds they are hoping to see the event grow with more people, more buses and more stops in 2022.