Submitted by Melissa Howsam — Correspondent
Do-gooders thirsty for a good time and a good cause came out in droves Saturday to drink away cancer for Battle of the Bars, the launch event for nonprofit Gumption, a startup that dreams up all kinds of ways for you to give back while you get your fun (and in this case your drink) on.
Co-sponsored by Lonerider and triangle.com, the debut, benefiting CancerNeverSleeps Inc., saw Fayetteville Street District bars duke it out to separate the pretenders from the contenders. Almost 600 parched patrons plodded the pubs for specials and shenanigans to give cancer a swift (and potentially sloppy) punch in the mouth.
Fighting for the upper hand, hooch hot spot Isaac Hunters commenced the brawl crawl with a packed Summer's End Private Patio Party, featuring pub games, specials, hula-clad Bud girls doling samples and leis. They played dirty — everyone's always having fun if they're getting 'lei-d.' But the competition was stiff. A self-guided crawl, Gumption-goers — easy to spot in the complimentary orange shades — could choose between a laundry list of lounges eager to please:
Be-speckled bar-goers jigged it up at Tir na nOg (where staff donned St. Paddy's Team shirts — Paddy's is the* party ... so was this some kind of subliminal strategy?); bagged corn in the hole at The Oxford; and soaked up sangria (Gumpria) at The Hive.
Meanwhile, crawlers high-rolled like A-listers for Big Easy's private upstairs party and cash for cancer games or low-balled with dirt-cheap domestics at London Bridge for a DJ-fed bloody ole English time, before finding their inner American Idol at Rum Runners belting out off-key tunes to pianos deep in duel (Fishbowls make everyone think they sound so good...).
Rounding out the night (for those still standing) was a cover-free after-party at The Architect.
"Battle of the Bars was a perfect launch event for our company," says co-founder Andres Martin (he founded Gumption with Aviva Imbrey). "We were able to fulfill each of our goals, including supporting a great local NPO, supporting incredible local businesses and providing the community with an event to rally behind!"
I know. You're on the edge of your seat. The titan? Tir na nOg. Looks like the luck of the Irish (or those anachronistic Paddy's shirts) pulled through.
But don't pout if you missed it. This is just the start of what's to come. Oct. 6 is your next shot to "Live Gumption." Zombie Bar Raid anyone? Get infected.
