Saving the Animals, One Pint at a Time

Three of my favorite “P” words: Providence, Puppies, and Pints. Separately, all are good; combine them, and… well, you get Pints for Paws (and a whole lot of alliteration). On Saturday June 29th, the Providence Animal Rescue League hosted their annual fundraiser at Nick-A-Nees Bar. Self-labeled beer connoisseurs appeared in bulk, bringing their dogs for a day of revelry – all for a good cause.

From 3pm until midnight, the day was cordoned off into segments. From 3:00 to 5:00, activities coordinated by PARL invited guests to meet adoptable dogs from local shelters at the YELP! sponsored adoption tent, where pet goodie-bags and give-a-ways for owners were handed out. For just $15, owners could microchip their pets, making it easy to find lost animals. I arrived a little late to take part in this, but I did arrive early enough to take part in a raffle, where gift baskets revolved around certain recurring themes (as I expected, the two most recurring themes were beer and animal care). I even won one of the prizes – I cannot tell you exactly what I won, but mainly because I have not had time to pick it up. But hey, I won!

Starting at 5:00pm brewers, both local and national, invited guests to partake in a two-hour-long beer tasting. As long as supplies lasted, unlimited samples of craft brews were poured for the first 100 guests who signed up. Most brewers brought some form of India pale ale – not exactly my favorite style of beer, but who turns down beer when it is offered? – some supplied stouts (including a very interesting Mexican-style stout, blending chocolate with ancho chili peppers from Clown Shoes Beer). Brewers included Lagunitas, Stone Brewing, Uinta Brewing, Trinity, Revival, Six Point Craft Ales, Green Flash, Crabbies, Narragansett, and of course, the aforementioned Clown Shoes.

Perhaps reading my partially inebriated mind, two local food trucks rolled into the parking lot next door to Nick-A-Nees right as the beer tasting began. Poco-Loco and FanCHEEZical opened up, selling the ultimate drunk-foods: burritos and grilled cheese. Naturally, I had both. For scientific purposes, of course.

From 7:30 to 11, local bands rocked the stage as OC45, SOURPUNCH, Northern Lands and The Rice Cakes each played 45-minute long sets.

        In all, it was a wonderful day, with fantastic dogs, incredible music, and phenomenal beers. I leave you with this picture of a bulldog on a motor-cycle. Yes. He is wearing a helmet. And goggles.