By Sarah Schrock
Worker bees are buzzing all around the new Beer Garden at the former Twisp River Pub, preparing for the grand opening on Thursday (June 22). The Beer Garden is the first phase of the master plan to reopen the pub by new owner Joe Marver, owner of the adjacent Twisp River Suites.
The beer garden is decorated with hanging baskets to brighten new gazebos and furnishings. Situated along the back half of the parking lot, the beer garden expansion capitalizes on views of the Twisp River, converting the parking lot to riverfront dining.
The Thursday event marks five years of operation for the hotel and celebrates the rebirth of the pub. If you have never encountered Joe, which is virtually impossible if you live in Twisp, he’s full of drive and energy — quite the character, and dedicated to seeing Twisp thrive. In his past life, Joe was founder of a popular Halloween costume retail outlet and his fondness of trick-or-treating is evident by the endless supply of candy at the front door, and his predilection to talk like Donald Duck for every kid who visits the hotel.
Joe began building the hotel seven years ago after years of visiting family in Twisp and seeing a need for more-upscale accommodations that could serve nightly rentals to longer stays. He’s brought together live music and a casual barbecue meal for the birthday event — which is sold out. Don’t fear, there will be more opportunities to partake in the beer garden as it comes to life over the summer.
Another birthday celebration worth noting is Jennifer (Mendro) Duguay’s 50th. Coming up at the Grange on July 1, the double-header bash also honors her daughter, Johnnie, who recently graduated from Gonzaga University. The potluck is open to friends and fans of these two fabulous women, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Twisp Valley Grange.
A group of international coaches instructed local kids in “football,” European style, at the recent British Soccer Camp.
With the first week of summer in the bag, soccer and swim families didn’t slow down a bit as over 30 kids participated in the annual British Soccer Camp, and countless Killer Whales dove into swim team’s week-long boot camp.
Some kids did both swim team and soccer camp, exhausting the kids and parents who had to resort to complex organizational software to figure out carpools, lunches, downtime and child care. Thankfully, free lunches will now be available at Twisp Park from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. from the school district, starting this week and running through Aug. 18, so it’s one less hassle for busy parents trying to figure out what the heck to feed their kids this summer.
Danbert Nobacon steels himself for descent into the dunk tank at last weekend’s open house at the Wagner Memorial Pool.
British Soccer Camp, or rather football camp, as it were, is put on by Challenger Sports, an international organization that places coaches from the UK, Brazil and Europe in the United States for the summer where they teach football (soccer) throughout the country and culminate in the World Cup. The four coaches hailed from Belgium, Ireland and Great Britain, and stayed with area host families for the week. One coach even braved the icy cold dunk tank at the Wagner Memorial Pool on Saturday to share in some international spirit.
Among other brave souls to enter the tank included popular dads Police Chief Paul Budrow, Assistant Division Chief Brian McAuliffe of Okanogan County Fire District 6, Danbert Nobacon, Lance George, Steve Bondi, Hans Smith and a few of the pool’s own lifeguards. The free event brought lots of kids to the water, despite the tepid outside temps, and Friends of the Pool raised a portion of remaining funds needed to pay for last year’s repairs.
And that’s the scoop in Twisp from the first week of summer vacation … phew.
