Over the next several months, bar patrons at the Trowbridge Tavern will see a new face on Thursday nights serving their favorite libations. Through February of next year, and possibly beyond, the restaurant will host a fundraising initiative called Bartenders With a Cause.
The premise is quite simple. People sign up to be a guest bartender on a specific Thursday evening. All the tips they earn that night are donated to a cause they have a special interest in, such as funding research for a disease or earning money for a nonprofit organization. No bartending experience is required to participate, Trowbridge Tavern owner Mary Ellen McCarthy said. All that is needed is a cause.
“Everybody wants to be a bartender for a night, so it’s a win-win situation. Everyone has fun and spends some money,” she said.
Ms. McCarthy said because most of the participants have little to no experience tending bar, she will be behind the bar working with them. She speculated that most of the pouring will be for beer and wine, with little call for exotic mixed drinks, and her presence will be mostly supportive.
“The guests don’t know their way around the restaurant, so I’ll be there to make it easy for them,” she said.
Ms. McCarthy said that the Thursday nights have filled up very quickly. She said that, as of this week, there is one date in December and two dates in February still available. All of January has been filled. Asked if she would consider extending the initiative beyond February, she said absolutely.
“Oh yeah, we’ll go as long as people have causes,” she said.
She added that there is no specific time limit for the guest bartenders to work on their given night. She said she expects that most will start around 5 PM and finish around 8:30 PM or 9 PM. However, if the tips are still coming in, keep going, she said.
“As long as you’re making money, stick with it,” she said.
Bartenders With a Cause kicked off last night, Thursday, November 30, with folks from Bourne Youth Baseball stepping behind the bar to serve customers and collect tips that will go toward funding their programs. To date, nine people or organizations have signed up to participate. Among them is former Trowbridge Tavern employee Stephanie L. Kozar of Sagamore.
Ms. Kozar now works as a bartender/waitress at the Lost Dog Pub in Orleans. She said that about five years ago, her father was diagnosed with early-stage Parkinson’s disease. She said that she has family friends, as well as a regular bar customer, who all have various levels of Parkinson’s, too. She will be tending bar on February 1, and all her tip money will go toward Parkinson’s research, she said. Her hope, in part, is to raise awareness and stimulate conversation about the disease.
“You don’t see people talk about it. You know I don’t ever really see anything go on about it,” she said.
Whitney O. Kent of Buzzards Bay will step behind the bar on December 21, to raise money for her Pan-Mass Challenge team “Never Give Up.” Ms. Kent’s husband, Ryan, died in July 2015 from brain cancer, after a six-year battle with the disease. That battle included two brain surgeries, one round of radiation therapy, and multiple rounds of chemotherapy at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, she said. He was 29 years old.
“Ryan was a fighter. He fought a fight no one knew he was fighting. He was positive; driven; an amazing father, husband, brother, son and friend, even on his worse days,” she said.
All her tips will go to her Pan-Mass team’s fundraising efforts, and every dollar her team raised for Pan-Mass Challenge events goes to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, she said.
Another former Trowbridge Tavern bartender, Dana T. Tobey of Sandwich, will take over the bar on January 18. Mr. Tobey, who grew up in Bourne, said that he is retired after 25 years in law enforcement. He is also a licensed builder and carpenter and runs a small deejay business, the Every Day DJ.
Mr. Tobey said that all his tips will be donated to researching a cure for diabetes. He said that he has a teenage daughter who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes two years ago.
“Rude awakening for my family; such a vast and terrible disease. Research needs to find better options and ultimately a cure,” he said.
Others who have volunteered to be guest bartenders are Bourne Selectman Michael A. Blanton and Bourne High School administrative assistant Tina M. Canterbury. Mr. Blanton will take over the bar at the Trowbridge Tavern on February 15, with all his tips going to the American Heart Association. Ms. Canterbury will be working the bar on January 11 and donating her tip money to Special Olympics Cape Cod Champs.
Ms. Canterbury said that many of the athletes on Cape Cod Champs team are special education students from the Bourne Public Schools. She said that she has been involved with Special Olympics for 18 years, ever since she started working at Bourne Middle School. Her daughter, Megan, 27, at one time coached the Cape Cod Champs volleyball team, she said.
“I thought this would be a fun way to raise money for Special Olympics,” she said.
Assisting Ms. Canterbury behind the bar will be her son, Jack, who works as a bartender at The Chart Room. Also helping out will be Jennifer S. Reilly, a special education teacher at Bourne Middle School, and Ms. Reilly’s sister, Shannon Reilly. Ms. Canterbury said that, while she has worked as a waitress at The Chart Room in Cataumet for more than 20 years, she has no bartending experience.
“So I can serve, but I’m not sure I can pour. We’ll find out on January 11,” she said with a laugh.
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